By Albatross
August 17 2005

....is another man's poison, or so the saying goes. So while Hartlepool United fans are pretty happy with Jon Daly's contribution since arriving at Victoria Park, more than one Stockport County fan will be wondering if he's been replaced by a lookalike. It's fair to say that many Stockport fans were glad to see the back of Daly; however at the moment you wouldn't find many Pools fans that would consider getting rid of him. Some called him the worst player ever to pull on a County shirt and questioned how they'd even got a fee for him: and yet already at Pools he's scored three vital goals. The first got us into the playoffs, the second put us ahead in the Playoff Final, and the third was the difference in a tricky away League game last weekend. He's already repayed back that transfer fee, with considerable interest.

Meanwhile over at Edgeley Park the player currently making an impact up front is someone that Pools fans know well and weren't exactly despairing to see the back of: Jermaine Easter scored twice on his debut the other week to earn his new side a draw.

In some ways neither set of fans should be that surprised that their alumnus has proved to be something of a success. It's happened before - even between the two clubs. Poolies that can remember back to the late 1980s and early 90s may recall a lad called Paul Williams, who played about 8 games for Pools and was generally regarded as a useless plank. There was some relief when he signed for Stockport, followed by disbelief as he scored 16 goals in less than a season and persuaded West Brom to pay out 250K for his services!

Football is of course littered with such stories. A journalist for the Daily Mail in 1934 questioned whether a young England debutant called Stanley Matthews had the big match temperament; ironically, Matthews himself, when at Port Vale, told the 15 year old Ray Kennedy he'd never be good enough, only for Kennedy to become one of England's brightest stars of the 70s and early 80s. Meanwhile you'd find few Crystal Palace fans that would be prepared to have Clinton Morrison back in place of the player that joined them from Birmingham as a makeweight in that deal - a certain Andy Johnson.

Is it just that a player sometimes gets stale? That a side don't play to his strengths, and so he looks poor? That he simply doesn't get teh opportunity to show what he can do? Sometimes it's one or other of those factors, but sometimes - especially when a player has been around for a while - I think that fan attitudes can have an influence. How must Daly have felt at Stockport when, having played in a side that was almost constantly struggling, he knew that every time he missed a chance or was beaten to a header he'd have the fans on his back? How hard was it for Easter, knowing (especially after his notorious misses against Macclesfield) that if he didn't perform soon he'd be likely to be getting it in the neck? Certainly he'd shown he had the ability - he was prolific for the reserves for example - but always seemed to be under pressure and never got it right for the first team. Only when he moved on did he start to show any form, possibly because the weight of fans expectations and possible criticisms were lifted.

In some cases of course things can work the opposite way round. Sometimes when a player moves up having been a success he may arrive full of confidence - but finds himself replacing a fans favourite and never somehow winning the hearts and minds of the people that matter - the supporters. For example take Peter Davenport: a highly promising player at Nottingham Forest, on the verge of the England squad, he must have been delighted to be signing for Manchester United towards the end of 1985/6. However as the replacement for ManU legend Mark Hughes he found life tough and when he got off to a less than impressive start at Old Trafford - and then saw the departure of the man who'd signed him, Ron Atkinson - he found himself the subject of some discontent. Even scoring 14 goals to be leading scorer the following season wasn't enough to win people over, and even now he is hardly remembered with much affection.

For many though, especially if they're leaving behind a club where things have just not worked, it must be a relief to be able to make a clean break and go somewhere that will allow them a fresh start. It looks a lot like Jon Daly is doing exactly that.