The Poolie Bunker

"Dear Member,

Welcome to the first update of the year.

Well, what a difference a win makes! The winter period had been a mixed bag for Pools, with a glut of draws denting our promotion ambition but we’re not quite out of it yet - the next couple of weeks seems pivotal for a number of reasons.

We have a new head coach in Anthony Limbrick, who is a likeable character with admirable aims - we wish him all the best of luck. His announcement (if you could call it that) showed once again though that Pools have what could generously be called a unique approach to communication - with Lennie Lawrence mentioning that he was swapping jobs with his assistant eight minutes into an interview about the season so far!

What is more worrying, however, is the fact that 21-year-old Joe Grey will play under his 10th (TENTH!) Pools manager, which goes a long way to explaining our current malaise. Crowds seem to be dwindling in response to what feels like a lack of ambition.

There isn’t a straightforward fix for a club lacking direction, and we’re aware that Mr. Singh is searching for a new owner. We think even he would acknowledge we need a new start and we know that there are credible people willing to take the club on. We fear, however, that valuation of the club remains a huge sticking point.

One way that Pools could help to bring fans back on board is through better communication, and a refreshed Fans Forum has been mooted. As we’ve previously mentioned, HUST board members have attended two preliminary meetings, and we’ve already reported our concerns about the narrow focus of sessions, when there are real concerns about the ambition and even survival of the club. We’ve also made it clear that we believe supporters’ representatives should be democratically elected by supporters and that we expect this requirement to pass into law in the near future.

We have since written to the club, however, stating that we are happy to attend providing meaningful questions can be asked. We also suggested that members could contact us with questions, and we would send them to the club prior to meeting. We’re hopeful that this suggestion is viewed positively - this kind of two-way dialogue is found at many other clubs across the country. A full copy of the letter is attached and we will keep you updated about the reply.

One of HUST’s fundamental aims is to buy a stake in the club and we continue to build an investment fund. We have also proven ourselves as credible partners with interested parties over the last year. We rely on your membership subs, corporate membership, and also on our lottery to raise money. If you don’t already take part, please click on the link below. There is a £300 monthly top prize, and your odds of winning really are pretty decent!

https://www.hufcsupporterstrust.org.uk/lottery

We can’t finish our update, however, without mentioning Alan Shoulder, who sadly passed away recently. He is fondly remembered by those fans who watched the team back in the mid-80s, a player who really made a nuisance of himself and got the crowd going. We send all our best to his family.

Thank you for your ongoing support and please get in touch with any comments, suggestions or questions."

The request for questions is directed to members of HUST - though sounding off on here will allegedly get HUFC's attention even quicker, or so some believe

I bet they don't get taken up on the offer to the club.

I wouldn't bet against you.

Playing devil's advocate, they make a lot of valid points. Communication from within the club is absolutely non-existent and it's causing huge frustration for every fan.
Btw, should we have stuck with any of the previous 9 managers that Joe has played under? What evidence is there of lack of direction or ambition? Poor results don't mean either. And whatever the asking price, it is 100% Raj's prerogative to set that whatever their fears.
Openly criticising the club in this manner suggests a huge gulf between the Trust and the club at all levels. Can't see their letter helping in any way.
Hopefully they're right and there is a new buyer waiting in the wings and a deal can be done soon.

only problem with communications from the club is many believe nothing now from them. it will either be called a half truth or a load of bullshit for the club and not the fans. sometime we will and the club will to draw a line on the past and start again with the information we deserve to hear. every single fan makes an effort for the club by just turning up on matchday.

Interesting post as it puts some important questions about where we are as a club and where we want to be.
Totally agree, the terrible communication between club and fans really does cause huge frustration. The club seem to have an ‘us against them’ attitude rather than embracing grown up dialogue. If Raj or Lennie or whoever met with fans a few times a year, took questions and explained what the plan is for the club, it’d go a long way. There’s a handful of fans who post about football on this forum but the most telling opinion is the 1500 or so who stopped going to the match, who haven’t noisily protested, just walked away. That is just sad to witness to be honest. I joined HUST when they tried to get the consortium together and fair play to them. Kind of wish they be a bit noisier but at the same time, if Raj really is selling, what’s the point. Fans staying away makes all the point that’s needed.

Your point about ambition - I dare say of course the club want to be successful but we can surely only judge on actions and results. To me that has been lurching from one manager/style of play to another, hoping to stumble on a new Challinor. Hartley and the Scots was an exercise in doing it on the cheap in my opinion, and similar has followed.
To be fair to most managers apart from Hartley and Sarll, I don’t think any of them have really been able to pick a team based on their own players. That needs a bit of patience to get in place, hence clearly explaining a plan to the fan base. Say we’re aiming for a certain identity as a club and that it could take a season or two, then sign players and coach players to that style. If the manager changes, you still keep your identity. Clubs with smaller followings than us have done it.

And there is clearly a huge gulf between HUST and the club as you say, which also reflects a gulf between a large number of fans and the club. If a supporters’ trust doesn’t call for better who will?

Top post as usual from Mikey76.

It's a disappointing situation all round,deathly silence from the club, frustration boiling over from the fans in general, sounds like a bit of a Mexican stand-off with the Trust which from the outside looks to be irrepairable, nothing much happening results wise.
We desperately need a play off push to possibly improve the likelihood of a sale, or to at least get more focus on the actual team rather than the background stuff.
We live in hope.

Indeed - 'We Live in Hope' is the new 'Never Say Die', such is the lot of Pools fans!

"Never say die - We live in hope" would it fit on the shirt?

Excellent update as usual--with a number of fair but pointed questions

HUST is 100% right to call out the fans forums for what they are and more importantly are not--its a delicate balancing act--you don't go and you get called out for not pulling in the same direction--you do go and you can end up endorsing what is essentially a nonsense meeting designed to tick a box as oppose to address genuine concerns. I think so far trust doing a great job of getting the balance right

When they talk about democratically elected 'passing into law' do they mean in Parliament?--that would be a big step fwd though may deflate some peoples egos...

problem is that fans are never happy. just killing time earlier to find a team we beat in the play offs not too long back and are now riding high in division 1 are moaning about there club as they have changed their pie supplier and got the badge of an opponent wrong in some write up. you would think they would be living the dream we,d like to be javing and not nit picking like i hope we would not be doing.

Trouble is that there are various factions. This prohibits any moves by HUST or anyone else. When the so-called fans representative is central to one of those factions it doesn’t auger well.