... Ryan Donaldson.

The same lad we once had on loan ??

Yes the same lad.


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Been around a bit but good age.

I thought "that name sounds familiar" and was slightly startled to realise that its 6 years since he was here on loan.

Darlo fan...missed a penalty...wasnt overly loved in his loan spell.

However did very well at Conference level in the past

That was club legend Tom Craddock.

To be fair Donaldson's loan spell was equally as bad!!

Beat me to it PJ!!

Played 33 times for a promoted Plymouth last season so can't be too bad these days.


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Ahhh so it was.

Yep, he got a lot of game time from Plymouth so there was likely some interest from League 2 clubs.

Well done Craig Harrison and welcome back Ryan!

Centre back to follow....

No doubt you are all on the season ticket train now, or are you still boycotting?

There was like 2 or 3 people who openly said they are waiting.

Im still waiting till the news Coxall has gone.

Not aware of anyone boycotting them.

Hope this helps.

Another solid piece of business. Hard not to be impressed with Harrison and Pam.

Magnay now signed new deal

Good stuff. Not sure he should be wearing the Dave Jones memorial jumper though.

Interesting statement from Cambridge one of Donaldsons ex clubs.

Quote: This signing is a statement of intently from Hartlepool.

That's what you get from having a university in your village.

People from here have worked very hard to get Coxall out of the club, as opposed to hanging out of the back of him and saying he had done nothing wrong.

That included some of us saying we wouldn't be getting season tickets till he fucked off. If in some peoples eyes that makes us not " proper fans " frankly, I do not give a fuck.

Had he stayed our club would have sunk even further. I have no regrets about the small part I may ( or may not ) have played in getting him out of the club. Its pretty fucking obvious how much better things are already without him here - so not sure what point you are trying to make.

Agreed i think we can say a lot of effort is now being made to turn the club around who knows how we will fair next season because it may take a bit of time for the team to gel how ever it now looks to me a few people are making a difference behind the scenes and i suppose thats all we can ask for after that dog shit coxhall.

A backup GK, solid centre half and someone with a wand of a left peg next please...

All in all a very good day. I'd have been chuffed enough with the investment from Utility Alliance (UA) so was really, really chuffed with the signing of Donaldson and especially Magnay signing a new contract.

I can't believe that UA would be stupid enough to part with that much cash without having the relevant assurances regarding where the money is going and I am really impressed about naming the ground, or rather, not insisting on a change to the UA Ground or whatever. How refreshing is that?

I'll reserve judgement on Donaldson but on the face of it it's the kind of player we should be targetting - ie League 2 squad players (as opposed to the best players from the leagues below us).

I also think Magnay signing is a bit of coup because he surely would've had offers from league clubs and could easily have walked. Obviously he's only recently returned from a bad injury but I'm pretty sure he'd have had offers. I think his signing may also help towards others signing another contract like Podge with a bit of luck.

Very good day to be a Poolie I think.

No season ticket for me until I've seen the fixtures because I can't make any mid-week games at all.....so just need to wait and see.....like others, I'd also like to see Coxall and JPNG removed from the club full stop.

Donaldson was a kid used to reserve footy when we had him last. I'm sure he'll be a much improved player now, the number of appearances he's made since he was here last tells me he must have.

As others have said Magnay is an important signing too, he'd be my captain.

"I'll reserve judgement on Donaldson but on the face of it it's the kind of player we should be targetting - ie League 2 squad players (as opposed to the best players from the leagues below us)."

Totally agree with this - certainly need more league standard players with experience through the door. Wonder if we end up with anyone from TNS before the season kicks off ? least now we don't have to worry about a transfer window.

Cant wait to see a few pre season games and see what formations Craig will play with these new players.

Donaldson seems like the sort of player we need in this league. He won promotion from the Conference, as it was then, with Cambridge, scoring the play-off winner against Gateshead at Wembley. A couple of seasons with them in League 2 and 33 appearances for Plymouth last year. All of this suggests he could be a valuable player for us this coming season.

The only bad thing about bringing another forward in is that Amond leaving seems nailed on...

I think Donaldson has played centre mid a fair bit in recent seasons.

I knew about this deal a few months back

I think the assumption is he scored loads of goals for Grimsby in this league so he'll do the same for Pools. I didn't think he stood out as anything special in League Two either, but there's a 'he was never played in his best position' argument that will be along shortly... Might be right.

He was alright in League Two, our top scorer despite playing on the wing at times and as a sole striker. Others have said he got all his goals playing alongside a big man for Grimsby but I'll just have to take their word for that. The fact he's scored goals in the past at this level makes his a better bet than anyone else we have.

When he came here on loan he was still employed by the Mags and was probably pampered, he came here with a Billy big bollocks attitude and was shite.

Hopefully 6 years in the lower echelons has rid him of that and he understands a work ethic.

When he was on loan with us, Donaldson had to be one of the worst players I have ever seen in a pools shirt. Since then though he has proved himself as a steady if unspectacular league 2 player (, though still not many goals in him , even as a midfielder ) given that we are playing a level below that, I would say it is a decent signing.

I've seen players with far less ability I just don't think he came with the best attitude and had poor body language, maybe he thought he was a bit better than he was? He wouldn't be the first and won't be the last. It's obvious looking at his career since that isn't the case anymore loads of kids like that who go on loan just drift out of football, he didn't. He's also another player in the squad with experience of getting out of this League, he scored the winner to get out of it!

I knew about this signing 6 years ago during his first loan spell. I didn't want to say owt because I thought the relegation to the conference bit would upset people.

Let's remember when we had Donaldson before it was in L1, so if he wasn't good, then it may well be because he simply isn't good enough for league1. He has no doubt improved since that initial loan and there are plenty of Gateshead fans I've seen annoyed they didn't try to sign him. Great player for this level (and competent for the level above) - I would expect him to play in behind Amond with Munns? 4-2-2-2 formation perhaps?

Forgot he helped Cambridge get out of the Conference, another plus, also although never prolific for them , fact he scored a couple of his goals in big games at Wembley doesn't go unnoticed. That Cambridge v Gateshead game slipped under my radar, cant remember it, didn't realise Gateshead came that close to getting into the Football League.