Released Players list - no Hartlepool United Boss

By Albatross
June 4 2003

"Please release me, let me go...." If the press list is correct, there's an awful lot of players who will now have to sing for their supper. There's a lot of quality on the list - and it surely just increases the pressure on Hartlepool United to appoint a new manager.

If the list of players released is correct, then there are about 600 players leaving their clubs this summer. Other than the players we've released, there are three ex-Poolies on the move; Lenny Johnrose has left Swansea, Mark Venus is going from Ipswich - possibly into retirement at the age of 36 - and sometime loanee Adie Mike has left Lincoln. Triallists Joe Kendrick (Newcastle) and John Cogger (Man U) are also on the list, although Kendrick has already set up a trial with 1860 Munich. Meanwhile, it's looking like Gordon Simms is attracting some interest, with Cambridge apparently sniffing around.

The list includes many familiar names amongst the unknowns, and there's a few which may cause eyebrows to be raised. Patrick Berger, Kevin Davies, Ed de Goey, Keith Gillespie, Oleg Luzhny, Scott Minto, Alan Wright.... and of course the much-publicised departure of Jody Morris from Chelsea. And that's just a quick skim through the Premiership players. Look through the list of Nationwide players and you'll be amazed at some of the talent that's out there looking for new contracts. Not all of them have been told to sling their hooks of course; some have decided to seek pastures new, and so there's players such as Jon Newby (Bury), and plenty of others with new clubs already lined up on the list. With names such as Rob Lee, Jack Lester, Alun Armstrong, Marlon Beresford, Bruce Dyer, Mike Sheron, Neil Cox and Tony Rougier leaving their clubs, you realise that there is talent and experience available for no fee on a level never seen before.

One person who isn't moving this summer though is Sean McAuley. The former Pools left back has just been promoted to assistant manager at Halifax, where he'll be coaching Craig Midgely and Stuart "more clubs than Ian Woosnam" Elliott.

All of this simply emphasises how important it is for Pools to get the new manager in soon. There's quality by the bucketload available, but until the new man is in place there's no-one to make decisions as to where we need to strngthen, let alone who we try to sign. Other clubs will of course also be looking at this list, and the players who might be interested in coming to Pools could be quickly snapped up. Applications have started arriving, with Martin Scott already declaring his interest. IOR have a difficult task though: they have to walk a tightrope between making a quick, possibly wrong, appointment on the one hand, and spending too long on finding the right candidate on the other. Every Poolie is hoping that they will get it right.