Yes you have and I have told you for months that I am not watty.
I have all the messages you sent me along with all the replies I sent to you. In those messages you stated that you would never divulge what you 'discovered', but you have divulged it haven't you? I have sent a message to Mr I to clear this up once and for all.
As for being an intelligent poster.....................I would class an intelligent poster as someone who has an opinion, states it and then respects other people's opinion. I would also expect that person to check all and any available information as to why the chairman of the football club acts or performs in any or every specific manner, which is all I am asking you do do.
Mr Hixon ( sorry for getting his name wrong earlier) gave the club a present. That present was subsequently hung on the wall in the Centenary lounge. THERE IS NOTHING WRITTEN IN STONE TO SAY IT IS GOING TO STAY THERE. I am not trying to be rude here Mutters, but why are you refusing to consider that?

Good solid Hartlepool lad, on the coaching staff of the Championship play off finalists and a former Pools player.

Get it up

Serioulsy, another daft comparison Mr Mutley. Newcastle United aren't our rivals, Darlington are.

Mountains are being made of mole hills here.

Don't goad him, he'll only stomp out again

You say it as if I was bothered you went in the first place

Shearer likes Pools, so Pools should like Shearer - it's only fair.

PS....Looks like I deleted most of the post doing this!!!!

Serioulsy, another daft comparison Mr Mutley. Newcastle United aren't our rivals, Darlington are.

sorry i dont speak Shakesperian, what did you say?

...obviously, sorry for slipping the four syllable word in to add to the confusion as well, would you like it in Zippy and Bungalese..? crayon or felt tip...?

Nah, I do see your point and partly agree with it but I just wanted to present an alternative view from smearing shiit all over it.

It didn't help that some people struggled to put their view clearly, like Jonny comparing it to Cantona at Newcastle

He opened the lounge didn't he? There is a plaque below the picture saying this it's not just a big picture of Alan Shearer for no reason.

He's one of the best strikers to play for England isn't he?
A PICTURE OF HIM IN AN ENGLAND SHIRT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SO BAD.What would peoples thoughts if say it was Gary Lineker who had opened the lounge?
Is it the Newcastle thing? YES
Actually if it was the boy Lineker he might have brought his new bird and that would have been alright.

I'm a little confused what the issue is? What if it was Sir Bobby Robson? HE WOULDNT HAVE BEEN IN A MAG SHIRT
Would people be as up in arms if it was any of these or is it because some people don't like Shearer?

I think it's a pretty trivial thing to get so passionate about to be honest.

Try seeing the big picture for once, Darlo pose no real threat to Pools apart from the bragging rights, but how much money spent on shirts etc, .... and support, do the likes of Newcatle suck out of the local economy, while you are shouting at the loids and they're shouting back, the premiership stooges are in the back door and counting the takings.

Then why do they do the work??

I didn't see anybody having a moan when Peter Beardsley opened the study centre like, agreed he played a few games for Pools but he's hardly Leo Hardin is he?? And he was a mag, and he scored tons for Newcastle.

Shearer, ex-England captain, shedload of caps, bigger shedload of goals, League Championship winner, acknowledged TV pundit.

Forget who his team was in that photo and the bloke is a legend, and it's prestigious to have a legend open your Lounge, like.

Who did you want Johnny?? Gerri Halliwell??

I have no problem with Alan Shearer, in fact as a player I admired him a great deal. I also don't have much of a problem with Newcastle United. It's the shirt-wearing, badge-kissing, sky-watching Hartlepool Mags that get on my tits.

But I still reckon this is a misstep and a misjudgement from Ken Hodcroft. He's not daft, and he surely must have known that putting a huge portrait of a Newcastle player in a HUFC Centenary Suite would not go down well with HUFC fans. He may support Newcastle; we, emphatically, do not. The portrait of Newcastle's most celebrated recent player captured in the moment of scoring yet another Newcastle goal to the delight of Hartlepool Mags all over the town, is at best a touch patronising and at worst a slap in the face for the Pools fans.

But Shearer's opened the Suite now. He can't go back and unopen it. I would hope that the Suite becomes something of a Hall of Fame to the Hartlepool United players and staff who have done their bit over the years to ensuring we have a centenary to celebrate. When that happens, hopefully the portrait can be quietly moved and replaced with a plaque by the door saying that the Suite was opened by Alan Shearer, England International, 63 caps, 30 goals, with a small picture of Shearer in an England shirt. There should be no room for the large portrait among all the even larger portraits and photos of the Poolie legends.


To be honest it's not so much the portrait itself that set off alarm bells, it was some of the wording on the piece that accompanied it. All this talk of "cementing the link", "to enhance the link further" etc. Now yes Newcastle did provide our first ever opponents (a weak side that we thumped 6-0, but still a Newcastle XI), and they have provided strong opposition over the years for testimonials (for Moore, Stamper, McGuigan, Honour etc.) but I wasn't aware we had any such link. Maybe I am just naturally paranoid, but I hope we don't hear the words "special relationship" anywhere in our future, because that is when we cease to have a club.

To be honest it's not so much the portrait itself that set off alarm bells, it was some of the wording on the piece that accompanied it. All this talk of "cementing the link", "to enhance the link further" etc.