Anyone know how he’s progressing? I was told about a month ago that he was targeting Chesterfield for his return.

There's never been anything to that effect from the club. When he came back to Hartlepool from France to work with Pools' physios the talk was of him maybe being ready for a return by Christmas.

You can’t rush a player back who has had a hamstring injury or it can lead to a hernia.

Or another hamstring injury, and then another and then more than likely another.

In Askeys interview today he said hopefully by boxing day and Hendrie,Lacey and Crawford were 2/3 weeks away.

might be a non playing sub for that with a 10 minute introduction on the return fixture. last thing we want is to rush the lad or expect him to be just the same as he was until well into january.

From the OS,
Anthony Mancini returned to full training this week however Saturday will come too soon for the midfielder.

No medical expert but he has been training and declared fit to play yet only lasted a few minutes on Saturday, some times groin tears require an op ?

so so frustrating ! i think there is bigger underlying injuries with the lad.
we wont see a full season out of him thats for sure !

you would think training and running and doing all that stuff to show you are ready for match day then to come on cold as a sub and last 10 minutes at best. Lads another Luke Williams !

rushed back twice too early for me because we were despirate and possibly he was to play. if an op would be the best course of action then the quicker he gets one the better. he is needed far more next season than this one thats only of importance to KP and his retained list.

What happened exactly on Saturday ? did he pull up or was it the tackle ?

he really needs to get it looked at though if it is the groin / hammy could well end his career. Ideally get on the table for the op before the season finishes and give himself a good summer and pre season to be back for us fully fit.

hoping Dodds is the same player once hes back too - funny owld thing the ACL ruins a player

Don't think Mancini pulled up as such, he just wasn't moving freely enough to be capable of impacting the game. Post-match KP said it was a recurring problem with a groin strain. Hopefully they'll give him time now to get fully fit - even if that means waiting for pre-season.

very odd decision to bring him on. Hopefully thats that and he will get the recovery he now needs.

id rather have him all for next season fully fit than these silly cameo appearances and always at risk of been out longer again.

wonder if he gets a contract extension or if he does want to stick around... a pay as you play deal like Williams got

just hope for everyones sake its something physical again with him that can be sorted out and nothing in his head which might be harder to cure.

At the present time he looks a very risky signing. I don’t think we need worry about clubs coming in for him whilst he has this injury hanging over him. As said above Luke Williams is still fresh in our minds and don’t forget we still don’t know how Dodds will recover.

Luke Williams is not a fair comparisonfor either Mancini or Dodds. Williams got crocked early in 2017 and only played twice for Scunthorpe in the 2017/18 season. Pools took a big risk signing him in summer 2018 - he'd hardly played in 15 months. It was absolute madness holding onto him for 3 seasons.

Agree no-one else will be in for Mancini this summer but him and Dodds still have loads of potential - it would be idiotically short-sighted to get rid of either.

I'd say our clubs cursed, if you look back through the years every time we find a player who has the makings of a really good footballer they are cursed with career ending injuries, I would quote examples but there's too many to mention and we all know the score.

agree !

It’s not being shortsighted regarding Mancini and Dodds it is can we afford to take the risk? I would expect Dodds to be given an extension but I feel Mancini will have to prove his fitness. Remember he has not played a lot of football.

Think Dodds is contracted for another year anyway, Mancini had an horrendous detached hamstring injury which was initially predicted to be season ending so it looks as if he's been rushed back and it's backfired. I'd definitely take up his 1 year option, but he wouldn't wear the shirt again this season for me. Give him complete rest and measured rehabilitation with a view to a good pre-season ready for next NL season.

exactly. could see why we rushed him back the first time but not the second. why did it have to be him and dodds getting serious injuries and not those nobody wants to see on the team sheet.

Probably something to do with the amount of effort they put in. Never saw the likes of Hastie and Dolan over-extending themselves
But mostly just bad luck, as Paulus says.

not in dodds case as he was crocked after a clumsy challenge from i think a fylde player and that certainly was bad luck. if i remember right we didn,t even get a free kick for it.

I’m not doubting a fit Mancini ability all I’m saying it’s a gamble and at present a big one.

all players get injured at some stage of their careers but nowadays they are looked after by clubs more than they were in the past. the question to ask should be is it just a serious injury or a career finishing one. surely he is worth percevering with after the years of doing the same with luke williams. i,d rather get a fit mancini back than i ever would have with williams.

Not sure about that Accy. Williams was some player at his best & think we only got him because of his injury record. When we had him on loan he was excellent.

but a hell of a lot happened to him in that time away. be interested how many games he did start in his keague career. i,ll leave that for someone less lazy than me to look up.

Luke Williams career appearances, with the figure in brackets the number of goals scored:

2009–2015 Middlesbrough 34 (2)
2014 → Hartlepool United (loan) 7 (2)
2014 → Scunthorpe United (loan) 6 (2)
2015 → Coventry City (loan) 5 (0)
2015 → Peterborough United (loan) 2 (0)
2015–2018 Scunthorpe United 37 (5)
2017 → Northampton Town (loan) 8 (0)
2018–2021 Hartlepool United 11 (0)
2021–2022 Gateshead 12 (1)
2022– Víkingur 23 (5)

We all know Williams was a disaster at Pools, obviously his body was not up professional football, but it is wrong to compare him with Mancini. Apart from the above figures he also represented England at under 20 level and would never been at Pools without his injury problems. As for Mancini whilst outstanding for pPools hasn’t even played league football yet ( unless you count 2 appearances for Accrington)

Mancini n Dodds are only our better players if they come back fully fit in August and do the full season with promotion performances.
Basic statedgy really.
UTP.

A bit like having an Italian sports car in the garage, gorgeous to watch but is it up to a season’s commute of hard work every week without breaking down…..?
It looks the part but can it perform the part …regularly.
You need a reliable workhorse in the background just in case.

question we have to ask is that have dodds and mancini been dogged with injuries from youth level and were those injuries just one of those things and might play for years without another serious one.

Not being from a medical background I some times feel that because some kids are training from a very age they are prone to injuries due to their muscles etc not being fully developed.

you are not the first to say that and some of the others have a medical background who are saying it. its not just muscles its bones that are not fully developed as they are not exactly just having a kick around with their mates. there has been cases of kids having to pack up football in their mid teens.

I don’t recall the old pros having many acl injuries or hamstring/muscle injuries, most injuries were fractured bones ? It’s either the modern day training or introducing the kids to pro training at too young an age.

yes contact injuries after getting a kicking. you hear managers saying they have never witnessed all these injuries where it once was a once every 10 year thing. on top of all this i wonder also if the boots they play in are more for show than their suitability. its even happening in the womens game now so that might help the authorities looking into all of this.

KP confirming that Mancini has gone back to France again to seek specialist consultation. I was told that last time he had really good medical insurance (seems the french know how to do it properly) and he was given expert treatment by Lyon. Hopefully they can fix him up again as they worked wonders in getting him back with the Hammy tear.
Like i said before we wont see him again this season now.

I said it was a gamble to give him a contract. Now looks a bigger gamble. eiphos says they worked wonders getting him back, really they haven’t got him back.

No comparison with Williams who hardly managed to string 2 or 3 appearances in a row for any club and arrived with a known injury history.
Mancini came and played quite a few consecutive games before a really bad hamstring tear, it happens. The new injury is his groin so not related and not the hamstring being problematic.
To write him off would be wrong imo, let's get him right and take up his 1 year option. He's a game changer when he's fit and we'll struggle to find anything like him.

This is unrelated to the Hamstring injury which they fixed in record time btw.
Tears like that should of had him probably only just coming back and i remember the Physio quoting when they found out the extent of the tear that dont be surprised if we dont see him till March time if that. So yeh they did a good job in getting him turned around.

Interesting to hear that Luke Hendrie is about the place (jogging with Dan Dodds). Thought he'd gone back to Bradford?

Totally agree PTID

Playing devils advocate, Mancini is almost 23yrs old and has hardly played in the last 3yrs. He got a serious injury which kept out for a lengthy period and since returning has broken down twice and is now out for a further lengthy period. Yes the injuries are different but this is what happens to injury prone players. Big Gamble.

Mancini if or when fit anyone who saw the game at Southend must agree it was the best midfield game since Jan ove pederson the whole crowd applauded him and he was named MOM by the home team.

On Saturday the fans started singing his name as soon as he began to warm up so it's no surprise KP gave in the temptation to play him. The season has been a big disappointment after the start we made, but the focus now has to be on the new campaign in August.

It was worth a try with bringing him back early in January, when a tilt at the play-offs seemed possible. Now he's well out of it till pre-season, same as Dan Dodds.

Voice of reason Essex It was the best player performance second only to Jan ove pederson away at top of the League Notts County.

Mancini is a must signing -- we are in some way fortunate he has been injured as may give us more of a chance of keeping him.

Hopefully hes not another Luke Williams but what I have seen suggest he's worth at least another year contract with a 1 year option.

I would try and sign hendrie, at least as cover for RB and CB
Assume we will chase Lacey and Pruti (who I quite liked) and Burton will go out on loan again

The time I saw pederson was at Colchester when mis directed their defence and set up Steve Howard (the young version) for two goals. A true artist.

Bloody hell Loyal I 100% agree again Maybe we can become friends in another life.