According to the mail we're in the box seats for Duffy. Plus the game at Leeds could be rearranged from Sept 8 depending on international fixtures.

"EX-HARTLEPOOL United hitman Adam Boyd is set to play a major role in his former club's bid to land goal-scoring successor Darryl Duffy.
Boyd is looking to escape from his Luton Town nightmare after making just nine starts for the Hatters last season as they were relegated from the Championship.
And it is League One rivals Swansea who are preparing to swoop for the striker and throw in the towel in their bid to land Hull City hitman Duffy.
The Swans had appeared frontrunners in the race to bag the Scotland under-21 international but manager Roberto Martinez has admitted Pools are still bang in the frame for his signature.
With Duffy back from his holidays today and the Hull takeover now complete, the want-away star is set to finally resolve his future.
Out-going Tigers chairman Adam Walter Mitty Shithead was quoted as wanting an unrealistic fee of around £500,000 for the attacker who blasted five goals in 10 games on loan at Pools last season and found the net the same number of times when at Swansea.
Neither Pools or the Swans will go anywhere near that total and the South Wales outfit are ready to bail out and make their move for Boyd.
With Scottish side Hibs also out of the running due to wage demands, Pools are pushing hard to get their man.
Swans boss Martinez said: "Hartlepool are making a massive effort for one player, whereas we have others.
"We are in a different situation from them, so I don't know exactly where we stand.
"We have got to wait and see how the new board at Hull see things and, if I'm honest, I'm not that confident about what their reaction might be.
"I'd be very confident if Darryl could have a say, but it's all a bit too up in the air for my liking."
Pools boss Danny Wilson is set to step up his bid to bolster his squad ahead of the new season and has spent much of the week in contact with prospective signings.
The manager is keeping his cards close to his chest regarding names but he is believed to be targeting at least five new players.
With 11 weeks left of the transfer window there will be no need to panic although Wilson is keen to get as many new recruits in place as possible for the beginning of pre-season in the second week of July.
The squad is set to head to a training camp in Holland on the 22 nd of the month.
In the meantime, Wilson is looking forward to the start of the new campaign after the fixtures were released yesterday.
Ironically Pools were handed an opening day trip to Boydie's Luton, where Wilson spent three years as a player from 1987-90 and starred in the 1988 League Cup winning Hatters side.
Promoted Pools make their home bow the following Saturday against Doncaster and they have a trip to relegated Leeds United early on in the season on September 8, although the match could be re-arranged as it clashed with England's Euro Championships qualifier against Israel.
"It will be very tough but it is a great start to the season for us," Wilson told the official website.
"A team that have just been relegated are still finding their feet early on, as we found last season.
"The expectation levels from their fans will be very high so let's hope we can catch them on the hop.
"We'll be looking for a very positive start away from home."

I guess we will just have to wait and see what the Hull board think. I can't see Pools offering anything more than 150K though, if that...

If we had 150K to spend on any one player why would it be on another striker? Is Duffy really that much better than Barker or Porter? Are Brown, Foley, MacKay and Rae no good as second strings?

The defence is good admittedly; of course they are, they've just set a new club record for least goals against. But there is completely and utterly no cover for them unless we take away our best midfielder. We only have three recognised defenders on the books.

If Wilson is reckoning on five new sigings then surely the first three have to be two full backs and a centre back.

Prophetic if we are to believe rivals

To be brutally honest, I'm not sure that we are that strong up front.
Barker has never shone above League 2.
Joel, is injury prone
Brown is still learning his trade and played most of last season at right mid
Foley didn't start that many games last season, his best contributions were coming on as a late sub.
Rae, totally untried.

Hope they all prove me wrong, but at least Duffy played League 1 football last season.

So it's a keeper, 2 full backs, one of whom can play centre back (i.e the Mansfield lad), a right/centre midfielder and a striker (Duffy).
In any order you like

From what I have heard I don't think Wilson rates Porter very highly and as has been said he has been plagued by injuries and fitness worries. As LeicesterPoolie says Browny looks more suited to drifting in from a wide position and is still learning as are Foley and Rae. Barker is a target man and as he admits himself is not a proven goalscorer.

We definitely need a competent finisher and this lad Duffy can certainly do that. I think he is worth the gamble - I'm not aware of any other player as good in that price range.

Given a full season I think Duffy is a 25 goal+ striker.

If we have the chance to sign him we have to take it with both hands without even thinking about what we already have at the club.

Porter is a class act when on sing but has the heart of a dead sheep.

Adam Boyd is delighted to be joining the greatest League One team in the North of England. He said...
'I am looking forward to the challenge here, I think myself and Danny Graham can form a good understanding and get plenty of goals between us. Obviously I would have liked to have played up front with Karl because from what i've seen of him he looked a good player, but he's a Preston player now and I'm just going to concentrate on getting the goals to get this club promoted into the Championship'

Talking of dead sheep, why would Boyd be joining Carlisle, the greatest league one team in the north of England?

Carlisle is in Scotland, everyone knows that.

Is Arran Lee-Barrett a striker like chip?

Did you manage to say that without having to check up on his name?

Makes me laugh that everyone misses one valid point.

He rejected coming here on loan to fire us to the title and instead chose Swansea. He has since said he wanst to join Swansea permenantly. If the little shit doesnt want to play for us then fuck him, he aint wanted.

I wouldn't like to see another Jack Ross scenario, good player or not, that's no good to anyone.
However if he comes and does well, and puts it in for the full season then I'll be more than happy.

Good idea - get him signed, get him fit, bing bang bosh - we have goals......

Having spoken to people witihin the club I have to say that if we sign a striker it may be in the 'experienced' mould (steady Smythe).

The general belief within the club is that by Christmas Michael Rae will be doing 30 mins/ occasional first team games. In a year's time the belief is that he will have eclipsed Boyd at his best. There are no words for how highly he is rated. I can't wait - another gem from the production line. Have our friends down the A66 had a decent kid out of the youth team since ..... well Ron Greener really?

Anyone other than MadJohn (who I know thinks the boy is special) seen much of him?

he's 17/18 and built like an ox and pretty nippy too
great finisher and will be king one day

FFS get in the real world. Not everyone was born with the desire to play for Hartlepool United, he is only looking to better himself. In this instance he is looking to find himself the best deal he can and Swansea will be able to offer that over us but if he can't sort terms out then we can't be so petty to say 'if you don't want to play for us then f*** you' as goalscorers like him don't come round very often.

The word seems to be that Hulls new owners are more likely to accept a more realistic offer for the lad and he would be a major coup for us.

I can't imagine Luton, exactly giving Boydy away, after shelling out £500K
less than a year ago.
So who would you rather 'buy' Duffy or Boyd ?

I watched the dvd reviews of 2003/04 and 2004/05 the other night, and the interviews with Boydie say it all about him I'm afraid. A talented footballer, but with the intelligence of Gascoigne.