Just had a club text! On the website shortly!

Best of luck Gary

A bit of a shock...

Quite surprised by this, considering what was said in the papers towards the end of the season

If he wanted to much we shouldnt have given humphreys a new contract, we could have used the money from that and given liddle what he wanted

Good news. Now lets spend his wages on someone who can control and pass a ball.

Ritchie has nothing to do with this,we don't know why Liddle has been released, we can't really assume it is to do with money either

He was offered 600 a week, less than what he was on last year

He was never going to get the money he was on again after the performances he showed us. Not too bothered that hes gone, will just give more funds to bring someone else in. Only reason I would of kept him was as cover at the back, not as a midfielder.

Why? He refused to stay last season and only bothered to try when he realised no one else wanted him anymore.

Id have been extremely annoyed to see the club release other players (even Humphreys) to make way for someone like Liddle.

Good riddance.

I'm not particularly bothered by Liddle's departure. He'd have left us last summer in an instant given the chance. Never really looked liked he cared about playing for Pools or cared much for the fans. He didn't reach the heights of his first season with us again for me. Good luck to him in the future but we now have more funds freed up for new faces.

Yeah you're right Gary Liddle can't control or pass a ball.......... Honestly some of he shite you read on here!!!

Fucking hell imagine some of stuff that people would have typed about the likes of Jade Sinclair and Scott Sloan message boards been around!! He's been a very good player for Pools but had an under par season, he'll be snapped up by someone at least League One and level and I'd imagine do well for them.

For a central midfielder his control and passing was shocking. If you cant see that your dumber than I already think you are.

Well said PJ - he has been a good player for us over the years and served us well but had a below par season. Best of luck to him, there will be plenty of clubs interested.

He's technically a very good footballer adept at most things. That showed when he played centre back.

Yeah his form was not great last season, but for as bad as he was last season he was superb the season before.

Good news imo. That £600 a week could get us a better midfielder.

I think he was poor this and arguably last season. If he's been offered reduced wages and he's refused them he can try his luck elswhere and good luck to him. I don't think any contracts given to existing players has anything to do with it. I think it's a case of we'd keep you as a squad player for this much a week - take it or leave it.

In the season before last Liddle's success was based on getting around the pitch, putting in strong tackles, breaking up the opposition play and also MW liked his height in there. He has never been a pass and move ball playing midfield player and has spent much of this season hiding from the ball in my opinion. If his commitment is not there then it is not a huge loss dependent upon possible replacements, the huge unknown.

It's a shame because in the season before last in the 5 man midfield structure he did a good job, this season he was very poor

Lets face it he isn't the attack-minded/creative midfielder NC has his mind on involving in his plans.

Yeah some of the shite you read on here, you would imagine he would do well for a league 1 side, we are a league 1 side, why the fuck didn`t he do well for us

I can see him doing well for another league 1 side. A change of scenery can often kick start a career. We cannot give him that.

if he can find his form again then he'd be a very good signing for most league 1 clubs. We now have the scope to bring in a decent midfielder now though, everyones a winner!

I have no strong opinion on this one way or t'other.

I wouldn't of been bothered if he stayed and I'm not bothered he's gone. He was a decent midfielder who seemed to have gone a little stale. I'm confident we could find someone as good or better reasonably easily. I think the problem with Lidds is when he thought Boro were sniffing around he thought he was a better player than he actually is and dropped his work rate.

Very one dimensional player for me .. will put In a shift but is he really worth holding onto just cos he grafts. To move forward the club need somebody that can cover the yards and AND pick a pass/beat a man occasionally. Whilst finding that man is easier said than done I think were covered for holding/grafting midfielders with Murray,Baldwin ( though I concede he is a far better centre half. Would be first choice alongside Hartley for me) the kids coming through and at the risk of inciting another RH dominated thread I can even see Humphries covering Murray in the role for the last 20 minutes of games.. Liddell did a job whilst he was here and helped us bounce back to L1 and stabilise but we move on. I'm sure Liddell will get another club and wish him well.

Had some great seasons with us and 1 bad season. Imo this decision is harsh and I'd be shocked if we can attract a better player

Its not a harsh decision, we offered him terms and was ultimatley his choice.

I'm in the Mr I camp.
We'll have to wait and see what Coopers got up his sleeve.
Most people wanted a clear out, that's 8 gone now with only 1 ( Hassan) who you could say would be on relatively low wages!

People keep saying 1 bad season but Im fairly sure he was nowt flash the season before that!

We are missing a Pedersen, Emerson, Stephenson type of player.
I hope Coopers got someone in mind along the lines of those named above !!

Liddle was offered a brilliant contract last summer but didn't want to commit - he was always taking a risk turning down the contract when Pools clearly wanted him to stay.

He is a very good player but he coasts through too many games for me, I'm totally indifferent about him leaving but wish him well.

If we sign Jonathan Grounds to replace Liddle and Haslam as the versatile player, another winger, a big striker, a creative central midfielder and get Ryan Noble on a season loan then, along with Franks, that will do for me.

Good luck Lidds

you missed out Tinkler!!!!
Mind you we had some really good midfielders in a rather generally shite team in the 90's - Beech, Cullen and Pedersen were all in the same team if I remember right

If we are to move forwards as a club we need better than Liddle, as usual though its a case of can we bring in anyone better on the cheap?

For me, if Ritchie Jones had the right attitude, he's the type of player we need. He could beat a man, pass and cross a ball, just Turner and him didnt seem to work for eachother.

He was that good no other teams came in for him.

Best of luck to him finding a club.

Overall he was a player who has done well for us and who generally had the right attitude but he had a poor year last year.

He wasn't released but has failed to agree terms two years runnning.

Isn't that the problem with 'versatile' players though??

Yeah, they can 'do a job,' in several different positions but where do they excel??

if you look at the way Liddle, Sweeney and dare I say Humphreys, have been shuffled around the team, then what do people expect??

(Waits for shite about Humphreys when people miss the point...)

I mean if your job is as a buyer, do you want the odd spell on sales??

Or scrubbing the cludgie??

So what's your point exactly?

Square pegs, square holes. If someone is asked to do a different job every week they surely can't be as good as someone who does the job well every week and is comfortable in it.

Clear enough??

Is he a central midfielder?? Few people seem to like him in there. Did you?? Did Mr Bep??

spot on

Good luck to him

Whilst I agree that Liddle has had a poor season is it really true that he was offered £600 per week. That's around £31,200 a year.
For a professional footballer and regular first teamer in the third tier of English football the offer, if true, is pretty pathetic. Was it made in order to p!ss him off?
To get even a replacement is going to going to take at least that and if we want to lure someone who could do all Liddle could do and score goals and be creative is going to take a much better offer than £600pw. Especially if we have to entice him up to the area from the south.

I would expect that his offer was around £600 a week less than what he was offered this time last summer which probably still puts him on a wage around the £100k mark.

Regardless of whether the £600 quoted is true, I'd like to think that all of Pools players are on a relatively modest basic wage of around that mark and that it is bumped up by good bonuses for appearances, wins, league position etc.

footballers are only worth what a club is willing to pay for them, if thats £600 per week then so be it, it's still a bloody good wage in the north east, no matter what your profession. If liddle cant afford to live on that, plus bonuses, he's doing summit wrong.

£600pw or the dole?

Easy choice if you ask most people. £600 pw is comfortably over the national average wage for what is a relatively easy job if you have a talent for the sport, a sport that is open to every able bodied man in the world and that is something where the skills can be learned by those with even the bare minimum of intellect.

Go and try and earn £30k + a year in a profession that requires no formal qualifications, pays regular bonuses, that gives you pretty much every afternoon off work and where you have your tools/equipment provided for you FOC, gives you access to private health care and physiotherapy and where you only have to be at your best once (occasionally twice) a week for a hour and a half.

Thousands of lads want to become professional footballers, thousands of lads who have more ability than Liddle are released every year for one reason or another (some of it their own fault), most fans would give up a £30k a year job to play for their home town club for less money.

The club obviously rated him to be worth an amount of money, of Gary Liddle wants to be paid more for his services as a human being he is free to go and look and I wish him all the best in finding a club, but to suggest that the club made a pathetic offer to annoy him is utterly ridiculous.

All cleared up by the Hartlepool Mail...

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/sport/f ... -1-4569124

"In an exclusive interview, Liddle told us: “I’ve got to say that the offer the club made me was a good one – and that is both for Hartlepool United and League One level, if I’d wanted to stay I would have looked for the nearest pen."

If this is true then is anyone else concerned that we offered such an underperforming player such a good deal???

I dont understand HUFC, I never will. Idiots.