...managerial appointment.

I really hope this appointment works for you chaps and chapesses and does not go the way of York and Jackie McManara last season who's time at the mangerial helm really did for York and it is a credit to Mills (who's football style is horrible) who so nearly saw them escape the drop.

As a disciple of lower league football (not always out of choice), I have attended a couple of Welsh Premier League games and very occasionally watch some of the televised matches on Virgin when I have nothing else to do and would say it is roughly equivelant to Step 8 football in the English football pyramid and arguably not as competitive, also WPL clubs don't play anywhere near the amount of games a VNL club plays. TNS are the only full time club in the WPL which I imagine gives them a huge advantage as well as thier 3G pitch. Take a peek a at Sutton's & Maidstone's home records this season to see the effect 3G has.

I hope I can on here next season and say it was an inspired managerial appointment.

~Dave the Cardboard Box

Dave you are a gent. Thanks for your good wishes and keep posting.

Enjoy being back in the football league next season, gutted we aren't playing you to be frank. Lincoln is a cracking away day.

I shall follow your progress next season with interest, i imagine you'll decent exposure through BT Sports.

~ Dave the Cardboard Box

Cheers Dave....a true gent and a welcome poster to The Bunker....May it continue!!!!

I think the difference with MacNamara though is he had invested some money so it was always going to be tricky to get rid. He ended up walking rather than being pushed which was about a year too late

At least you dodged a bullet with Paul "the brand" Cox.

~ Dave the Cardboard Box

Thanks for the info Dave in this and other posts.

Yes Dave keep posting I enjoy your knowledge of non league. Wish we stayed up was looking forward to Lincoln, now living in Horncastle

Your a 100x closer to Sincil Bank than yours truly.

My take on the VNL next season:

I can't see past Tranmere as Champions unfortunately for you boys. Micky Mellon will have a whole pre-season with 'his' squad rather than the one he inherited from Brabin. To achieve a points haul of 95 points in those circumstances was impressive. Only Wrexham have amassed more and not got promoted (98) when they came 2nd to Crawley Who hold the record points haul of 105 for the Conference.

After that I can see it being a right royal bun fight.

Aldershot wont be far behind, the best footballing side in the VNL and have astutely already have locked nearly all thier squad for next season. In Gary Waddock they have a top manager as well.

I can't see Eastliegh having a second poor season and could well be up there particuarly with thier backers

The Daggers I can see having a similiar season to this and they still have the last year of thier parachute payment and John Still knows the VNL like the back of his hand.

I can see Fylde being in the mix with thier backers, it'll be interesting to see if Danny Rowe can become the next Ricky Miller, if he does. I can see Fylde putting a credible promotion push together.

Dover could well struggle without Ricky Miller, but have an able replacement in Ross Lafayette so be could around the POs.

Something is not right at Barrow and thier style of play is not flexible enough, particulary in the later half of the season in my opinion. But, that said will be a strong top half club.

Gateshead, flatter to decieve but have a good mananger in Aspin.

I can see Torquay being the dark horse and may be the surprise package next season.

As to the two relegated clubs, I really don't know. In recent history there has been a trend to be in relegation battle as opposed to a bounce back to the EFL. In the 1st season in the Conference the Imps were one match away from Conference North, both York and Stockport got out of the division the wrong way after relegation from the FL with Kidderminster not lasting much longer. I worry for Orient with thier preoccupation with thier on-going off field issues. But, on the flip it could glavanise the playing staff, who knows?

I was a fan of ethier, knowing what I know I'd be looking for a solid mid-table finish and anything better than being a bonus and build for the second season. I know that does not sound not very ambitious. But it is the reality of the VNL.

But, most of all enjoy it.

~ Dave the Cardboard Box

Fair assessment Dave.

At this moment in time , I would settle for a mid table placing, think it could be a 3 year job rather than straight back up.

Its all about the money for me, Ideally would be nice to have a league 2 strength team playing in the VNL, attracting players from league 1 or 2 who are prepared to play below their level, that of course depends on what money is or will be made available, at the moment it doesn't look good on that score.

Assuming then little or no money available , are we to scour the VNL or lower for players? if this is the case then we are competing with likes of Gateshead for the same type of players. Now only a few years ago we would of laughed at someone choosing Gateshead over us, but maybe not so now, this is the reality of our situation. The same could be said of Orient who will be competing with Dagenham for players, but there has always been a plentiful supply of players around London, for us up here in the NE the situation is made more difficult because of our isolation. Even good players locally playing for Blyth or Spennymoor, may be happier working and playing for clubs like that part time rather than full time at Hartlepool. Someone mentioned new manager bringing players from TNS. Even if they were good enough, there is this assumption that coming to Hartlepool would mean more money for them. I would hazard a guess, the players at TNS were on the same or not much less than the majority of players at Hartlepool last season.

One thing for certain is, our recruitment from now on has to be absolutely spot on, even more so if we have little or no money to spend.

You might find it hard to sign part time players onto full time contracts. Some of the Darlo players will be coming out with around £1k a week when coupled up with their day jobs. Even the lowest paid ones will be on around £500 all in. Are they going to give that up for a years contract?
Thats before you even consider the likes of Gateshead and Spennymoor who pay way above what they should for the crowds they attract. Then you have the likes of Harrogate, a club on the up, who are now going full time and who have a "money is no object" chairman.

I live in Hykeham. Pretty gutted too.

That makes York's decision to remain full time even more surprising. It means they will be fishing at the bottom end of the pro pool rather at top end of the semi-pro pool.

Part time footballers are on a really good crack wage wise.

~ Dave the Cardboard Box

The bulk of that cash will be from very good day jobs. Less than half that from their football wage.
Kidderminster are full time in National North but they only have around half a dozen on good money, the rest are young players on a couple of hundred a week. Thats less than what most Darlo players are getting from the football.

Which makes York's decision to remain full time boardering on bizarre.

~Dave the cardboard Box

if you are right about torquay they are currently 40/1 with 1/4 the odds for 1st 3 places

[/quote]Someone mentioned new manager bringing players from TNS. Even if they were good enough, there is this assumption that coming to Hartlepool would mean more money for them. I would hazard a guess, the players at TNS were on the same or not much less than the majority of players at Hartlepool last season.[/quote]

According to their accounts to 31 Dec 2016, TNS's annual staff costs were £402k for 32 employees. The year before that they were £513k. I can't remember exactly but in Pools last published accounts, weren't players wages alone in excess of £2 million?

It was the case , even in 1970s that some players in Northern League were on more wages than playing for Pools, and probably before that. Oh and in my OP I forgot to mention South Shields, who probably are the NE's biggest chance of getting league football in next 5 years, Arca could of played league football last 2 years, our scouts/recruitment gurus obviously missed that, or maybe couldn't match his wages at SS.

Someone mentioned new manager bringing players from TNS. Even if they were good enough, there is this assumption that coming to Hartlepool would mean more money for them. I would hazard a guess, the players at TNS were on the same or not much less than the majority of players at Hartlepool last season.[/quote]

According to their accounts to 31 Dec 2016, TNS's annual staff costs were £402k for 32 employees. The year before that they were £513k. I can't remember exactly but in Pools last published accounts, weren't players wages alone in excess of £2 million?[/quote]

We would as supporters all like to know what players earned. Unfortunately it is a secret society. so we can only guess.

Got to ask about South Shields. As an exile I have no idea about local footy so interested in your view as to why that is. Do they have a wealthy benefactor or a decent ground? I've always been surprised by the absence of more NE teams in the conference (think the part vs. Full time is a strong argument) but why are their chances of league football so good?

Edit just checked and they've just won the northern league division one, so still need to go through the Evo-Stik Premier and then the Conference North before they get to the Vanarama. Do you really believe they have a better chance of league football than pools over the next five years?

I don't believe you are a cardboard box.

Fair point though.

South Shields have been higher in the league than Pools ever were.
Well, not exactly the South Shields we're talking about here unless you consider them a Phoenix club that's been over 80 years in the making.

As it stands YES ! They have money , and fans who have hope , we have neither

Dave 3 seasons ago South Shields lost their ground tenure and relocated to Peterlee, playing to home crowds of 86 in NL2. A rich benefactor came on board and relocated them to Shields, upped the playing budget won promotion to NL1, won that the league Cup and the FA Vase. Now playing in front of 1to2000 home crowds. Arca is rumoured to be getting half the gate money. Also the benefactor has updated the ground. Club has ambition and the "new" supporters seem to be disgruntled Premier League fans who enjoy value for money.

I heard that Arca receives a certain percentage (no idea how much, could well be be 50%) if their gates are four figures, which they are quite often.

All that money and they still have a 'dodgy' generator Fairtyale stuff......

And where was this same benefactor and where were the crowds in 1930 when they got MK Donned to Gateshead? Eh? Eh?
And where was he in 1974 when they got hijacked to Gateshead AGAIN?
Are we seeing a pattern here?

Ok, thanks for the info, good luck to them, if they can manage three promotions in five years they will be worthy of a league place!

I think Mr Monty its a case of watch this space. Hopefully for South Shields the benefactor doesn't get bored and pull his money out. Look what happened to Celtic Nation!