We should have a sweepstake on how many games Cook actually starts and how many he finishes next season. I'm guessing it will be single figures.

at least crock boy can continue to concentrate on his studies while at pools next season...will no doubt have plenty of week ends off ...and time to study in the library....his dream ?....renovating property and selling it on with his mates....yeah?...crack on jords....

https://www.betting.co.uk/nonleaguedail ... rdan-cook/

"Away from football, what else have you got going on at the moment? Any other ventures, or just general interests?"

"Yeah, involved with a few things, and now I’ve signed for Gateshead I can hopefully get involved with a night course at university. I’m gonna try and get my electrical engineering sorted and go on from there, because I’ve got a few mates who are doing really well for themselves, who are involved in that. My dream is to get involved with refurbishing property and selling it on, but I want to get my electrical engineering done so I’ve got a base to work from."

Meanwhile Crawford has signed a new contract.

Good that Pools seem to have binned the one year deals that are causing so much trouble at the minute. Tom Crawford has shown enough improvement this season to be worth a new deal - though he'd be worth a lot more if he could get his head over the ball when he shoots and actually score a few!

good signing....crawfords a technically gifted player like feaths...good first touch and close control of the ball ...confident.... looks up and can find a pass ..a creative player ...not been signed to score goals...would look even better in a less physical and combative league...surprised he's staying tbh...
.

Surprised he’s staying? Where’s he going better than Pools. He has had some good games but he has not been able to keep his place for any length of time.

I'm sure Tom Crawford would be the first to say he should be scoring more - he's missed quite a few good chances this season. While he was with us, Daly got half a dozen goals in the position Crawford plays for Pools.

Apparently there’s interest been expressed by Fray Bentos.

jon...."Where’s he going better than Pools. He has had some good games but he has not been able to keep his place for any length of time."

1."better than pools" ?...wow...need time to think about that one pal..
2."not been able to keep his place"..wow..take you back to last last season ..he couldnt even get a game under the snake..let alone keep his place..so based on that reasoning..yes you're right...he must actually be crap..i bow to your greater appreciation and understanding of the game of football...

hogan....."I'm sure Tom Crawford would be the first to say he should be scoring more"

errr.....since the beginning of time ...has there ever been a footballer who has said anything different when asked that question ?..ffs

Pooli I don’t think he’s a bad player just a very average player who I doubt would get a better club. As I say even now he hasn’t been able to hold down his place. I have no greater appreciation of the game or understanding of the game than anybody on this board just my opinion. Yes he’s signed ok I hope he proves me wrong it’s just that I wouldn’t have been bothered if he hadn’t. I hope for better.

Another player who looks in dire need of a rest. Has had some belting games for Pools but definitely needs pace around him. He’s a slow coach.

Great passer, good control and worth a deal.

Heard rumours the Fergie and Odusina deals are dead in the water. Rumours.

Wouldn't be at all surprised. Those two are the ones attracting interest from bigger clubs. If either of them sign new contracts I will be absolutely amazed.

oh no...just realised...if the spike thinks crock boy is worth a new deal....looks like smithy will be staying put as well.... pass me the pistol....

Correct me if I am wrong but in the few games he has featured, hasn't Smith looked "solid"? He is the archetypal journeyman pro. He'll do a job for us but is never going to be a first team regular.

[quote="thebigdog"]Another player who looks in dire need of a rest. Has had some belting games for Pools but definitely needs pace around him. He’s a slow coach.

Great passer, good control and worth a deal.

good deal for the player and the club. this season he has improved out of all recognition with the hope he continues the same next season. my only doubt with him is that he is good when the team are but less when they are having a bad day.

You do like a bit of chew don't you? Reminds me of someone... PJ... Poolie...1.

I should have put it more simply for you. Tom Crawford couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo, though he does keep trying.

24 shots so far this season...4 on target...1 goal.

1 goal and 0 assists all season. For a central midfielder. No room for improvement there, is there?

hogan..."24 shots so far this season...4 on target...1 goal."

....you been counting them all yourself?...take a liittle notebook to every game like some kind of trainspotting geek ?...unsurprisingly afraid you're missing the point as per usual...and try not to get too emotional.... chew?...just cos you dont like being reminded you are just talking your usual ridiculous silly shite....

hogan..."1 goal and 0 assists all season"..

..crawford 0 assists all season ?....suggest instead of making notes in your little book... you pay more attention to the actual game...for starters go playback our game against blackpool...look at the player who slid that pass in and made the goal for grey...who was that boy? ...some player there...crawford 0 assists all season?...you are embarrassing yourself pal....

Pleased Crawford has signed again but as Mr Lee as stated it is no use letting so many players run out of contract at the same time. These contract talks should have been sorted in January with options taken up or extensions made. Also if a player is over 24 he can walk at the end of his contract on a free and negotiate a better deal elsewhere as happened with Oates.

at least he has shown he has actually got something that he can improve on this season. on top of that he,s not one with a sick or injury note which can be produced at the drop of a hat. this seasons crawford compared to last seasons is another player. we all see players differently but hogans remarks on the lad seem 12 months out of date.

accrington..."hogans remarks on the lad seem 12 months out of date."

agree....but also just plain silly and daft...crawford needs to score more..cant hit a barn door..not as good as daly..0 assists all season...kiddie comments...imo....

hogan......"crawford 0 assists all season"........

Forest Green Rovers 1 Hendry (53') Hartlepool United 1 Bogle (68') Assists:Crawford(68')

.....oops......and another one........well played tom.....

hogan......"crawford 0 assists all season".........."I should have put it more simply for you. Tom Crawford couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo, though he does keep trying.".....

...from 01.02...what a banjo player ! ....

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/s ... highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXyys1JEkbk

....just hate to repeat myself.....

"good signing....crawfords a technically gifted player like feaths...good first touch and close control of the ball ...confident.... looks up and can find a pass ..a creative player ...not been signed to score goals..." ........

Very pleased that the lad got his first assist of the season. Not a shot though, is it? Speaking of shots:

"Tom Crawford should have put Hartlepool ahead after 30 minutes, but he flashed wide with just goalkeeper Luke McGee to beat." (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60963675). No doubt it'll be on the extended highlights.

Nah, not really. I did a quick search - took all of 10 seconds.
https://fbref.com/en/players/256335e2/Tom-Crawford.

If you look a bit further up the page Mr. Accy, my opinion of Tom Crawford getting a new deal, which the board's resident gobshite took such exception to, is this:

"Good that Pools seem to have binned the one year deals that are causing so much trouble at the minute. Tom Crawford has shown enough improvement this season to be worth a new deal - though he'd be worth a lot more if he could get his head over the ball when he shoots and actually score a few!"

I think the heading should be called OPINIONS not rumours.

It is quite amazing that, say, 5 people watch the same game, all within yards of each other, and their opinion on players etc are completely different and probably different to the Manager's views.

Not saying it's a bad thing but human nature is a wonderful thing?

Excellent point, if we all agreed we’d be cheering in unison in North Korea.

Managers and fans views will always beg to differ.
The majority of managers live in a world of their own n talk a load of shite.
Thats just how the football industry evolves.

There’s just as many if not more fans, who live in a divisive world of bizarre views and they ALL believe they have the answer to success.
It’s what keeps me sane listening to them and ensures permanently aching ribs with tears of laughter.

get 5 managers and scouts at a game and they will all have a different opinion on the same player they go to watch. its not just fans who have different opinions.

Odusina to Stockport is latest. Don’t shoot the messenger!!!

Be very surprised if we keep hold of Mols.
Will be hard to replace. On his day when fully fit is a game changeing player.
Like i think been said before even tho hes out of contract and we can up wages to a certain degree a tasty signing on fee can play a major part in getting ya targets signature.

No chance. If challinor was still with us he,d hardly be getting time on the pitch like he does now. Was far from the first choice and might have got binned off in january.

Even more southern based scouts in attendance yesterday. Odusina was phenomenal again.

Odusina looked very exposed to me and FGR attacked his wing most of the game. His distribution was poor and whilst FGR pressed Byrne and Liddle in possession they let Timi have the ball to distribute. His run out of defence before losing the ball just in the opponents half could easily have cost us a goal. Neutrals I went with were not impressed by his performance. Mind he did get taken out after about 10 minutes by Jamal Matt who should have been shown a red card. The ball was knocked long pretty well straight to Timi and Matt looked where he was and clattered him. It would have been a red in rugby let alone football.

his main card in his pack is his pace. something you have or you haven,t. his mistakes he makes are less than they once were, and you can see someone picking him up if they think they can iron out his difficancies.

dog......"Odusina to Stockport is latest. Don’t shoot the messenger!!!"

.......will pay for the taxi.....

Please, please, no more....if these rumours were true half of Hartlepool would be ‘detained’ in Stockport....
Challinor’s coming to get you .....will be told to kids in years to come to scare them if they misbehave.

With regards to both Ferguson & Molyneux the club should be able to put an offer on the table to both that will keep them in the area as both where born in the NE, Molyneux at Bishop Auckland and Ferguson at Sunderland, it not exactly trying to tempt new players to the area, and them having to settle in away from their family. Hopefully most of them 2 families are in the area so it just trying to keep them here

As some have said we had decent season with 2 cup runs, increased crowd attendances which should give us a bigger budget next season and surely with that extra revenue offers can be as good as other league 2 clubs can offer or as damn near enough where it will tempt them to stay in the area, saving money to return and money on travelling to training outside the area.

If Ferguson is being tempted to Harrogate but has to do about 160 miles a day round trip thats 800 miles a week, in this day what will that cost him for fuel and maybe with no car share. Pools can use that as a bargainning tool in any offer they make to him Now I'm guessing here (I dont drive ) what will that be a month for fuel if travelling alone say £80-£100 per week so if I'm right right Pools have £400 a month start. Less what cost of travelling to training up here say £5 day or £25 a week means £300 saving per month in travelling and if can car share that can be reduced per month. So if Harrogate offer £1500 a week, Pools can go to £1400 and there wont be much difference in disposable income for him. If car sharing then that figure could be reduced a little. Maybe I'm over thinking things and it not as easy as I think.

Would care to bet that a few more Pools players get linked with that club before next season begins. And maybe 1 or 2 will be correct but many more will be wrong

To one side of the negoating table it maybe unrelalistic to the other side it may not be. Is it what player(s) asking for or what the club is offering. Lee doesnt exactly say does he

A decent assessment of expenses.
But any pay rises to keep the better out of contract players at Pools will be paid back plus a profit.
By way of PROMOTION and the increase in revenues.
Its a gamble ye but surely a one worth goin for.
Put a decent squad together n theres a good chance of creating xtra revenues thru cup runs as well as goin for promotion.
I mite sound to ambitious but its only promotion aspirations from a very poor standard 4th Division.
UTP.

surely a thousand less on turning up will lose the club over 10k every game. that could really happen if players leave just for money and are replaced by either sick notes or sub standard kids with the side struggling.

There is another angle that no one has mentioned yet and that is the effect giving out big rises to a few will have on the other players in the squad who are bound to ask "What about me?". I don't know if the club have a wage structure but if they have they may be reluctant to unbalance it.
Just a thought.
There is always the possibility that Harrogate will pay "out of pocket expenses", so Bob's point, although a very relevant one, may be nullified.
There is so much secrecy around contract details that it is virtually impossible to analyse them.

There probably is a wage structure. I've heard of it referred to on a number of occasions and indeed it was in the context of having to work within it. No idea how ambitious that is but I would say that there are obviously clubs that can out bid us when it comes to wages.

So what do you do? Change the wage structure, pay more and hope income covers it? Or lose your best players for free? I think Raj needs to gamble a bit more. Clubs who do well on modest budgets seem to do so because they sell players for good money and replace them for less. It takes a bit of capital to do it though as you have to keep these lads under contract but the end result is still a fairly tight ship, just as he wants the club to be.

Whilst most of what is being said regarding wages sounds good the bottom line is that these clubs such as Harrogate, Salford, Forest Green and even Stockport are heavily subsidised by an owner. Sadly Raj whilst being well off is either not in their league financially or does not wish to go overboard with his input. Let’s remember our great days of play-offs, Cardiff etc did not rely on good attendances but was heavily subsidised by IOR and when they stopped putting money in we all know what happened.

I'm with you Mr P. Odusina's strength is his speed of recovery but half the time he has put himself in a bad position by poor play. We will find better!