Gone!

The main surprise in the news about Jordan is that it's taken so long to finally happen - it's possible that negotiations had been continuing in the background about the payoff, or maybe Jordan has found another club and so is prepared to leave.

The son of Scottish legend Joe, Jordan started his career with Bristol City before moving onto an unfortunate spell with Cardiff; injury, own goals, and a continuing dislike by Cardiff fans for his Dad meant that he never became established with the Bluebirds and was released after playing just six times in three years. He became one of Cooper's earliest signings for Pools, and has not exactly proved to be one of his best despite making a reasonable start.

He made his debut in the opening day win over Peterborough, and looked set to be a regular after playing in the first four games - but was dropped late in August, and made his last appearance for the first team in the victory over Stockport in September. More than a year has passed since, and Jordan has failed to make any impact at all on the first team squad and has frequently not played for the reserves either.

Jordan had a trial with Macclesfield towards the end of last season that lead to nothing, but signs of a comeback for Pools were few and far between. Having filled in a little on the left, the central defender saw himself behind Brackstone, Robson and then Robertson for that position, and Cooper seemed to prefer Scott Walker, Darren Craddock and even Mark Tinkler in preference to the big Scot. Rumours of a falling out were in the air, although today's statement is as diplomatic as anything you're likely to see - Jordan thanks everyone at the club and there's no indication of a clash of personalities.

The simple answer to why Jordan has gone seems to be that we simply had better options than him, both in the side and in the youth team. As soon as Nelson and Westwood got their partnership going Jordan wasn't going to get a look-in; and it's tempting to say that he was essentially a "panic signing" by Cooper, who needed to flesh his squad out pretty quickly when he took over. With the benefit of hindsight he may have not persued his interest - but then a lot of things are easy to say after the event. Jordan has agreed to go now, presumably saving the club at least part of the money they would otherwise have paid him; he now has the rest of the season to find another club before the Summer merry-go-round, and Cooper may have another slot in his squad that he can now look to fill. Without wanting to put Andy Jordan down in any way (he's a lot bigger than me!) this doesn't make much difference to the strength of the squad - having rarely even made the bench, it would be hard to describe him as even a fringe player at the club. He's made less than 30 first team appearances throughout his career, and will no doubt be wanting to get some first team football and make his name elsewhere. Will we see Jordan: The Comeback?

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