So the players are back for pre season including hastie amongst others who did not live upto expectations last season.

So i would like to compare hastie to oates, when oates joined us for the first time we played him on the wing and he was pretty crap when he joined the second time DC played him just of Armstrong and the rest is history.

So with hastie could it happen again if JA plays him just of umerah given the reports of how much we are paying him we have to find a position in the team.

Given Rangers paying some what 300k for him there must be a player in there as i carnt remember a player from pools going for 300k besides the odd one.

Its going to be interesting he may just be crap or could he be another oates ?

What position did he play for Rangers?

Lets give the lad a chance. Askey may get out of him which others saw in the past.

If he's still here and playing for us then he'll get my support, but based on what he's shown so far he's more suited to Sunday League than National League.
Oates in his first spell was forced mainly to play out wide, the few games he played as a striker he looked as if he had potential but was a bit weak and lacked stamina.
No way can you compare the 2, Hastie will probably go back to level 2 or 3 of Scottish football and plod along.

In 118 matches spanning a career of 7 years, that's a rate of only playing 17 games a season he has scored 10 goals at a rate of 1.5 a season. 50 of them games were for alloa and Ayr. I'd be very surprised if the lad makes it on the bench, let alone turn his career around for us.

He had one half-decent game for Keith Curle when he seemed to get the message about work rate and and tracking back when Pools were out of possession - then nothing.

Askey had a good look at the whole squad when he came in and never so much as named Hastie as a substitute, not even when we only had a 3 man bench!

In fact, he never got a look in with Curle either after starting in the 5-0 home drubbing by Stockport.

Unless he's spent the summer running up and down the Cairngorms in his bare feet, he's got less chance of resurrecting his playing career at Pools than Tony Sweeney.

Should freeze him out and make life uncomfortable encouraging him to leave

Up there with our worst ever signings and if the strategy for the season is to hope he magically gets better we are fucked

Don’t forget rumours are that he’s on £1500 pw plus flat.

I said this exact thing to the lads in the boozer on probs the final home game of the season.

I said if hes still here come next season - then up rise the scottish Phoenix within ! Like rightly stated and so did we, the Gers seen something in him to warrant a 300 grand move. They are no mugs and would have had scouts etc watch him before pulling the trigger. Not sure why it just hasnt happened for him over the last 2 seasons but im hoping and praying that JA gets something out of him and he does infact mimic that second homecoming of Oates.

Maybe he can be moulded into a LWB who knows ?

[quote="Eiphos_3"]I said this exact thing to the lads in the boozer on probs the final home game of the season.

I said if hes still here come next season - then up rise the scottish Phoenix within ! Like rightly stated and so did we, the Gers seen something in him to warrant a 300 grand move. They are no mugs and would have had scouts etc watch him before pulling the trigger. Not sure why it just hasnt happened for him over the last 2 seasons but im hoping and praying that JA gets something out of him and he does infact mimic that second homecoming of Oates.

rangers with their money gambling 300 grand for a player that might come off is nothing for them. i,d guess them and celtic have both done the same plus many english clubs have done. its good for the players CV if nothing else and gets them another club because of this. its hard to see that there is not some unsung scottish lad as good as he was but his main achievment was playing for motherwell. managers can turn a players career around but miracles rarely happen.

Owen Moxon is a prime example of hitting it right from up there (not sure if hes a jock but played mostly up there). We ended up with the Ex Rangers winger whom was ideally placed to fill the void left by Mols departure, who ended up absolutely dog shite. Whilst an unknown from literally a scottish sunday league team has an outstanding season and gets promoted with Carlisle.

I read Lee wanted Moxon in the January window last year, I'm sure we'd all have moaned about signing a player from Annan but he's been tremendous for Carlisle, I think he's from Cumbria.

It's called having good scouts. Do we even have any? That actually go to games and watch these players?

I think there is a player in there some where, Hastie is skilful but some thing lacking in his mentality I think.

All players must have something somewhere, but his career record is abysmal after 7 years, will he ever come good?

I suspect we’re flogging a dead horse….there may be something there, but it’s buried so far down inside him we’d need a rig to tap into it.
Maybe he’s pining for the lochs and glens.

Is this a case of;

Marry in Hast(i)e repent at leisure?

absolute parasite on the club sadly--costing a relative fortune and contributed nothing.....it takes something to be the worst of Hartleys signings but this lad managed it.

He needs to get fitter because he's actually very quick, currently one of the fastest at the club over half a pitch. However, I remember the game against Bradford at home and he was visibly blowing out his arse, hands on knees, wobbling in the legs so much his balance went & he fell over backwards and onto his arse.

All the Scottish players were so far away from match fitness (which wasn't helped by the fact Paul Hartley didn't believe in sports science so had the balls out from the outset of pre-season & didn't track fitness stats) - Murray looked like he was running through treacle & I saw Tumilty be sick on the pitch through exhaustion in a first half. Murray then achieved fitness & looked okay. The other two never recovered - but as a collective Tumilty, Niang, Hamilton & NdJoli just aren't good enough at football (fitness or not!).

On the contrary - in moments - Hastie has a good chop on to his left & the ability to beat a player on the outside - but if you're nowhere near fit enough - you're never going to use those skills or pace very often. An attitude issue that was referenced by Curle early on. Get him fit & you might have a player in there.

Hopefully last season is a humbling one for him and if he stays at the club he proves he can get & remain fit because if not, he'll be in part-time football in 24 months.

I said this at the time. In my opinion we had a young lad, a fair distance from home, who maybe resorted to the comfort food etc., who allowed the wrong dietary conditions to creep in.
Maybe a lean super fit Hastie can recapture the form he once had. If the light has finally been switched on in his head the possibility is there.

Time will tell if he’s here for the next season or driving away in the £90k Merc a mate told me he bought at Acklam cars last August.

in years to come he,ll bore his grandkids to death about tales from his career before going into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror thinking i could and should have tried harder.

everything every gers fan said about him came true and i just put it down to maybe the Scottish Prem was out of his depth... think sunday league would be out of his depth just now.

but yeh hes showing the quickest over half a pitch on the fitness assessment this week - he doesnt look like a frump and maybe might take this season a bit more serious - needs a good manager like JA to install something in him or kick up the ass which ever works with a player like him. Seen it myself with young lads. Also living with a pro who takes it very serious also helps !

no doubt he get some minutes pre season and we think he looks class against the likes of Redcar

When I first saw Hastie he remembered me of Steve Kindon of Burnley and Ripley of Middlesbrough from a few years ago. Big strong and fast just shows don’t go on first impressions.

if only he could come off it would be like signing a new player. not banking on it though in the same way i wasn,t expecting oates to do anything when he came back.

Thing is though, Oates always had the effort.

I think your mate was wrong there. I saw Hastie arrive at the ground on a few match days (!!!) in a personal plate Range Rover

My mate who knows I follow Pools sent me a picture of himself stood next to someone at the garage and said guess who, I didn’t know him, I think most of us would struggle and told me what he had bought.

Was the plate…SO OO BAD…?

LZY CNT

SH 1 TE.

BE11 END

CR11APP

I don’t suppose anyone here remembers The White Heather Club programme on tv with Andy Stewart, the closing song was Haste ye Back maybe change to Hastie You Back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxXgCMJ5Y0g

So the person impersonating a footballer, & driving a Range Rover with a number plate which read something like H45TIE, was a complete imposter? The number plate or the sticker in the rear window did refer to Acklam however.

That Range Rover with the Hastie plate was at most home games last season.

no matter what vehicle he does drive and the number plate on it they,ll be worth far more on the market than its owner. her in the kitchen has an old astra estate with the last three letter SLO. ideal for many pools players of the present and past.