Only once person to blame for this totally embarrassing situation at our football club. Raj the total disaster so called Owner / Chairman Clown.

Sorry one person

Nobody is happy with the current state of affairs at Pools and the buck stops at the Chairman.
However he is all we've got at the moment and, unless someone else comes along and replaces him, what do you suggest he does????

Put it up for Sale but dont ask for an extortionate price which sent the USA people to Wrexham.
Maybe Arabs.
Suit direct
Trust maybe not that divided a lot of fans.
We need more suggestions /ideas Mr D.
Something has to change for the better.

And sorry to disappoint Snowy but i wont be buying Raj out.

UTP.

I’d back you for the comedy value alone ….your fans forums as Chairman would turn into a right ruck
Wanna buy a guard dog?
Get your hand down the back of the sofa and make a bid.

The best idea I can give you Kev is to find a buyer with pots and pots of cash to come along and invest. As well as cash he has to have inch thick skin to cushion the criticism, abuse, demands, advice etc that will inevitably come from the likes of you, who love to tell other people how to spend their money.
All you avid socialists are all alike, you are brilliant at spending other people's money and haven't a clue when that money dries up.
I still love you though.XXX

We currently have 2 points less than Scunny had last season after 14 games, and they finished the season on 26 points.

Personally I have not been convinced that the Americans who bought Wrexham ever put in a bid for Pools. I do believe Raj would have snapped their hands off to get out with any profit. Has anybody any proof of such a bid or enquiry?

See how long the Wrexham thing lasts.

Even if it's a few years, I would be happy about it. The IOR thing came to and end and was always going to but I have no regrets about those years, only gladness.

Well yes, but Mansfield were second bottom at that stage with the same number of points as Scunny (11) but finished the season 7th with 77 points!

Not that there's a hope in hell of this Pools team doing that, but relegation isn't a foregone conclusion this early either. It's all going to hinge on some seriously good recruitment in the January transfer window. And getting shot of some dross.

There is no proof but I believe its very credible. Too many coincidences.

IOR, I just thought it was never going to end…and the thing that I valued most was the security they brought to the club.

You're right. For a start, the Yanks did not 'buy' Wrexham. The Wrexham Supporters Trust handed the club over to them as a going concern so that the new owners could invest their £2 million on taking the club forward. Raj is on record as saying there was never a formal bid made for Pools as he made it clear that he would expect to recoup his own investment (around £1 million) before agreeing to a sale.

“You can give a rich man £2m, or you can put it into the operating budget of a community-run club. The objective was to use it as a philanthropic engine; a way to generate more positivity and investment in the town.”

This was what the guy said about a club he had approached on behalf of the Wrexham pair BEFORE they went to Wrexham. It appears that this owner wanted 2m. It was reported at that very time that there was a takeover approach and Raj himself confirmed there had been one.

He gave a long interview over a year ago - either on TV or the iFollow channel - where he said categorically that he wasn't approached formally by representatives of Reynolds and McElhenney - something he was quite peeved about if they had any serious interest in buying Pools as he felt it was disrespectful. If you say differently, find some evidence.

This whole thing is a Hartlepool version of an urban myth that will be kept alive forever and a day because it suits a certain agenda. And I don't say that as a Raj diehard but as someone who is quite worried that things have gone so badly this season that he must be wondering if it's worth carrying on. Doesn't help that his own naivety in football matters has played a big part in causing the current mess.

He didn't say it was or was not anyone in particular so truth doesn't come into it. All things considered, I believe there is plenty to make it credible with or without an agenda.

However, back to now, back to the mess we are in.

People will believe what they want to believe, personally think it’s irrelevant, it didn’t happen, end of folklore in the making.
Arguing over the positioning of pictures in the bar when the ships sinking stuff.

I do think a statement and Q&A is required ASAP from the Chairman. Who does he think he is running...... the UK????

Ryan Reynolds played a character named Deadpool.

I think there is something in it. It being true that there was an approach by the pair is much less far-fetched scenario than any you can imagine that ties together all those other coincidences. It being true doesn't necessarily paint Raj in a negative light either so it isn't about an agenda..... unless you want it to be. Certainly there are possible scenarios whereby Raj would look far from being the benevolent patriarch that those with a pro Raj agenda world make him out to be. But there is not enough information to confirm or deny that.

However Snowy, I think it is an interesting discussion but I agree that it is not directly relevant

I’ve no real opinion on the the topic opinion either Mr Imp, just think that ships sailed.
They got Disney, we’d probably have got ‘Randy Bollocks ‘Art’ Films’ the way our luck is going.

There is a missing piece to this alleged takeover and that is the small matter of the terms of the Blackledge debt, which would have to be negotiated and/or paid off plus the loans made by Raj. Added together the sum would probably have been more than £2m.
I can't see Raj or Blackledge just handing over the club to anybody for nothing, which apparently is what the Yanks wanted on the promise of a £2m cash injection, which is what they were referring to when they made the statement on what they would rather do.
I would like to see the hard facts on the Wrexham deal before judging how sound it is.

Apparently there are people willing to buy Pools but Singh wants all his cash back, he is not prepared to compromise by all accounts.

Who said that ?

If people are prepared to buy Pools then that means they are prepared to part with some money to do that. The money they are prepared to pay has got to have the nod from the owners/sellers. Raj took over the club and saved it. People are now calling for him to sell it, preferably to someone who wants to take it further than Raj has. Nothing wrong with that. Raj will have a price he wants for the club, assuming he wants to sell it. Nothing wrong with that either.
It is as simple as that.
The other scenario is that there are no buyers lining up to take over and Raj gets fed up and walks, still demanding his money back.
THEN WHAT.

So we just limp along like this for the rest of existence? I don't think so mate.

There are lots of ways Raj could take this. He could dig his heels in while we limp along on dwindling crowds until there is nothing left, he could draw that out or hasten it depending on how much he ekes things out but the end result is the same. He could compromise on his demands and find us a decent buyer, showing that he really does care about the club or he could invest properly and let success generate the additional funds to balance the books. I guess we are going to see which way things go. At the moment, the club is not living, it is surviving. A terrible existence.

Bloke in Throston bookies.

Think you're underestimating how loyal the fanbase is. Win a few at the backend of the season, get a new manager and some new players in, and most will be ready to go again in the National League. They're mostly young, they don't have 30-40-50 years of disillusion weighing them down. And a lot of the old lags (like me) would turn up just to see if it really can get any worse. Then there's the derbies with Darlo to look forward to

And I think you are describing the smaller core of the ultra loyal. Crowds are already down and people are getting poorer.

Pre IOR that was the norm apart from Gibson’s interlude.
And NO, I am not advocating for one minute that it is acceptable, I wished to be like other clubs who seemed to live charmed lives. I did not lack ambition, dreams, visions or hope for a successful club, but some times it really is like the club is cursed, is there no one out there willing to give us the security we deserve, because if there is they’re keeping it secret.
End of the day, you wonder what individuals can do, because if there was we’d do it.

Lowest home attendance in League 2 is 4,002 for an evening game against Crewe on 13th September. Crewe brought 116. 3,900 Poolies not bad for a small core

Its not so bad. But is definitely shrinking and morale has not yet got to its lowest ebb. It is also already short of Rajs self stated break even figure. If this club is supposed to be self sustaining, we're already running at a loss which will get worse.

Till someone takes over the steering wheel, we’re all just passengers .

fans or a number of the players.

unless pools are walking the league after being relegated you could knock a 1,000 off that nlubs umber if we were playing an eastleigh type of club. mind you that would be a hell of a lot more than harrogate and a number of lancashire clubs would ever get, not in non league but struggling near the bottom of div.2. that is what makes the plight of pools even worse.

I don't think it is acceptable either but it is the reality until someone comes along to change it. Like others have said we have hovered around the third and fourth tier since we were founded 116 years ago. You can't blame people for getting used to it. The only way any of us can change it is to come into big money. I have beat myself up over this for seventy years. I don't rant and rave any more. The best I can come up with these days is a long sad sigh. I was locked into this in 1952, so i guess I've become institutionalized.

I have no desire for moving up the leagues but if it happened great but we are a small town with limited resources.
I simply want to be entertained with a club competing at the top end of this league (or odd cup runs) bringing on good young players who go onto better things with a few older players passing their skills on.
Given our recent success in getting bigger crowds, cup runs, promotion we should NOT be in this mess.

first game 1954 with a decent side till nearly the end of the decade. that really apart from a couple of bottom tier promotions was as good as it got. expected what happened at cardiff as it was too good to be true anyway. doubt any single fan walking into the vic for the first time is looking for real instant success but pools get into your blood and you cannot rid yourself of them even if you try.

fans at york, darlo, scunthorpe, oldham,bury etc.etc.etc. are all saying or have said the same thing. like all pools types of clubs we have no god given right to succeed and someone has to be rock bottom. its so bloody flustating as we can really do sod all about the situation as its not our fault we and they are where we are. if any owner, manager or player had the enthusiasm for the job as we have as fans we,d never be in any problem again.

Perfectly reasonable expectations. It would take a whole load of money to take us up the divisions but not that much to make us contenders in the second. It's nothing personal with Raj, he could easily be the man that owns Pools as a competive league 2 club but right now, I believe he is getting it wrong.

or a case of with the money at his disposal he has gone as far as he is able to do. he is rich when compared to us fans but how rich is he compared to other club owners even in our league. he may or may not want to do more but again we will be the last to be told the truth.

I’d kill to know who’s advising Raj on his managerial appointments. Get the right man, back them and that’s a start. Lee was surfing a wave then hit the rocks on ‘What do I do now beach’, while Hartley was like someone who was going to take us to the moon but only had a provisional licence….. Third time lucky…..?
I’d be happy if we were there or thereabouts in Leagie 1, but a chance in the Championship would be a joy for even one season…but if Bournemouth can get by in the Premiership on gates of 11,000 you can start to dream.

Last year i said project25 of holding our own in league One was a reasonable doable ambition.
Ambition now just to retain efl status.
Shame because the supporters deserve a lot better than proping up the efl.

Just a rumour but apparently Hastie is top earner, budget was there but Hartley has misused the shit out of it, potential deals fell down as over indexes on deals such as Hastie’s screwed it.

hastie actually sounded like his top signing when he came. the one i expected something of. then we saw him play. there must certainly be a problem where he is concerned as nobody could be as bad has him with his pedigree.

Jake Hastie has had an awful lot of clubs for a 23 year old…. neither is he a prolific scorer.
I suspect he has a repertoire of party tricks on the field that impress, till you realise he should have had a buyer beware sticker on his shirt.
If we’re paying someone to do the maths, statistically, there’s a few major points that stand out that should have been blatantly obvious.
Maybe he’s pining for the glens, heather and shortbread.

or just the case that even scottish football supporters always state. their game is no better and no worse than the english game, its just different. all the scottish lads i have played with and against in parks football had the same thing in common. they all talk a good game and full of party tricks and that seemed it.

I’ve been going to Pools since 1949 and this is one of the worst squads if not the worst I believe we have had. I don’t think any manager has a chance with the present players and I would worry for our survival in the National League with the present players.

It would be great if they could show us some of the party tricks at least it may be mildly entertaining.