How much????

A young international player, surely it must be a reasonable amount. As usual though undisclosed!

Compensation as u24. Will be like 20k or summat

fee agreed so presume both teams think better than any likely compensation, or certainly pools must think so.

one of the few good players we have so bigger rebuilding job needed.

We’ll soon haggle that down


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Do tribunals award sell on clauses and appearance clauses? May be worth more in the long run and while I wouldn't hold my breath since he never stood out for me, I suspect he'll probably fair better in the Scottish Prem and without the defenders we played him alongside.

no huge loss. Was consistently half decent, but only played about 25 games last season. We need to get people who can play 40+

Ideally 46+

He’ll be playing beside Peter Hartley so it’s very much out of the frying pan in that respect.

They probably noticed him when they were scouting Carson because he was first to a rebound from a penalty save and he did good protesting when it was given initially.

We should have sold them Luke George and told them it was Donnelly.

He'll be a loss because hes one of only maybe 4/5 players you could argue are competent since been here

When he played centre back or centre midfield, he was shocking at full back, but think he’s a decent player who will have a steady career.

shhhh we have.........

centre half in poor full back shocker. you'd hear some supporters moan when he couldn't beat a man when he was showing exactly what he was. A centre back being played out of position.

Imagine he'll be another who does better in the next 4/5 years than anything we will

100% will go on to better things under decent coaching, we’ve just been dragging him down like the past 70+ players

Will never forget the time he tried to take the Ref on


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Anyone who seriously believes that the loss of Donnelly is ‘no great loss’ needs to give their head a shake. He would have been a key, quality player in the forthcoming play-off push and will be hard to replace given what appears to be a very tight budget that Hignett and Bates have to work with. The fear is that five or six of the clowns will regularly need be sent in.

This is true. He will be a huge loss.

Massive club, is that due to the number of letters in their name

I think some of the changing views on Donnelly are a sign of where we are.

When he joined us he was nothing more than a back up and I, for one, really didn't rate him.

There is no denying he has improved, especially as a centre half, but the reason I think he could be viewed as a big loss is because most of the rest of the squad is fucking bobbins and he's marginally better than a lot of them. (And because some of the better players we had since he joined have moved on so he has moved up the order in terms of who our better players are)

I think we'll miss him for the sole reason that we'll struggle to get better players in.

how can we miss someone who has hardly played more than 3/4 games on the spin ?

would I like to keep him, yes I would but I can't see how he'll be missed when he's hardly played.

(I've guessed the 3/4 game's stat btw, certainly seems that way....)

I’m not sure I agree with any of that.

For one he didn’t ‘improve’ at all I remember him coming on late in the game for his debut against Newport when we played with ten men for the full match after Toto’s mad hand ball and looking absolute quality then I remember him playing centre midfield away at Carlisle in a game we bossed but managed to lose. He looked a bit shite when he was asked to play right or left back, the Maidenhead game on the box when played right wing back he looked the stuff of Sunday morning but it’s endemic of the club in recent years that we have had plenty of fairly decent and well paid players through books yet we find ourselves in the bottom half of the conference. It’s about time we got the best out of them, played them in their best position and actually saw them improve, Donnelly certainly didn’t.

There was a talent there but he lacked consistency. It's not hard to look good if you're playing in a team of ......shall we be charitable and call lesser talents.
If he'd stayed I wouldn't be bothered, but equally, his departure is no great loss to me, but that's my opinion.
Maybe someone else can bring out the talent he has....?
That said, he wasn't here at the best of times for any player to be inspired.

Rodney next according too The Mail, there will be many divided opinions on that I think ?
https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/sport/ ... -1-9197611

I would be disappointed but not surprised. Did Hignett not say when he was manager that Rodney was signed behind his back and he would never play him? Now Hignett is the one signing players, I'd like to think Bates also has a say.

Rodney is one I'd expect to have a decent career in league football, he's young and certainly isn't just a big lad. Needs a bit of work but there's signs that there could be a diamond in there somewhere.

No surprise to see Donnelly on his way. Decent player under that facial hair. Once he has a shave his head will be balanced properly and he'll go on to a great career.

Donnelly moving on is no surprise at all - there's no way he was ever going to re-sign for Pools. He clearly didn't want to be in the National League in the first place and his record of coming back from spells with the Northern Ireland U-21 side with little knocks that kept him out of the Pools side was getting farcical at the end.

It puts a bit of transfer money in the kitty that Hignett/Bates will hopefully be able use wisely.

The money would be far better spent on top spa hotel accommodation for the two nights before the Morecambe game.

The improvement I refer to is a comparison from around January to the end of the season in 2017 when we went down to his performances when he played the season just gone.

I thought he was crap when we signed him and he might as well have not been on the pitch from Jan to May 17. My lad would say to me most games 'you don't like Donnelly do you?' to which I would reply 'not really son, he's shite'......but he definitely improved last season in the games I saw him in.

I am not sad to see him go at all and me commenting about others missing him was a reference to me thinking he's a bit crap but better than some of the others who are even worse.

Do you agree with any of that?

I agree with most of that - and based on Donnelly's 'improved form' of last season there will be 5 or 6 of Harrison's parasites who are infinitely worse players and will be holding the club back next season unless Higgy/Bates can somehow shift the fcukers out.

No funnily enough I don’t you miss my wider point

Donnelly was rubbish in the period you mention but he was shifted between right and left back and match to match basis after Coxall’s January fire sale after cashing on Toto and Jake Carroll leaving us short defensively, neither were in his top two positions but he had to play there. He’s a centre half but I reckon he’ll end up a holding midfielder at a decent level.


He is a decent footballer, his progress has probably been hampered because he signed for Pools, that has to stop now.

Ah fuck it, I give up

I will admit he can take a penalty and I trust him more than Harrison, just.

Other than that, I wish him all the best and all that, but he's a bit pants.

Having had BT to watch this last season I've watched more Scottish football than ever before and it's no better than the Conference....apart from the odd club here and there.....which is a shame really, I preferred it when Scottish football was a better standard...the fact that Conor Sammon gets a game every week up there says all you need to know.

Spot on

Decent lower league centre back (crap at full back) imo. Could have done with him next season but hey ho.