I know I've said this before BUT....... from the lack of activity s beginning to worry me a little. It's possibly reaching being alarming

I know we have trialists in and they may turn out to be worth signing, but fact that they being given trials means that they surely not the players we wanted , if they were we would have them signed up as oppossed to just looking at them in training.

The Holland tour begins next week with a game on Tuesday 13th July, now I believe that any player we really want should be signed up by then so they can "bond" with their new team mates on the tour. I think we will get players in but if as a season ticket holder I'm worried, what feelings will fans who are considering buying one be having and will this lack of activity stop them doing so.

I appear to be moaning a lot more this pre-season than any other I can remember. I want to be optimistic, I want the season to begin and to hopefully see Pools have a successful season but for fans to grasp the new season they need something to say, "now that will make me go to games/ that looks promising/ F******g hell in a positive way."

Come on Pools fans just want something positive.

At the end of the day today is the 7th July that's 4 weeks to kick off of the new season, and that's not really a long time.

Turner keeps saying he is amazed how many player are available.

But we aint signing any

the ones turner has his eye on are still playing in the world cup

And if we signed up a load of players without giving them a trial you'd be asking why we didn't take the chance to look at them properly first, and then reiterating the same thing over and over again for the next 10 months if any of them turned out to be less than world beaters.

I've accepted that Turner will be in charge come kick off, whether I'm happy with that is another thing.

With Wadsworth reportedly in charge on the training ground and giving Turner the right information to select the team and hopefully listen to Wadsworth with regards to tactics etc, that may be an improvement, I hope so.

But the current(previous) squad needs new faces, I think we will all agree with that. The last season finished about 2 months ago and we have signed 1 player, who with all due respect is simply a back up player (Rafferty for Flinders).

So unless the previous squad, which did so badly last season can totally turn it around we (IMHO) are looking at the same again.

Numerous players out no replacements as yet.

Maybe Fredrikson, Bjornnson, Larkin, even Boyd will be far better. or given a chance to show they can do it.

And Brown will have an injury free season, as that will be a bonus.

What I said was these trialists cant be the players we had hoped to sign, if we had any players in mind to bring in.

Did we give Flinders, Austin,Mcsweeney, Behan, Bjornnson, Haslam, Gamble, trials last season....NO.

I don't have a problem with giving players trials I have a problem with lack of definite signings. Kick off, as I said is 4 weeks away so I'll ask you 1 question,

Should we have the "nucleus" of a squad together for the new season now.....1 word answer...YES or NO

You may say we have the nucleus of a squad together, and that's the players from last season but I believe we need players in that have a proven calibre in League 1. if the Murray rumour correct and he on trial can you say your happy with that a 33 yr old who was in talks with Workington before we offered him a trial. Now if he was dropping a league or two I would say fair enough but he was about to drop into the Conference North, yes thats's right the Conference North, even teams in League 2 and the BSP had over-looked him, including our neighbours down the A66, that doesn't fill me with much confidence, does it you??

We already have the nucleus of the squad together, we need two or three good signings in key positions to add to what we have rather than a major transformation like we had last season.

Think you're being kind with numbers there Mr R, after last season I think we need two strikers, two central midfielders, at least one centre half and a left back.

So this Uruguayan is a right winger? Not an area I'd be focusing on myself as I think Brownie and McSweeney are adequate enough there

We need a left back and we need a central midfielder to play alongside a rested and fully fit Joe Gamble. We have, provided they stay fit, Boyd, Brown, Bjornsson and Behan to play up front. I think all four of them will be better than they were last season. A centre half would be nice to supplement Collins, Liddle and Hartley although I am hoping that Liddle and Hartley could be a good first choice pairing if we don't manage to get a new face for that position.

Think about it… the rumours?

It’s fairly obvious that most players don’t want to discuss moves whilst they are still involved in something like the World Cup.

I hope this goes some way to explaining the lack of activity.

it could be a number of things, but i am starting to worry slightly.

Is the rumour of investment true? If so it would make sense to wait until its happened before signing anyone.

Either way there are a lot of questions and very little answers. We know Turner would like them in before we go away, we know we are after a Left back, a central midfielder and a pacy striker. We are looking at a lot of triallists, which suggests a lack of funds?

I would rather sign nobody, rather than sign people for the sake of it.

Apologies for offending you MrB, but those are my sentiments exactly.

If we are to have an injection of funds it makes sense to

1. secure the funds
2. sign target players
3. announce funding

That way we won't see over-inflated fees and wages

We will only have evidence when we start signing "cartwheel" signings/loans

I hope all the rumours are true otherwise it has been the most boring close season for many a year.

I would have serious reservations about those 4 being our main strikers going into the new season, they all have serious inconsistency problems for one reason or another and I'd be surprised if they suddenly clicked into place. The latter two have failed to impress me at all and you could probably count the amount of good games they've had for the club on one hand.

Signing up trialists does'nt instill me with any confidence, many choose to impress to obtain a contract, then take their feet off the gas when secure. Murray sounds like another Colin Larkin, whereas the Uruguayan sounds like a Gus Dilella type.
We already have half a dozen players who show promise, the idea of signing and taking the risk on another 3 or 4 is decidedly foolhardy IMO. I understand that prizing star players away from fellow teams is maybe beyond us, but why are we not trying to do it at the teams below our level ie:- York, Morecambe,Grimsby,Lincoln etc.
The last two players I can recall us poaching from another team(who did'nt want them to leave) were Barker and Austin.