By Albatross
May 5 2005

As soon as Neale Cooper's departure from Hartlepool United was announced rumour and speculation began flooding in from all corners. Some of it is very much anti our owners - but I don't think much of it is justified.

I have to say I find the reaction in some (by no means all) quarters towards IOR a little disturbing, if only because I can't see where we are going to find any other owners ready and able to fund Pools in the way that IOR have. Time then to attempt to put a few rumours to bed and hopefully calm things down a bit.

1) Cooper has gone because IOR don't want/can't afford us to be promoted.

It's been suggested, but I seriously can't see this being the case. If IOR really didn't want us to go up, then getting to within five minutes of a Playoff Final and then close enough to a Playoff spot that even now we're arguably in pole position to claim it is much too close for comfort. If IOR didn't want us to go up, we'd be alongside the Barnsleys and Colchesters of the division, not the Sheffield Wednesdays and Tranmeres. It's worth remembering as well that this accusation was flying around after our third playoff failure in Division 3 - and the following season saw us not only promoted, but close to the title.

2) Cooper wasn't allowed to bring in the players he wanted.

Slightly more tricky, as it's possible that Coops hasn't been able to sign players he may have wanted - for example he was rumoured to have enquired about bringing in Chopra before he joined Barnsley on loan. However, IOR's way of working seems to be along the lines of setting a budget and then the manager doing what he can with it. Don't forget that Daly arrived not too long ago, and while he may not have been a player to set pulses racing in excitement at the Vic, finding players that will improve our squad without costing the Earth in wages, transfer fees or both is not that easy. If Coops came to IOR and said he wanted to sign a player but it would exceed the set budget by a couple of thousand a week, I'd expect them to say no - after all, we don't have a bottomless pit of money.

3) IOR should be telling us more than they have - something must be up.

Well something has happened somewhere, or Neale Cooper would still be manager. On the other hand, IOR haven't indicated that nothing will ever be said - we may get more once our fate this season is decided, although admittedly we may have to wait for Cooper to talk to the media. Even so, it's possible to regard the rather short statement as having some positives. The situation in terms of management is clear for the moment: Martin Scott is in charge, and the club will not be appointing anyone else just yet - or even accepting applications. Scott, who made no secret of his interest in the job last time, doesn't have to worry about someone being appointed over the top of him while Pools still have something to play for - and arguably what more motivation could he need, when success on Saturday and beyond could make his position secure? Even the fact that no-one will be talking to the media about Cooper's departure has some positives: hopefully it will allow them to concentrate on Saturday's crucial game rather than on being interviewed by every sports journo in the North-East about their former boss.

4) IOR lack ambition for Hartlepool United.

In many ways, this is the plank on which all the negative rumours seem to have at their base. After all, the theory goes, if IOR don't want to splash the cash on taking us up the divisions, what are they doing at Pools anyway?

The question I would ask is in that case why are they here at all. After all, how many companies working in the lucrative offshore oil industry would decide to buy what was in fairness a fairly obscure lower division football team with a less than distinguished history? Why Pools? Why anyone? Did they think there was "Oil in that there Football Ground"? IOR's backers have never let on. However they convinced Harold Hornsey that they were interested in doing right by the club, and several years later here we are contemplating the possibility of a second successive playoff season in Division 2, and enjoying what is by any measure the most successful spell in the club's 97 year history.

In fact, if you look at their record it's hard to argue that IOR have been anything but good news for Hartlepool United. We've improved out of sight on the field, and have made steady progress off it as well; and if their ways aren't exactly to everyone's taste, well I'd still prefer them to some of the dodgy, greedy or occasionally outright deranged owners that other clubs have had to suffer. Where any sort of new owner for Pools would come from is open for debate as well - at the moment the only even slightly serious candidate is Sir John Hall, and I really can't imagine that there's more to his interest in the club than as a football fan watching a smaller local side when getting to his first love isn't feasible.

Quite what it is that people are expecting of IOR I'm not sure. They continue to provide substantial finance to keep the club going, and we are now established as a good Division 2 side rather than a poor Division 3 one. Should we be expecting them to stump up more money in the hope that we might win promotion? Lay out millions on a new ground, or on improving the Vic, despite the fact that we struggle to fill what we already have most of the time? There's no obligation on them to do these things after all, and I much prefer their approach to that of so many other clubs that have chased the dream only to pay for it with a vengeance later on.

IOR's ultimate motive for HUFC remains a mystery. However, they've been here for long enough now to demonstrate that they are here for the long haul, and I've yet to see any proof that they wish the club ill. Until I do, I remain happy for them to be in charge of my club.