Picked up the free Hartlepool Life and found an article on the back page that was a bit gushy in the tribute department.

It would be like Ant without Dec, Wimbledon without Andy Murray or the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger.

Unthinkable, unjust, unreal. And any other ‘uns’.(not mu punctuation by the way.

Sadly, it is real and hopefully the decision to discard the 34 year old will not come to haunt Pools…….

And….
…..Life is not sure how Pools succeed without Featherstone.( again, not my grammar.

and more stuff in that style, it would appear we are doomed, mind you they thought he …’ still looked good for another season or two in his beloved blue and white stripes’.
I think not.

To be fair Nicky did a great job over the 9 years and deserves respect for that. Would have loved him to stay as a squad player coach etc but doubt it will have any major effect on our season.

Did a great job over 9 years - really??
He's been a keystone of a piss poor midfield for years. His best years are long past him and he's been coasting along so not really what we need is it?
Bit like Richie Humphreys (but nowhere near the player he was), stayed too long and the game just passed him by too often.
He was offered a contract and turned it down - bye then!

He cant of been as good as what some make out.
No promotion to league One if memory serves me well n 2 relegations to Non League.
Its a team game.
Time to move forward.

UTP.

I'll have to read this article regarding the teams success with him in it, because i seem to have missed something.
One promotion,two near relegation & two actual relegations is what I remember

where has he ended up anyway?
Not the worst of players we have had over last 10 years but as above, its been a piss-poor decade in terms of quality

He was fantastic for 18 months in the conference, other than that he was part of a midfield that was over run for years.

You could also say he played in a lot of bad sides with players who were too similar (and not as good) alongside him - the likes of Michael Woods, Lewis Hawkins, Liam Noble and Ryan Donaldson.

Or you could say his lack of mobility, inability to tackle, fear of taking a tackle, reluctance to make forward passes or get forward himself, weakened our midfield regardless of who played alongside him?
As you say he played with a lot of other midfielders yet in a consistently poor midfield for years he was the one constant for the vast majority of that time.
Lots of people may say he'll be a miss, I don't think so, Askey didn't play him much until Sylla spat his dummy out and we looked a better unit.
At the end of the day if he was any good he wouldn't have been here for 9 years, and where is he now?

think he would be regarded by fans much better if he had played in a good pools side for 9 seasons. when we were good so was he but when we were bad he became invisable. i,d have liked to see him for one last season and doubt he,d get much of a better offer as pools gave him no matter how poor he thought it was.

You've got to wonder at all those managers, including Dave Challinor, who thought - 'this bloke is rubbish, I'll give him another contract.'

I don't have a problem with Pools moving on without him - but the small minority of Pools fans who have always singled him out for criticism do get on my tits.

'Fear of taking a tackle?' Oh aye, he always treated the ball like a hot potato, didn't he? Got rid of it as fast as possible

He could shield the ball brilliantly if an opponent was close to him but if one came running at him hard his arse dropped out.
Didn't Challinor like other managers offer a contract which he mulled over for quite some time before signing on again? Says it all really, was looking for a better deal but no-one else wanted him. Remind me where is he now?
All about opinions and he's one that splits it massively. I'd say Woods and Noble we're better and for a similar type to Feb I think Dolan is better too.

Enough said!

Well regarding Woods didn't Ronnie Moore comment on him being our best player when he broke his leg?
Liam Noble had a fall out with the manager after dressing room spats where he questioned the motivation and passion of some of our players.
Take a look at the career stats of the 3 then try to keep convincing yourself that Feb was the best of them.
As I said, opinions - when Feb arrived I thought he was class, but since he reverted mainly to sitting in front of the defence I mainly didn't rate him as he offered no protection due to his lack of pace and powder puff tackling.
I wish him well but I doubt he'll play at league level again. Onward and upward starting today.

thought noble was a complete waster but woods was another that many loved to hate. around the time he was with us he was actually my lads favourite player in the few times he saw us and his performances were no better than his average games he had. think every club has a -player that a lot of fans never take to and pools fans are no worse. just who will be the new featherstone now he has gone.

Callum Cooke - it already started last season. Couple of numpties near me were blowing a gasket every time he mishit a pass. Strangely silent about all the good stuff... Unfortunately, that sort of shit does get a reaction from impressionable types if you keep it up long enough.

Surely if he was such a good player ,he'd have stood out more with poorer players around him
Relegation out of the league 3 times,suggest he isn't.

For some of us he did stand out - including all those managers who kept giving him new contracts. Even relegated sides have a few decent players. After Hereford got relegated to the Conference he turned down the offer of a new deal from them to join Walsall in League One.

He's so good that he's been snapped up by ..............

Not gone level 6 or 7 yet - where Woods and Noble have been since 2020! (and they're both younger than Featherstone)