By Albatross
October 2 2002

The much-rumoured signing of Marcus Richardson was announced by the club this morning. Albatross has a look at his record, and wonders what this means for Pools Tactics, and if this signals the end for any of Pools current crop of forwards. Pools today strengthened their squad when they announced the signing of Marcus Richardson from Torquay United.

Richardson has been released by the Gulls after failing to agree a contract with the Plainmoor club, and has instead signed a two year deal at the Vic.

He came into the professional game relatively late; Cambridge United took him into the professional ranks at the age of 23 when they signed him from Harrow Borough in the spring of 2001. First team opportunites were limited for him however, and he only made 17 Appearances - nine of them as a Substitute - and scored two at the Abbey.

He moved to Torquay initially on loan last September, and signed a permanent deal a year ago. Although more involved in the action at Plainmoor, he has still been used frequently as a substitute, making 21 starts and 20 Sub appearances. He scored six goals last season, and added another two this - including the goal that earned the Gulls a 1-1 draw against Pools. No doubt this made an impression on Chris Turner. Opinion amongst Torquay fans seems to be somewhat divided, with some not too bothered by his going and others thinking that we have signed a decent prospect.

CT has made no secret of the fact that he's been looking for a big, powerful forward, and Richardson would appear to fit the bill. Soccerbase list him as being 6'3" and 12st5. The signing has been rumoured for some time, and was confirmed by Pools this morning.

What are the implications for the players currently at Pools and the style of play? CT has been quick to say that he's not intending to switch to Route One, but he feels that the extra height up front will give us more options. I wouldn't expect him to be starting against Shrewsbury unless there's an injury to one of the first-choice strikers; Adam Boyd has scored in each of the last three games after replacing the injured Flash, and Eifion Williams - a former Gulls colleague of Marcus - has looked very good at leading the line with his pace, control and work-rate.

The person most under threat at the moment would seem to be Kevin Henderson. Hendo has failed to claim a first team spot this season despite Watson's leg break, and once Flash returns may well find himself fifth in the pecking order. He lost his place due to injury last season, but has failed to make much of an impact since returning. Admittedly his brief sub appearances haven't given him too many opportunites to impress, but when he has come on he hasn't shown anything that would indicate he can change a match. Richardson's extra height and physical prescence at least give Pools the option to try something different.

Jermaine Easter is another forward who will be looking over his shoulder. The young Welshman has impressed in pre-season once again, but when handed his chance against Macclesfield after coming on as an early substitute he turned in by all accounts a poor performance and since then hasn't got a look in. A fully-fit set of strikers would leave him in the position of struggling to get a regular spot in the reserves, and unless he can convince people in training, he may find that his career at Pools doesn't last much longer.

Of the two though, I think there's more chance of Henderson leaving in the near future. Hendo has at least shown in the past that he can score goals, and there's enough clubs looking for strikers at the moment that if he was made available someone would take a chance on him. There's also the matter of age; at 28, Hendo will not want to be sitting on the bench and should in theory be at his peak; Easter is 20, and there's still the possibility he will develop. Pools may even be able to command a transfer fee for Hendo, and this might appeal to the powers that be.