Joe Gamble - trial

By Charlie Summerbell
December 15 2009

Hartlepool United are giving a trial to Joe Gamble, an Irish international midfield player looking for a new club after finishing the Republic of Ireland season with hard-up Cork City. The midfield player could play for the reserves in a midweek game against Sunderland.

Gamble is a central midfield player similar to former Cork team-mate Colin Healy, who was on the verge of signing for Pools in the summer before a late offer from Ipswich took him to East Anglia, where he has spent most of the season playing for Roy Keane’s reserve team, even though the first team is struggling.
Chris Turner spotted Gamble playing for Cork during the summer, after which he signed Denis Behan and just missed out on Healy.
There is a suggestion that if Gamble doesn’t fit the bill and get a chance to sign for Pools during the January transfer window, Turner could make a loan move for Healy.
Meanwhile, Pools have some repair work to do when they meet fellow middle-of-the-table team Yeovil at Victoria Park on Saturday.
Not only did they follow their 3-0 win over Millwall in their previous home game by a poor team display at Southend last weekend, they also managed to throw in another waste of a match-winning position.
Two up at half-time despite playing badly, Pools finished up losing 3-2, so there’s double reason for them wanting to do well against Yeovil.
Neil Austin, who missed the Southend game through injury, is not expected to be fit for Saturday, so Antony Sweeney is likely to continue to deputise at right-back.
But whoever plays, Turner will be looking for another good home win to go with the Millwall one as Pools continue to try to solve the inconsistency problem which leaves them in mid-table when they could – if only they didn’t give away match-winning leads so often – be on the fringes of the play-off zone.