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Is anything going to happen at Hartlepool?

Danny Wilson
By Clarence Rode July 2 2008
Pre-season training starts soon, friendly matches follow quickly and the new season is just over five weeks away ... so is anything going to happen at Hartlepool United's Victoria Park? Are any more new players going to be added to the squad, are any of the established first team players going to leave, can the fans expect anything better than mid-table mediocrity in the club's centenary season?

A lot of questions are being asked, and so far there are no answers.
Wilson has made it clear several times that he wants new players, and plenty of names have been linked with the club since the season ended a couple of months ago.
Alan Power, Nottingham ForestBut apart from Nottingham Forest youngster Alan Power (right), there have so far been no new names to add to the Pools squad, and time is beginning to get short.
The close-season transfer market is a competitive arena, and Pools chairman Ken Hodcroft has already said that after a season of below-average crowds, Pools don't have a lot of money to throw about. Managers need to move as fast in the transfer market as teams need to move on the pitch during games - and Pools just don't do that, it seems.
So it looks as if Wilson is going to have to rely on bargain basement signings are he tries to strengthen a squad which lacked consistency as well as a number of other qualities last season.
A year after talk of splashing out well over £100,000 on Darryl Duffy from Hull - a deal that fell through when he picked Swansea and probably spent all season regretting it - Pools don't appear to be able to rustle up anywhere near that sort of money now.
But the clkub has sprung surprises before, and there could be one or two before the new season starts on August 9.
And rhere's always the chance of Pools selling a player and using some or all of the cash on new signings. Michael Nelson was last week linked with a move to Leicester City, and Pools would surely demand a fee heading toards £500,000 for the big defender if they were to tell. They are well covered in central defence, and it might be a deal Wilson and Hodcroft would consider worth doing in order to finance signings.
We just wish they'd get on with it. With five and a half weeks to go to the kick-off at home to Colchester, we can't afford to hang about and miss out ... again.

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