squad number 20

Anyone doing cartwheels?

Handstand, it half way there, we've added someone to the squad, for the time being that will do me.

Fantastic signing.
Quantity, just what we needed:)

a bit of a coup stealing him from under the noses of workington. workingtons loss is our gain.

Dunno about you lot, but my appetite is now well and truly whetted!

thank fook i've got my season ticket

Sorry to be negative but in this case I think its called for.

How Pools expect to stay up by signing someone who was released by Shrewsbury is beyond me.

we are short on numbers in midfield and he is as good, if not better than what we have.

Interesting to see if it is only a month though. Assuming Chip is right then come september we will have Gamble, Humphries, Sweeney and Yantorno (who should have signed by then) who can play there. Not much strength in depth at all...

surely it depends on the reason why he was released? A bit like Haslam who was a decent signing as a backup

That's easy. It's because we haven't got a pot to piss in. I truly believe that our beloved football club is on the bones of it's proverbial.

at least it wasn't a two year deal ala Larkin and Mackay, looks like we're learning.

No they just aren't prepered to lob pots of cash at bloke who was given the scope to totally over haul the entire squad last summer with players on two year contracts.

I don't blame them personally. A couple of years ago we only signed Power and Jones over the summer when they had lost faith in Wilson, were we on the bones then?

isn't that a case of cutting their nose off to spite their face though?

No, we have a rather big squad I bet our wage bill is over the £1,500,000 a year mark. I'd say to Turner "you want new players, well get rid of some of the ones you signed last year and now obviously don't rate"

He thought the likes of Larkin was worth a two year deal, that is not the owners fault is it?

you're quite right, that isnt their fault. What IS their fault however, is their unwillingness to remove a man from the managers position, who is clearly not up to it.

He thought the likes of Larkin was worth a two year deal, that is not the owners fault is it?[/quote]

The owners are a bit at fault for giving turner the cash to sign players on 2 year deals,

i agree, giving players like Larkin, Fredriksen 2+ years contracts was madness.

But it appears IOR are saying

a) we won't replace Turner, or at least put a manager in charge
b) he wont have any more money unless he can sell players (which he can't)
c) They will risk relegation based on the above points.

Surely surviving in league 1 is the main priority? Unless of course as someone previously mentioned, IOR are on the bones of their arse.

In all the years IOR have owned Pools do we really know anything about them? They are one of the most secret companies around and what position does Uncle Ken actually have with them?

So to say they are on the bones of their arse none of us really knows.

The above may be incorrect.

Wadsworth has the title "First team coach" which may be "manager" in all but name.

Pools have never as far as I can remember had a so called first team coach, it's usually been assistant/reserve team manager.

Yes Turner may still be on the bench but who can actually say in all honesty that he's the one who will make the decisions.

Wadsworth may well be the one who picks the team, decides on the tactics and actually makes the substitutions.

The decision to terminate West's tenure at the club always seemed a bit strange to me.

If IOR are on the bones of their arse surely we wouldnt have signed anybody at all, let alone 3 players this week.

...Murrays the insider, a long term friend and confidante of Wadsworth, he'll be there to get an early insight as to who's committed to the cause and who is'nt ........IMO.

I think it says that it's Turners last chance as manager. Looks to me like they've said 'You had the big clear-out and change last season, so all you need is a few additions - all those signed last season should be settled and be fully fit. no more excuses - it's your squad now.'

If things go well, they may be prepared to give him a bit more cash next time round. Fail, then it's bye bye and give the new manager the funds.

It's a huge season for Turner. If he fails, then I cannot ever see him managing a league club again...

He's clearly one of the good guys in football, and it's a shame if it came to that as he's done an awful lot of good for this club.

Could it be that Wadsworth will take over as Manager and Murray is his assistant in waiting

so are you suggesting that a takeover could still be on the cards?

Quality midfielder in his day, could play in any League One promotion side and even a few Championship teams. But that 7 years ago. He really is past it these days, his injuries have taken their toll on him and it's no wonder he ended up at Gretna and Shrewsbury. I'll always like Muzza, but League One is far above his level. Workington sounds about right. He's not a shade of the midfielder he once was. he no longer has the legs and reaction speed to take the ball forward or to make the killer pass in a split second. You might be left with a grafter but a injury ridden 33 year old with no legs can only graft for so long. I wish him all the best.

He'll fit in then.

Sounds ominous but no doubt the rose tinted brigade on here will dismiss your post as sour grapes because he is playing for us and not you etc. He may have had two leg transplants recently and be a whole diferent player now. Who knows?!

whereas you have already made your judgement based on some randoms (no offence Latics Fan ) opinion.

The irony of Grave pigeon holing anyone as ’the rose tinted brigade’ is hilarious!!

You could almost write his replies for him they are so predictable! What are you ’the face like a slapped arse brigade?’ ’Not happy unless moaning FACT brigade?’

now, now PJ. Grave would describe himself as realistic and truthful.

heard today that the corner flag building is not going to be around much longer as it does not fit in with the prospective buyers expansion plans.

its got to be true because it came from a member of the corner flag ladies darts team.

is that genuinely true?

yes

prospective buyer of HUFC? or the prospective buyer of the ground and the land around it?

Basically what i'm asking is.....Is the takeover/investment malarkey still rumoured to be on?

I am genuinely trying to be positive but all I can see is that we're signing someone elses version of Richie Humphreys. I shudder to think what the quicker teams in L1 will do to Pools with those two in midfield.

....Yes but with their increased waist-lines it will be more difficult for the oppo' to get around them.

based on the 80 odd mins i seen him play against Leeds, he's much better than Humphreys.

Are we allowed to say such a thing!

At this point in time Im quite prepared to value his opinion more than anyone elses on here as he has presumably seen him play more often. I cant see any ulterior motive for him saying that Murray is not the player he was and will struggle a bit.

If he has got it majorly wrong then great. From what I have heard, Murray and Wadsworth pretty much go hand in hand so why do away with the "favours for mates" ethos at the club.

If, as Chip says its a month deal then it makes sense having him as cover for humps. Its not exactly a cartwheel signing like and I would hope the club start to sign younger players with ambition than journeymen (which imo, is one of the reasons why things have gone a bit awry over recent seasons). We have too many players with nothing to play for.

I actually thought he did really well in the latter stages of the Leeds game and considering his legs have supposedly gone and we were playing a team far greater and stronger who he had been playing 'keep ball' all afternoon there still might be something left in his tank. I certainly hope so.

We're going to have one of the weakest squads in the League this year but that doesn't mean that with with a bit of refreshing positive attitude from players and managers alike, hard work and utilising our best assets that we can't salvage something from it.

ah, but i never categorically stated that Humphreys was shiite, so i think i'm allowed

You don't need to. it's like telling everyone the sky is blue.

Ah fair enough mate. We had him on trial in the first week of pre season and he was release a couple of days later. If we wanted to sign him, we would have offered him a deal. I know you have had him on trial for a fair few weeks now, (well, since we signed Jones) and you have waited a long time to offer him a deal. It sounds like maybe you are a little light and have maybe offered him a short deal out of desperation and that he's had no other offers from other L1 or L2 clubs either. I dunno, I'm just surprised he's got a professional deal because I think he's too past it to play at L2 consistently.

It pains me to talk about Muzza this way, because as I said, in the 02/03 and 03/04 season he was immense. And he gets into my Latics team of the decade at centre mid. Quality, quality player who chipped in with a fair few goals during his time.