As for Sweeney, great player for us and always comes across well but he’s been here for years now when we’ve mainly been shite, maybe best for him and us he gets out of his comfort zone and goes elsewhere?

Class player Sweeney. But as a coach or whatever his role is since hanging up his boots I sent very impressive.
Previous managers have had to work with him and not been allowed to bring there own people in.
Maybe this is a new era were the New manager makes the Managers decisions himself.

Longest pre season ever so hopefully come August we start with a fully fit squad.
UTP.

Sweeney has been a pivotal figure since Challinor’s departure and must have had some influence over events since then.
He has been the one constant during all these subsequent managers time in charge and oddly managers came in, had a bright spell and then for no reason watched their authority collapse.
Was it a case of new managers having to work with Sweeney or the other way around….?
He was always very ‘vociferous’ on the pitch remember.
I’m over the moon that the manager is being allowed to bring his own coaching staff in because it’s long overdue.

Raj said quite a few years ago and probably 8 or 9 managers ago that Sweeney is our manager in waiting. Just needed a bit more time and guidance before he would take the reins.
Looks to me as if he's in his comfort zone but you'd have too say question his abilities as a coach even, surely as a coach and midfielder he could see where our frailties have been for years but nothing done about it. I don't like to see anyone lose their jobs but he really needs to up his game if he's staying imo sentimentality doesn't win games.

he,s been the only common denometer in all the recent times of shit. just wonder if sweeney is another who can do a good job when the teams playing well. a bit like crawford who was impressive in our promotion season, plays well when the rest do but is either crap or doing an invisable man imrersonation when we are not.

never understood it either, but he aint getting younger. h,ll have to be an ex player somewhere down the line.

must be great when you are a club days rather than weeks even after speaking to players you can form your own retained list. still feel he has been lurking in the background for awhile and nobody will convince me otherwise.

Seems about right to me.

Their list isn't out yet. I'd be surprised if they didn't.

My point about Sweeney is that he should already have been told whether he is staying or going. Sarll's deal either includes him being allowed to bring in his own coaches or it doesn't. Fannying about pretending to conduct an 'evaluation' of Sweeney's position at the club is disrespectful.

The other thing in Sarll's interview that I thought was off is he says he says he consulted with the board about the retained list. Seriously? Lenny Lawrence, fair enough, but now Mr. Commercial and Mr. Supporter Engagement get a say on playing matters too?

He may as well have had a chat with the cleaners about Waterfall's merits as a sweeper while he was on.

If club and player agree to pay up a contract the amount payable is far less than the contract would be over say one year. So the club gets rid early the player gets off loaded cheaper leaving part of that salary to reinvest in a new player.

Of course he has, he hadn’t just knocked on the door as a passing unemployed jobbing manager…..unless he did, but if he could come out with that retained list in a couple of days he’e a psychic or a genius.

https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/fo ... es-4610272

'Our' representative takes credit for the removal of KP.

The thing with phillips we lost 7-1 at gateshead probobly our most embarassing result ever. The football we watched barring the first few games was as bad as Askey negative, boring lifeless. His record after the new manager bounce was relegation form. The players he brought in were shocking. The defence which a lot of fans seem to think is fine now we have waterfall and parkes conceded 13 in 3 away games.

"conduct an 'evaluation' of Sweeney's position at the club”
Missed that in the Tees interview, Personally i think Sweeney needs a fresh start elsewhere.

With regard to the retained list, Theres many on here been given input on the retained list.
My self i think the retained list, Leaves us with the foundation of a decent team.

Think the new gaffa should be given the benefit till we get into the season.

At the end of the day its what he is allowed to bring in. For all we know we might be looking at worse versions of crawford and cook or cheaper versions. We might not be but their is a giod chance we are going on previous seasons. We have to hope dodds and mancini are fit for starters and grey and manni keep hitting it off build from that.

[quote="Leggie43

If club and player agree to pay up a contract the amount payable is far less than the contract would be over say one year. So the club gets rid early the player gets off loaded cheaper leaving part of that salary to reinvest in a new player. [/quote]


Why would Wallace agree to a pay off when he’s crocked and has no other options?

I thought the fans would have liked to have seen Cooke kept on, he was inconsistent but scored the occasional goal, Crawford appeared to booked every other game was that because he was competitive, I would have kept him.

Why would Wallace agree to a pay off when he’s crocked and has no other options?[/quote]


OK Loyal I will bow down to your inside knowledge of Mr Wallace & his personal situation. I personally don’t know anything about that side just the football side. So unfortunately I can't comment on the " Why's "

no managers time with us should be pushed into a second half of a football match no matter if we had scored that number or conceeded the same in that period. so bad they could have been blindfolded and scored the same. the annoying thing is pools never seem to get that type of game in their favour to counteract the bad day that all teams seem to get once during the season.

13 points from last 11 is not one half of football though, no matter how garbage the team is thats close to relegation form.

Why would Wallace agree to a pay off when he’s crocked and has no other options?[/quote]
whats the biggest number of games that he played on the bounce for us. was he previously injury prone or just have one of those seasons many players suffer. surely he could not have been as bad as he has looked with us as even pools would not have signed him to just make the numbers up. if i remember correctly a lot were excited by his signing.

true, but taking the whole of his time with us it was better than askeys recored especially if you take the pre mancini injuries out of it. thats not to say i was a big phillips fan but he at least deserves a proper amount of stats from his time being mentioned. he was no hartley no matter your feelings about him.

I think he probobly deserved a chance but virtually every manager gets a bounce askey did in a league higher. No denying the standard of players Phillips brought in were shocking so i can see why he wadnt kept on.

like crawford he was a luxury player who only play well when the team did. one day cooke might look himself in the mirror and see how he has wasted his talant due to his attitude when he has to do a proper job without refs to whine about the decisions they made. if he had put the same effort into the rest of his game he,d have walked into another 2 seasons with us if he had wanted it.

I think he probobly deserved a chance but virtually every manager gets a bounce askey did in a league higher. No denying the standard of players Phillips brought in were shocking so i can see why he wadnt kept on.[/quote]
like curle did with a hammering at the vic by stockport and others at other clubs whose results never get mentioned because that new manager bounce never happened. i,d guess there are far less of the new manager bounce than ones were results take longer to achieve.

Hatred Deffo not.
Different opinions yes.

True Kev, how do some fans translate criticism to hatred, nasty leap that and unjustified.

I don't think it's hatred fans have different view of players problem for me with Feathers in midfield is total lack of mobility gets caught on the ball far to often, Fergie seems to have lost all confidence no longer runs at defenders or deliver a decent ball into the danger area maybe new manager can change that.
I just hope he installs some pace and energy into the team or its going to be another long hard season.

Problem for me with Fergy is that his defending is not brilliant and he needs help from midfield which he rarely got this season. Having said that the amount of times I thought he put great balls into the box was right up there, unfortunately there was nobody busting a gut to get on the end of them with Mani playing more or less as a lone striker and most of the season facing his own goal. I would in fact be tempted to try Fergy as a left sided midfielder with a proper LB in the side.

In the lower divisions a proper left winger is a better option than this wingback shit.
Remember Paul Smith supplying Flash with about 10 quality crosses almost every game.
Not expecting that kind of quality in division 5 but there must be someone similar to play that role on both sides of the pitch.
I might get Lennies job now.!

a lot of it is about busting a gut. how many times in games because of the lack of that do opponents seem to have more players in midfield, more getting into attacking positions and more defending than we have. they look as if they have at least one player more on the pitch permanantly than we have.

again its fashion where teams feel obliged to set up that way because its been succesful at the top of the game. hate this 3 at the back as well which has become popular and it will change quickly if a top team win something with 2 proper full backs with wingers in front of them.

Imagine a fully fit Molyneux n Mancini on both wings.
Well we should be halfway there.
Show some ambition Pools and the extra 1000 fans will pay for it.
Simple Commercial Nouse in my book of Reality.

That's what lack of mobility and pace in midfield brings, isolated striker(s?) and no protection for defence.

even worse as you can take a minus 500 on top of the extra 1000 fans if we are playing shit and not winning.

A very good retained list and i also like how we may see a new coaching setup too - i know JA had MG along side him but id like to see a full new back team tbh. Sweens still to be involved but a propa No2 and even another coach will be good to have !

all the right decisions for me - Burton should be told that he needs to get Fergusons shirt off his back every week and us see a real battle for positions within the side. JA wanted it and it never came off but having a battle for a position makes the team stronger. Seen it all last season where the 11 more a less picked itself and no competition for places.

Mols and Sterry are having a blinder at Donny atm hence why they in the playoffs.
If we could find another of those 2 plus a fully fit Mancini we would walk this league !

but its all just ifs and buts especially before the season starts. we could just do that but so could ebbsflett as well. who actually knew much about all 3 before they became poolies or the ones that came and failed as well.

Ah, Paul Smith - he was some player. They were halcyon days...

It's been said a million times, but another Andy Monkhouse wouldn't go amiss either.

just wasted a few more minutes of my life checking wallaces stats. the most games he has ever played in a season is 30 and seems to have made a number of sub appearances included in that number. really we should not be in shock that he only made 21 for us last season. if had been brilliant we,d have needed another squad member signed to play in the rest. if he had a history of appearing in any clubs majority of games i might feel a bit more positive about him.

Difference is Pools had a proper playing budget then, I can’t imagine Singh paying for return air fares for some like Gordon Watson every week.

Nice touch from Crawford,
https://www.hartlepoolunited.co.uk/news ... g-message/

Yep, best of luck to the lad a bit unlucky to have been released imo.

Yes Snowy i agree with the hatred issue. I am keen to keep Featherstone for a year but to be honest i think Fergy is looking rusty and could do with a new challenge elsewhere.

hate, the throwaway word that shows some real intense feeling about a person or subject which is rarely the case.

I can’t understand Fergy being retained, bit of a baffler that.
I wouldn’t breed from him though.

if we have a good season we,ll see him at his best. if the opposite happens it will be the same with him. we have had too many like that in the past and still have two left on the books. all teams have bad days but we need characters able to roll their sleeves up and make the best of a bad job and not willing to hide or make the easy options.