Sounds like our dearest friends from Cheshire have signed one of our players.

Does he have a name.
Is it our superstar keeper.

Haha no it's Angol

Makes sense The NL 'champions-elect' have already signed a midfielder from Hull City and a forward from Morecambe today. I bet Challinor used to collect footballer cards when he was a kid. All he needs is a keeper to complete the set.

Will give the cocky sods a bit more ammunition to claim their the greatest club outside the championship oh maybe apart from Sunderland.

Any good ZFA then or not?

Yeah really good player just can't get in our side at present.

Assume thats cos Ferguson is your best player

I've just made the fatal mistake of reading their board Jesus, talk about delusions of grandeur. We won't be taking anymore hartlepool players now, the only reason their 12th is bottom half is national league standard. Challinor took them as far as he could.

Yeah we only beat Championship side Blackpool league one Bolton, Charlton, Morcambe, Sheff Wed Lincoln and Wycombe. Won 4 of our last 5 away, Challinor won what was it 1?

Maybe we took Challinor as far as we could not the other way round.

No Ferguson is nowhere near our best player I think a few of your fans might get a shock but we have quite a few decent players. It's funny though a club who proclaim to be massive and going to stroll through the leagues want our reserves.

More we need cover for left wing back as our best one is injured, believe though not tallest can cover LCB too so can be backup to Johnson there too, Kitching struggled recently was our best player til his back gave up and not same player since

Nothing more than short term signing i imagine to try see us over the line

No billy big balls from me but I do think if we can get job done which we still have plenty work to do, that we will go up again next year
DC been a revelation for us and got the best out of a great group of players mismanaged by an utter chump

Don't care what anyone says their is a massive gap between this league and the national league. Take a look at Salford and Bradford. No free games in this league.

Kitching would not get anywhere near our team. He was like a headless chicken for us. Sherry, Ferguson, and even Angol are on another level to him.

I disagree there is very little difference hence the amount of players drop from higher into NL now, Salford have paid for being too scattergun in their recruitment and never allowing a settled XI, Sutton are nowhere near as strong as our team is now and are up there

We've turned over Bolton deservedly and looked a decent match up for Rotherham in league one too, small sample size admittedly but top of national league way better than likes Stevenage, Oldham, Scunthorpe, Crawley etc

Us and Wrexham I feel would at least be in and around playoffs in League 2 with our current squads, its just the bottleneck created by only 2 up, 2 down that makes it so difficult for teams, there is some utter shite that survives in L2 every season

He's been a weak link for a bit now but has been bit part player all season really, lacks physicality for his size, whether thats due to confidence in his body after major injury im not sure, but he gone from one of 1st names on tesamsheet last season, to someone who wont be here next year

Decent player still there though

I've no doubt you and Wrexham would be in and around the play offs, but trust me you do not get any easy games in this league like you can in the conference, let's not forget the back end of last season we ripped apart quite a few of the top teams of the conference, I can't remember us doing that once this year. You won't be getting freebies against the dovers and kings Lynn's next season, even the bottom teams this year in league 2 are more than capable on their day.

Yes goes without saying there is no part time cannon fodder in League 2 as fully professional league, so its not type of league will storm to 100pts in but I reckon top 10 in National league would survive in L2

I think most would, though Grimsby went down last season along with Southend and both now doing ok in the conference. Bit more difficult getting promoted though. Sutton won the league last year i think their 7th now? We are 12th. Think Challinor will get a shock next year, I know he has more finances than he did with us but away from home the guy was clueless on how to get us results, he lived off our home form, since he has gone Lee has come in steadied the ship and started consistently getting us good results.

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Challinor wasn't managing someone else in 12 months time.

Think DC is here for good few years at least, our owner was like a dog with a bone to bring him in so soon after he signed new contract with you that he is obviously on a fair whack and able to live in his native North West too

I do think if we can get job done we will finish ahead of you guys though, thats not to be disrespectful but DC obv left as the finances stacked up and he feels he can go further with us than he could with you lot

If ZFA really is on his way I must say I am puzzled, he is the only reserve LB at the club. What happens if Ferguson gets injured or suspended? Apart from that, ZFA is a solid hard working defender who deserves a place in any squad in our league.

Let's not get things blurred he left for more money, that's the only reason. If Sunderland came calling or a Wrexham tommorows with more money he be off again. Don't fall for his spiel we heard it all here. No doubting he is a brilliant non league manager.

Kitching was not exactly Bambi on Ice, more like like Bambi on Ball Bearings....

Will he be going into immediate cold storage or just mothballed for future use....?

Touching, but plenty here thought the ‘blessed one’ was here for eternity, a match made in heaven with a bright future ahead of us ....... then he legged it.

There wont be many clubs outside of the Championship who can pay him what we can though, imagine he be on practically double what you were paying him

Very realistic chance of back to back promotions on his CV with us I feel, even if he goes if he gets us out of this god forsaken league he will go with vast majority of the fans backing anyway!

I agree, I think he'll stay because he sees us as a good vehicle for success, but if he takes us up and then gets a better offer elsewhere, I'd wish him well. Getting us out of the NL is all that matters.

Off loaded quite a few players since january.
If memory serves me well then we down to about 8 players contracted into next season.
Looks like we goin for a smaller more quality squad next season.
In Spike n Raj we trust
UTP.

You’ve accidentally got it in one....it’s all about the money...... and you may think you’re paying him well in your world, but.........
Most folk here thought the sun shone out of his arse and it was getting to the stage you were expecting him to bless their newborn, that’s how highly he was rated, a match born in heaven ..... when he jumped ship plenty of fans blamed anyone but DC, accusations were made at everyone from Wily Coyote to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, some were less understanding and a lot more cynical however and it left a lot of chaos in it’s trail.
Eventually, our ship was righted, got back on an even keel and surprisingly got us a very promising manager as results prove.... we’re on track again and DC’s reign just a blur.
I just feel total indifference towards the bloke.

first player spike has allowed to leave early for a position where we have no other cover ....obviously if fergie gets injured we now dont have another left back to step in.....assuming at this point we have not effectively thrown in the towel for this season as it were.....just don't see the sense in taking this risk at all tbh...on the basis that the money supply has not been cut off....even the biggest circus clown would not suggest we are in a position where we need to offload a player early just to save on a couple of months wages ...so wtf is this all about ?....another player threatening a sickie if hes not given what he wants and so is allowed to leave?.....doing the lad a favour and not being bloody selfish which is how spike explained hendrie being allowed to go ?...his comment on the os seems to suggest this was again at least part of the reasoning...

" Zaine’s attitude has been great despite not playing a huge amount of games and when needed he has come into the team and stepped up. Hopefully this will give him a chance to play some regular football and to secure himself something going forward."

...tbh in these circumstances i couuldnt give a shit about ZFA being given a chance to play regular football in order that he can get a deal elsewhere...call me selfish but the club interests should always come first ffs...hope spike can explain a bit more in the northampton pre-match interview....but probably wont get asked the question...

Calm down, he was probably going anyway and don’t tell me no one can cover the position till the end of what’s left of the season, it’s left back, not Director of nuclear physics at NASA. Spike obviously doesn’t have him in his plans and the fact it’s Stockport is neither here nor there, so let the lad go, no good having a resentful player kicking their heels in the place. I suspect Spike has already mapped out his plans.

I'm not exactly sure why players who have played a good amount of games and let's be honest zfa has been quality for us are leaving now. The players we brought in the transfer window have hardly been seen, Fletcher, the keeper, Hull, the injury prone Morris and even Carver. The only two that can be classed as any sort of success are white and Bogle.

Strange goings on when if the improbable happens and we win 3 games in 7 days we will actually be back in the play off hunt.

This was always coming - said this the day DC left - he follows him everywhere he goes. Hes a quality player and even better one at that level. More surprised it didnt come sooner. Strange one for us as rightly said previously id rather protect the club and have that position covered just Ferguson get crocked. Guessing hes not in Spikes plans next season going off the statement in the OS. No doubt will sign perm for Stockshit

If he wants to go end of season fair enough, we still have nearly a quarter of the season left. Be a bit of a joke if we're sat a couple of points from the play offs and we have an injury crisis now. Unlikely but it still could happen.

Why on earth have we even agreed to Stockport? Isn't this the club who arrogantly poached our manager after 10 games of the season. Almost ruining our season in the progress, the same club raj said certain people haven't done any favours for themselves. Well amazing how quickly this is forgotten when you can save on a wage.

No billy big balls from me but I do think if we can get job done which we still have plenty work to do, that we will go up again next year
DC been a revelation for us and got the best out of a great group of players mismanaged by an utter chump[/quote]

Kitching would not get anywhere near our team. He was like a headless chicken for us. Sherry, Ferguson, and even Angol are on another level to him.[/quote]
Kitching was not exactly Bambi on Ice, more like like Bambi on Ball Bearings....[/quote]
Know some will not like it but DC was a revelation for pools in the time he was with us. Doubt we,d be playing in div.2 without him but in the end things turned sour. Kitching had one really good season for pools after a few seasons of doing nothing. Cannot blame francis angol leaving for some game time as for me he should have played far more games since challinor left.

Its not just about saving a wage as francis angol was really our last resort when he was picked. If he had gone to the two other money bags clubs, wrexham or chesterfield nothing much would have been said about the actual move. Cannot imagine any player not getting picked would wish to stay somewhere they are not wanted if the chance of actually playing is available to them. Just the same as gav going to grimsby, but anyone going to stockport will be looked at in a different light. They are not fans of pools or ones of their new clubs but just doing jobs they are paid for. Same with challinor even if we still do not like it.

shitport have signed him for cover....nothing more...leaving us with no cover.... for a specialist position at left back....and nobody is blaming ZFA ffs....has to put himself first all the time....hes presumably asked and been told ok...nothing wrong there...but at this point in the season imo just does not make any sense at all from the clubs perspective...

We are not a charity case though. We might as well have just a squad of 18 if we're going to keep saying anyone not getting a game can go. Stockport have signed him they have about 200 players, they signed another 3 yesterday,what happens if by miracles he is sat on their bench? Why don't we throw in liddle too, do apologise Gary your not getting a game just pick who you want to play for.

Challinor is repeating history with ZFA - he brought him in for Pools 11 months ago as cover for the promotion push. His regular left back is injured.

Ours isn't, but that could change. Would Spike be helping Zane to secure his future away from the Vic if Pools had got 4 or 6 points from the home games against Orient and Bradford? Doubt it very much.

After winning well at Newport Pools can still theoretically make the play-offs, but if you look at the table there are 8 clubs with much better chances. Pools don't just need to keep on winning, they need 5 of those teams to finish the season poorly, all at the same time.

Never say die and all that, but realistically Pools are 1 defeat away from having no chance (alright, still a mathematical chance) of going up this season.

It’s all about opinions, he’s gone, where he’s gone to is neither here nor there to me, but it’s history now and this is the new reality, we move on.
Our chances of making the play offs are possible in theory but a lot of teams are going to have a catastrophic loss of form for that to happen, face it, it’s rebuilding time.

Spike is planning for next season and in his plans will obviously be the desire to get his current key players tied down. Another two wages off the bill technically gives him more negotiating advantage to achieve that. Just another slant on it.

accrington...."If he had gone to the two other money bags clubs, wrexham or chesterfield nothing much would have been said about the actual move"...........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwoG81JlqFU

..again...and ....again.....and.... again................

If we win tommorow and Tuesday we will be around 6 points from the play offs with 7 games to go. We also have a game in hand on most of the teams. I'm not sure the time for rebuilding should of started just yet when we can't even sign anyone.

In fact if we win tommorow and Tuesday we will be 6 points behind Northampton who currently are 3rd.

6 teams are within 3 points of Northampton. Mansfield are 4 points behind them with 3 gamed in hand.

If only it was as simple as catching up with the Cobblers we'd have half a chance.

Yes but you only need to finish 7th. Simple equation is we win both games sat and Tue and it's impossible for us to be anymore than 5 points from the last play off place going into next weekend.

I admire your optimism. UTP!

4 wins out of the last 5 away. 20 points out of the last 30 it's not imposible.

ZFA is a good NL player. Pools need to build a team with excellent L2 players who are good enough to play in L1 and get us promoted from L2 next season.
Goodbye Zaine and thanks for covering our better players. Good luck.

spike...ZFA....we've got "plenty of cover" ????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_hv1tEeQeY

I'm more worried by his comments about players that Pools are trying to get to sign new deals. Talk of 'lads getting their heads turned by other clubs... some in higher divisions.' It's inevitable I suppose with the form people like Molyneux are in but very unwelcome!