By Albatross
April 14 2005

Having been dropped for the second time this season for last weekend's draw at Colchester, Hartlepool United keeper Jim Provett has handed in a written transfer request. Last season's Player of the Year feels that he should be in the first team ahead of Dimitrios Konstantopoulos. The fact that Jim has handed in a Transfer Request is far from welcome news as it comes at a crucial point in the season: four games to go, a huge game with a playoff rival about to happen, and instead of discussing our chances of going up we're talking about a player wanting out. Nice timing...

Provett apparently feels that he's been made something of a scapegoat this season, having lost his place to Dimi Konstantopoulos, won it back and then lost it again for last weekend's game at Colchester. Whether that is actually the case is open to debate - in my opinion what Jim is suffering from is the fact that we have two good keepers at Pools, and the other is taller than him. A little flippant? Maybe, but it can't be denied that Konstantopoulos has had some very good games this season, even attracting plenty of press talk about a move to a bigger club with Fulham and Celtic both mentioned. Dimi seems to be more commanding a presence around the box, and his kicking is more reliable than Jim's, which has put us under pressure on occasion.

Player of the season last season, Provett had of course come to prominence following the effective demise of Tony Williams. Given his chance in the Carling Cup at Hillsborough, he took his chance with both hands and with the exception of the LDV defeat at Oldham (where Williams let in three goals for the second time in two starts for Pools) was an ever-present. Some of his saves were simply outstanding - he picked up the North-East Save of the Season award, to add to his Player of the Year award.

For a Goalkeeper though triumph and disaster are rarely far apart. Dimi was given a chance and impressed in the LDV against Hull; and following a run of 10 goals conceded in four games in October Jim lost his place. Having won it back when Dimi was dropped following the Wrexham debacle, he missed out again last weekend and it seems that was the final straw - at least that's what his agent seems to be saying. Provett wants first team football, understandably, but is effectively saying that he'll go elsewhere to get it if it's not forthcoming at Pools.

While it's bound to be disrupting, the impact on the side may not be that great. Dimi is a highly capable keeper, and some felt he was unlucky to be dropped in any case; he's become something of a cult figure at Pools and would probably expect to be in the side for the rest of the season anyway, injury and suspension permitting.

The problem is to be honest one that's been brewing for a while. It's very hard to remember when Pools last had two good keepers to choose from; half the time we'd have been pleased even to have a decent one. It's not so many years ago that Cyril Knowles arrived and dropped Rob Moverley before even seeing him play, replacing him with a young lad from Carlisle (Jason Priestly) that received a rapturous reception the first time he came out to collect a cross as he was so much better than what we were used to! Even through some of our more successful times we've had players such as Brian "Flapper" Cox in goal, while the dark days of the mid nineties (when Jim was probably on the terraces) saw the likes of Paul O'Connor, the out of his depth Steve Jones, and various loanees displaying their occasionally rather dubious talents in goal. Provett's one of the best keepers we've had in years - but so is Dimi, and keeping both of them happy was never going to be easy.

What next for Jim, and for Pools then? In many ways it's an odd decision for Provett to ask for a move now. He can't move on until after the end of the season in any case, and if some of the rumoured interest in Konstantopoulos proves to be more than press speculation he'd be left as the number one at the club anyway. Admittedly he may be trying to highlight his potential availability to other clubs before the mayhem of the free transfer period starts - but you do have to wonder why he didn't sit tight for another few weeks before handing in his request. Have other clubs shown interest? Is he simply fed up of sitting on the bench? Whatever the motivation, it's unlikely that Coops or Hodcroft will be particularly impressed - and it may be that this season will see the end of Provett's career in the Hartlepool first team.

The club have confirmed that they have received a request, but as with Michael Nelson's request earlier in the season he's been told that they expect him to honour his contract. In fact, it seems that rather than simply ask for a move, the letter had asked them to release Jim from his contract - effectively, he wanted a free transfer. Having been rumoured to be the subject of a six figure bid from Sheffield United last season, the board are not about to turn round and let him go for nothing - so unless someone is prepared to stump up what the board believe to be a fair transfer fee Provett will be going nowhere for twelve months. Will he be allowed to moulder in the reserves? Will Pools try and cash in? Will he get his head down and work on improving his game to win his place back? Only time will tell - but I can't help thinking that this hasn't been a particularly smart move from Provett. Even if he stays, he's got a lot of making up to do.