exactly. until recently we have had defenders who would have been beaten in the air by ronnie corbett and outpaced by douglas bader without his falsies.

It’s a done deal by all accounts, hopefully announced before Saturday.

Long way off in terms of fitness, though he will be back-up to Mani D in the interim.

Is this 100%

Could be really good.

I hope its true because I totally believe he will do wonders here.

Judging by Poolie24 history then it's correct.

He correctly posted before Phillips left, Adam Campbell signed, Jack Hunter signed and the situation with Mark Beck.

That sounds good enough to me Bosh

excellent news if so--much needed depth and credit to the club --all signings come with some risk but this one definitely fits the mould for what we need

Yep he is a battler . Defenders will not like him. No doubt about it.

was in training today - verbally agreed ive had that confirmed.

Cheers Eiphos_3 keep it coming

Only verbally agreed? There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. Look forward to the official announcement.

Verbally agreed but not signed !

Who said that.

Gray it was bluebottle the post just above mate.

Eiphos 3 said it was verbally agreed. See above

Leggie said it was you,

Then again maybe i dreamt it.

It was bluebottle Gray you asked " who said that " in reply to bluebottle the joke I made was it was bluebottle 's post who you replied to so it was bluebottle

What’s going on ? He’s verbally agreed but no one can find a pen for 3 days ?

I wonder if his head has been turned be another club? Maybe a desperate League Two outfit. The likes of Carlisle springs to mind.

You’ve not heard of the ‘Great Pen Famine of Olde Hartlepool’….someone obviously has their arm down the club couch and having a bit of trouble getting a grip of the dried up bingo pen.

The club shop sells pens, unless there has been a school return buying rush?

or gateshead.

Yeh i was told he wants to be here and told DS he would sign - but learning yesterday it sounds like Fleetwood are mulling over a deal worth more cash obviously.

Buy Buy Madine

Done deal. Announced imminently.

Come on Pools Cheers 24

Just looked and a signing is being announced in minutes. 24 must be spot on again.

And pools twitter has a teaser on.

Get in Madine

Welcome to Pools 'Bad Boy'!

Great signing.

Welcome Gary let's hope you can add a 6th promotion to your C.V.

told ya

I never doubted you or Poolie24

Now lets rip this League a NEWONE.

Though he was older than 33 so should still have something to offer.
Apparently a good heading machine. What we've needed for a long time.
UTP.

He is up with the best ever English players when it comes to heading. Go take a look at the goals he scored with his head. When it comes to his feet by far the most he scored happened in the little box.

talk is cheap obviously but that is a great interview with him
Seems sensible and level headed--and interesting when he was asked about helping the young kids he immediately acknowledged his past challenges growing up.
Have a good feeling about him--hopefully he can get up to speed fitness wise soon and be ready to help by mid Sep or so when the games really are thick and fast

if he gets the service he wants he,ll score. thing is he hasn,t had national league service before in his career.

There you go Loyal that's the spirit

That is true Accy but we have the players to do that.

Article about Madine's move to Pools in the Bolton News (Wanderers being one of his old clubs) says it's a short-term deal. Don't think I've seen that mentioned before? As he's had a cruciate ligament injury and been out with it for ages it makes perfect sense. Don't want a Luke Williams situation all over again if Madine is unlucky and unable to get fully match fit.

Makes perfect sense. Gives us a chance to assess whether he's lost the edge he had & will encourage him to try his best for a longer contract. Let's hope his Mam keeps him on the straight & narrow !

by what he said in his interview he said he was dying to get on the pitch but its the club who are holding him back. are they frightened that his attitude could harm him if he is given his own way.

He hasn't played a professional match in 18 months.

If he isn't 100% right it would be irresponsible to play him. We want every player in our squad to want to play through injuries and niggles, it's then up to Sarll to use the info from the physio before making a decision.

for me even given his CV - DS doesnt and wouldnt of signed him unless he actually believed he could get the lad out on the pitch at least a few times a month and have him scoring goals etc. He has turned up from a Fleetwood L1 pre season and joined us and showed enough to get a contract from a manager who seems very strict on business etc. So i think given the ring rust and getting match sharp we should see the lad fairly soon and probably very eager and committed. I dare say scoring on his debut too.

I agree Eiphos_3 the manager obviously takes no gambles when signings players. I will stick me neck out and predict the " The Bulldozer Madine " will feature this bank holiday in some capacity and further more get a goal or two.

The only reservation I have about Nadine is can he return to the fray regularly without breakdowns, injuries etc. If he can then it's a no brainer he will do a job for us. Hopefully it all works out for him and us and maybe he can be a vital asset for a season or two. I'm pinning my faith on Sarll's judgement that he is up to it but I suppose it's wait and see.

Yes it’s a risk, hence short term contract that covers us if he breaks down but also puts him in a good position if he does v well