Challinor explaining McDonalds absence from squad. More or less saying he is a bad trainer and would appear to have been the same at Halifax where he only played four games last season. Why sign him?

Thanks Jonjo. The comments are in an interview with Dominic Scurr in the Mail, not the pre-match video on the OS now.
https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/sport/ ... hy-3072772

Tough one. You sign somebody because you think they can do it on a matchday but if they can't or won't train well it's a big risk just slinging them into the team anyway. 'Typical bloody winger' is the thought that comes to my mind. If he thinks he can be the next Nathan Thomas he can start by getting on the scoresheet tomorrow.

Exactly ! but DC hasn't played him from the start, so not sure about the bad trainer excuse. Doesn't matter if he is a bad trainer as long as he can do the business on a matchday, but to do that , you need to play him.

Also why has it taken so long for this to come out?. I implied something might be wrong a couple of months ago.

To say DC fooked up big style with his recruitment is the understatement of the century.

Well he brought in Tom Crawford and Rhys Oates and they are as much use as a chocolate fireguard

Agree, Challoner's signings on the whole have been poor to say the least. He inherited a much stronger squad last season and the one he has assembled this season will struggle to make mid table. Lets not forget that the last squad he assembled at Fylde ended up being relegated.

[quote="horden"][

Exactly ! but DC hasn't played him from the start, so not sure about the bad trainer excuse. Doesn't matter if he is a bad trainer as long as he can do the business on a matchday, but to do that , you need to play him.


some players hate training and are bad trainers but turn it on in matchdays. some are the complete opposite. been like this since the first ball was ever kicked. all this rubbish about they,ve trained well all week and then on a saturday come out with a shit performance gets me. would be far better the other way around.

Funny Halifax wouldn’t play him either. Something more in it from what I have heard.

So you have to question why we sign these type of players in the first place. Only at Pools would they not carry out sufficient background checks. We already have a small squad, but it seems already that 4 or 5 are there in spirit only. I notice Molyneux still hasn't fully recovered from his niggle.

they might not have signed williams or play donaldson at every opportunity either.

Yes it’s puzzling why they signed him but Challinor seems to have more faith in Williams who must be on his last chance.

Didn’t do himself any favours today

The damage is probably done now , same with a few others, DC should've given him and the likes of Parkhouse, Grey a run in the side a couple of months ago.

Why is it that everybody who fails at Pools is because of the club. Players fail at all clubs.

Yes, but it appears they fail at our club more than others, players also appear do well at other clubs more often as well, particularly veteran type players and young uns.

Don't understand the logic here Mr H. Players with ability and self-belief don't have a sell by date and 'go off' if they're not picked regularly at the start of the season.

In MacDonald 's case I think he fits right in with another of your complaints - poor recruitment by Dave Challinor. He's had one good game for Pools and that was against Ilkeston, which is probably the level he should have been operating at this season.

Parkhouse is a different case - it's not Pools' fault that when Pools were flying at the start of the season he missed games because of international duty (though the manager will have known he was a regular for the NI U-21s when he signed him). Whatever off the field issue is bothering him, when he does play now he puts a shift in but never looks like he's going to score.

After the last 3 games Joe Grey has played in (started one, early 2nd half substitute in the other 2) I tend to agree with Challinor - he'll be a lot better when he gets a bit older. He didn't really get going yesterday - the 2 Halfax commentators on their rubbishy live stream were impressed by Featherstone's and Holahan's impact when they came on but never mentioned Joe.

The logic is , players like humans are sensitive, treat them well and they will respond. Macdonald has flaws, like most of us, like most enigmatic players. Never heard a bad word said about him from Halifax fans, lots of potential, but to realise this potential you have to know how to look after those type of players. The likes of Dalton, Honour, Allon, Mckinnon were plodding along until Cyril Knowles came along and got the best out of them. My view is that Macdonald should've been in from the start, he wasn't and now his demons have surfaced.

Agree regarding Parkhouse and internationals, but should Challinor have signed in the first place then? As for his performances he has disappointed, but again, DC should've stuck with him , rather than binning him, its not as though his replacements were any better, also he should've had Grey alongside him rather than up front on his own, I thought he did ok in his first game v Aldershot , but DC went for his gun too quick after Torquay and binned him.

As for Grey , I have said this before, he should've started in first game, again he seems to have lost his edge when he has been given a chance lately , again I put it down to losing confidence and a drop in morale, which is effecting many of our players at the moment, including our two best players, Ferguson and Cass. Its absolute rubbish to say Grey should be wrapped up in cotton wool and will get better with age, he won't if he isn't starting games. As an aside, I really think the club are struggling not having a reserve and or youth team, and until we resurrect this , then I can't see us going anywhere fast. Not having a reserve team is forcing DC to give game time to players , just to keep them sweet, no doubt Ofusu and Oates will be back on Tuesday.

We know about Featherstone's consistency, although we will never get promoted with him in midfield. As for Holohan, he is an impact player , would get on the bench for any team in the top 2 , but not consistent enough to play in a top 2 starting eleven. When we can put Holohan permanently on the bench, then I will know we have assembled a squad that are going places.

As usual all about opinions

Agree with this , but in that case you have to question Challinors signings then. Clearly these players don't have a lot of self belief , that's why they're cheap, that's why they are here, that's why the move from club to club on a regular basis.

Why should McDonald have been in the side from the start. We were doing well at the start. He should have forced his way in by showing it in training and not spitting his dummy out like the rumours I have heard.

The logic is , players like humans are sensitive, treat them well and they will respond. Macdonald has flaws, like most of us, like most enigmatic players. Never heard a bad word said about him from Halifax fans, lots of potential, but to realise this potential you have to know how to look after those type of players. The likes of Dalton, Honour, Allon, Mckinnon were plodding along until Cyril Knowles came along and got the best out of them. My view is that Macdonald should've been in from the start, he wasn't and now his demons have surfaced.

Agree regarding Parkhouse and internationals, but should Challinor have signed in the first place then? As for his performances he has disappointed, but again, DC should've stuck with him , rather than binning him, its not as though his replacements were any better, also he should've had Grey alongside him rather than up front on his own, I thought he did ok in his first game v Aldershot , but DC went for his gun too quick after Torquay and binned him.

As for Grey , I have said this before, he should've started in first game, again he seems to have lost his edge when he has been given a chance lately , again I put it down to losing confidence and a drop in morale, which is effecting many of our players at the moment, including our two best players, Ferguson and Cass. Its absolute rubbish to say Grey should be wrapped up in cotton wool and will get better with age, he won't if he isn't starting games. As an aside, I really think the club are struggling not having a reserve and or youth team, and until we resurrect this , then I can't see us going anywhere fast. Not having a reserve team is forcing DC to give game time to players , just to keep them sweet, no doubt Ofusu and Oates will be back on Tuesday.

We know about Featherstone's consistency, although we will never get promoted with him in midfield. As for Holohan, he is an impact player , would get on the bench for any team in the top 2 , but not consistent enough to play in a top 2 starting eleven. When we can put Holohan permanently on the bench, then I will know we have assembled a squad that are going places.

As usual all about opinions [/quote]

Fair enough. Though nobody (not me, not Dave Challinor) has ever said Joe Grey should be wrapped up in cotton wool. I'd also have liked to see him given a start (in a front two) after the wheels first came off Pools' season. Maybe the heavy pitches aren't suiting him right now but he's too easily out-muscled by savvy defenders. When he's bigger and stronger he will be able to compete better.

Tend to agree about Gavan Holohan - he spent a lot of time on the bench last season, when Pools had a much better squad than they do now. Bloody Covid - we'll never know whether it cost us a play-off place.

Cyril Knowles managed the players with an iron fist and yes he got the best out of players but wobetide you if you didn’t put the effort in. Clough was the same.
A little story about Knowles. I was working closely to a Darlington director when Knowles was here and I asked him why Darlington sacked him. He said it was the hardest thing he had done as he and his wife socialised with Cyril and his wife but he found, regarding football, that Cyril was alright when things were going well but couldn’t handle it when things were not.
I think that is a common flaw with football managers

not just managers but the human race as a whole. as for the iron fist approach that seems something that has been consigned to history. a bit of it coming back would not hurt as there is far too much reliance on what they call sports science nowadays and we all no what scientific experts are.

Agree, its human nature for most people. As for director and Cyril , it may be true, but sounds like the sort of thing a director would say, or any boss for that matter, he may have struggled when things weren't going well, he managed a strange clutch of club though if he was prone to that though , or more likely he just called a spade a spade and asked for more money to improve things and got short shrift from the directors

New signings generally are in from the start, especially as the position he plays in , isn't our strongest , right mid/Donaldson. I think the training thing is just a cover up, but at the end of the day Challinor signed a player who had failed to regain his place at Halifax after a serious injury and if rumours are to be believed was a also poor trainer at Halifax

If he won't train properly he should be scattered

Challinor is quoted in today's Mail saying MacDonald started to cramp up 10 minutes into the second half and had to be substituted. Questions whether the player is eating and drinking the right things! I'd imagine the next stop for MacDonald is being offered out on loan.

I never worried if we were getting beat at half time when Sir Cyril was in charge.
I knew,after his little HT chat,we'd come out & turn the game around.

A legend was Cyril. Took over 3 shite clubs in Darlo, Torquay and us , and immediately turned them all around.

a lot of managers only do it with one club and live on this for years after getting job after job. not many do it with 3 different ones. pity challinor wont after success at colwyn bay and fylde.