Miserable and negative? I'm not the one getting a kick out of us being shit year after year. This preseason looks no different so far but some people are chuffed with that.

We've signed 3 players who all look to be an improvement on what we had last season so what are we doing wrong?

Pathetic thing to say is it. You have the monopoly on pathetic things to say and prove it on a daily basis. You have nothing good to say about the football club you pretend to support and yes you want to see us fail for the simple scenario of I told you so. You say you wish the club was successful but respond to every announcement with negativity.
Why don't you come clean and admit to the fact that you are desperate to see us fail. You prove this with your hatred of the only guy willing to keep us going when nobody else gave a monkeys. Ever since he thwarted your wishes for us to go under you have tried to hound him out in the hope that would close the doors. You might fool others with your talk of ambition but you don't fool me. Why don't you follow the lead of most Billingham football fans and get yourself to the Riverside. Whingers are rife in that quarter so you should be made extremely welcome.

While we in non league more fans are Gunna be pissed off than happy.
What next stagnate in this division or below and be grateful for league One admission fees.
Well Aye.
Shit or bust season last chance saloon.
On paper the new lads seem marginal improvements.
We Gunna find out 24/25
UTP.

Not sure about that, different type of player

Nonsense, you could say that About most of the signings we made in previous summers that turned out later to be flops.

There's no guarantees signing any player. We're trying to improve on the likes of Finney, Patterson, Ndjoli, Wreh, Hastie, etc
The 3 signed so far hopefully do that.

I believe we would all be surprised if we sign Quality players. First of all they cost decent transfer fees which like it or not Raj is unlikely to pay. Then these type of players will be wanting wages probably in excess of £2.5K pw. which I believe is way over what our present players are on.
How ever we can sign average players and turn them into quality lower league players e.g. Oates, Sterry, Molyneaux. I have always been of the opinion that if you sign 5 or 6 free transfer player you may get 2 or three success

If we didn't all love HUFC, we wouldn't even be in here talking passionately about the club. We don't have much good to say about the people responsible for delivering year upon year of underperformance. That's completely different.

The signings so far are unremarkable. However, we are all hoping everything clicks and we do well.

consensus at Oldham seems to be he runs around a lot and puts a shift in but lacks quality---def seems like a sarll player in terms of running an effort, but time will tell how good he is--it looks like we are at last getting the mobility we have been begging for.

Several contributors to this board need to take a basic reality check. Anyone who seriously believes that half decent EFL players are going to be attracted to Pools without offers of megabucks - which is ludicrous given the club’s current status - are away with the fairies and Just Stop Oil protestors.

The solid new signings to date coupled with the exit of Hartley’s no hopers, the return of Dodds, Mancini (hopefully) and maybe a ‘marquee’ signing yet to come lol will make a big difference to the squad that tamely finished last season.

That poor ratio rarely produces success as a team.
We stretching hope to the maximum.
The new lads ain't coming here to retire. They have to prove themselves so maybe a higher % in effort could be the difference between 7th n 8th position.
Not dreaming of top 1 3 or 5.
Just realistic hope.
UTP.

That poor ratio I’m afraid is probably the norm in the lower leagues. What you hope is two or three new players each season are a success. Surely you don’t think that teams at our level get most free signings a success. Sadly Hartleys was a complete disaster.

Should have made me self more clear, Was NOT referring to you mate.

The lad from Oldham, Played Lge 1, 2 and most of last season for Oldham, Till new manager came in and wanted things his way.

My bad.

Anyway, you watch, this new signing will be amazing and it's humble pie time for the Imp.

Surely
Them teams above us get success.
Plenty of tin potters as well.

Lots grumbling about the new signings but did we sign anyone outstanding prior to the promotion season? I seem to recall Challinor describing them all as a bunch of misfits who nobody else wanted after the Promotion Final.

All three appear to be of good pedigree; Charman and Hunter were offered new deals by their previous club and Sheron played a lot of games for a club who weren’t too far away from finishing in the Playoffs.

Pinning hope on DS doing a DC? Well if hope is all you have, you have to go with it. I'm not sure the stars are going to align again in that way and a bunch of very ordinary signings produces extraordinary results.

When are we going to stop using Challinor as the standard for every potential manager to aspire to …?
The blokes long gone, he wasn’t kicked out, he went for more money, like a long list of ex Pools managers have down the years……about time we moved on.

People are using what he achieved, not the man himself. Getting beck into the EFL is the goal is it not? We have to do that with very limited resources did we not? DC achieved that did he not? Seeing that as the bar to set is fair is it not?

Let's not forget DC, for all his achievements since coming to us, was plucked from the dole queue having been sacked by Fylde. An unknown quantity for us and we all hoped he could do a job for us when he was appointed.
We're in the same boat now, new manager, new players and new season coming up, and as usual for most of us new hope.
I'd be interested to know on what basis the assessment that our new signings are based on, surely not supporters forum members views? Any or all 3 of them could turn out to be anything.

If we are using achievements, we could refer to any manager who achieved actual promotion directly in the not too distant past….names aren’t relevant in that instance, this obsession is like throwing an anchor overboard to guarantee the only thing you’ll do is go around in circles even at full power.

No im just not a loser that seems to settle for not 2nd best but 3rd best. We are the ones wanting us to be better yet you say that we get off on failure. I think it must be you because your happy with it. I will say it how it is unlike some, funny thing is some wont say boo about the chairman thats ruining this club but theirs outrage about some random appointed on the board go figure that out. Why dont you go and watch some other club cos you seem to love failure.

Thats what they are solid, not great signings but solid, least they have pkayed in this league. I still dont see why we cant sign some of the better national league players though. Paying top whack prices for season tickets, 3 times more punters than most of the bottom half of the league whats stopping us competitng for the best in this league?

Everyone on this forum wants us to do better surely?
Has the chairman changed since we last got promoted?
Getting out of this division is notoriously difficult, I believe only 1 club have ever rebounded straight back up into efl, with a few going into freefall to Leagues below or even out of existence.
Granted the chairman made a monumental error when he appointed Hartley, but subsequent firings and hiring would indicate that he also wants better - otherwise how will he ever get his money back, or it might just cost him more in the longer term.
We may be on the right track now with the new broom approach on the footballing side, Manager and Assistant, Lennie and Ronnie Moore more involved with recruitment etc.
Roll on August 10th.

plus those who are underwhelmed by the signings i,d like to know who thay wanted us to sign. suppose the barnet 8 as anyones signings must always be better than ours as pools only sign players proven to be shit. i thought i was someone who expects everything to go tits up, but after time spent on here i look into the mirror and see the face of a positive person. surely we all live in hope and that should be winning games rather than the hope the other way to prove they were right after all.

feel we had some of the better national league players at the start of last season. if those injuries had not happened to the players they happened to and we had more strength in depth we could have given chesterfield a run for their money.

Doesnt matter who Barnet sign they still have a nucleus of a side that was 26 points bettter than us that is gping to take some overturning in itself next season, unless they are one season wonders.

Strength in Depth is quality not quantity.
Shudda
Wudda
Cudda
First 3 signings seem okish.
Now time to bring the Stella n Cream in. Why not?
Pays for itself with promotion crowds or very worst play off failure.
Rapid winger n keeper of quality need to be next newbees not Trialists.
Still timeish left let's do it.
Massive week coming up for sure.
Don't want fobbing off with loanies n open window.
Fair assessment if you quarterly ambitious.
UTP.

[quote="PTID"
Getting out of this division is notoriously difficult, I believe only 1 club have ever rebounded straight back up into efl[/quote]

You've said that more than once. I had a feeling it wasn't right, so this time I had a little trawl on t'internet.

Couldn't find any records for the bad old days when it was 1 up, 1 down from the National League, but since 2003/4 four teams have come straight back up - Carlisle in 2004/5, Bristol Rovers in 14/15, Cheltenham in 15/16 and Grimsby 3 seasons ago.

There's a couple of teams who came up at the second attempt too - Torquay in 2008/9 and Orient, who went down with Pools in 2018 and came back up again in 2020.

So it's a tough division to get out of, we all know that, but for every Stockport and Wrexham who took an age to do it there's other EFL sides who bounced back quickly and have mostly stayed up since.

Come on Pools, no excuses!

If the players buy in to Snarll, I believe we will do well.
The signings know there way around this Lge which is vitally important.

[quote="kevin pooles gloves"]Strength in Depth is quality not quantity.
Shudda
Wudda
Cudda
First 3 signings seem okish.
Now time to bring the Stella n Cream in. Why not?
Pays for itself with promotion crowds or very worst play off failure.

that is only if they come off in a big way. suppose by a stella n cream you mean someone who is a household name in the lower parts of the football league. if so i personally do not get it. who were our best signings and players last season, lads like dodds and manny d unheard of apart from us and non league nerds and mancini a player with a handful of league games at relegated accrington nobody at pools have ever heard of before. big names can equally mean big bollocks who might feel they are still too big for the club, play when they want as much as being a poolie legend.

My apologies I thought Grimsby were the only team to bounce straight back up. Still shows how difficult it is to get out of this league, 3 or even 4 up / down is long overdue imo.

There are those who expect promotion and those who expect the team to try for promotion.

We were in the doldrums for two years after the Hartley debacle and it has held us back. Now we have cleared the decks we are in a position to start again and make progress.
Our new signings are mid twenties and have pedigree and a bit of success for this league.
It looks like Dodds and Mancini are nearing the end of their respective traumas and are like two new signings, and decent signings at that.
The recruitment is ongoing and we need to bring in a few more, preferably before pre season training starts.
We have a new coaching set up and a manager, according to what the new recruits have said, that has a plan A at least to take the team forward.
So there is a bit more hope and certainly room for a bit more enthusiasm from us fans.

Finally a message for Billy.
You suggest I should go and find a club to support that is a failure. Well according to you that is Pools as you constantly paint us as a failure, so I think I'll stay put if that is alright with you. My ambition for Pools is way higher than yours as long as you adopt the stance that puts us in danger if Raj follows your wish and walks. See if you can widen your horizon and imagine following in Darlo's shadow. My ambition will get us nowhere near national league north but yours gets us there with bells on.

Very well put, Sir.

You've said that more than once. I had a feeling it wasn't right, so this time I had a little trawl on t'internet.

Couldn't find any records for the bad old days when it was 1 up, 1 down from the National League, but since 2003/4 four teams have come straight back up - Carlisle in 2004/5, Bristol Rovers in 14/15, Cheltenham in 15/16 and Grimsby 3 seasons ago.

There's a couple of teams who came up at the second attempt too - Torquay in 2008/9 and Orient, who went down with Pools in 2018 and came back up again in 2020.

So it's a tough division to get out of, we all know that, but for every Stockport and Wrexham who took an age to do it there's other EFL sides who bounced back quickly and have mostly stayed up since.

Come on Pools, no excuses![/quote]

Remember Borthwick scoring a bag full when Darlow bounced straight back up with Brian Little as manager. Unfortunately cannot recall the year Also the division had a different name

There are none of the former on this board, unless you have evidence to the contrary. The latter should also expect the team to be capable of challenging for promotion. It is a reasonable expectation.

You sure about that…?

It was in the 1989/90 season that Darlo came straight back up, then they won division 4 in 1990/91 when we went up in 3rd place.

In the early years of the Conference most teams I believe were part-time and the relegated team from the league invariably went straight back up.

The burden of proof is with you Sir.

Yes that's the year How could I have forgotten dah

The younger mob expect promotion because of higher morals.
We ain't trying to get back to league 1 are we .
Hopefully we all still alive in the 4th division like next May.

All we want is to get out of this swamp Kev and back to normal football.

Exactly

You’ll have to settle for what you’re given unless you win this weeks lottery…. The campaign to remove Raj for one of the anonymous millionaires on the taxi rank of wealth just seems to have made him dig his heels in…a stunning outcome.
You mightn’t be a loser, but you ain’t a winner either…and when he does go, they all do in the end…..your input won’t have made the sum total of Jack shit in the outcome, just like everyone else.

No such burden exists as this was an esoteric remark made without a named target or person.
It was a generalisation which should offend no one with a clear conscience on the matter and I assume you declare self as fitting that description.
Just those with a dog in the fight will understand and then it will start barking…so to speak…I find mine tend to when I tug their leads …bless ‘em.

Raj has had his opportunity to go thing is he didnt really wanna go afterall did he. It was to get the fans off his back.