By Albatross
July 3 2003

Tommy Widdrington is back! Temporarily at least. The midfielder has joined in the pre-season training at Hartlepool United while he looks for a new deal. But is there a chance he might be back at Victoria Park more permanently? Widds is training with Pools to keep his fitness up, but the article on the official site also mentions that Cooper will be casting his eye over him to see if he's worth another deal.

Would it be a good move to re-sign the former Port Vale man? After all, he's the wrong side of 30, and has spent a considerable amount of time on the sidelines over the last couple of seasons. When he was released by Newell, the monobrowed one said that he wanted someone with a bit more mobility - and it has to admitted that Tommy is hardly the paciest player in the Nationwide League.

On the other hand, he did a lot of hard work in the midfield; having Widds dropping back to pick the ball up from the defence helped us to keep possession - something that may well prove useful in Division 2. And although not universally popular, he showed plenty of passion while playing in the blue and white of Pools, even weighing in with a couple of goals against Rochdale when he seemed one of the few players to be fired up for the game.

Much as I appreciated the contribution he made though, I'm not convinced it would push us forward as a team. There are more players available now than when we first signed Widds; and I'm sure there's a few that can play the simple ball as well as he can. What is more, they may be after lower wages than Widds, who was reputed to be one of the highest earners at the club. Unless he's prepared to accept considerably reduced wages, the money could well be better spent elsewhere.

Widds is the subject of our latest poll - so make sure you have your say. The last Poll saw over three quarters of the people that took part say that they thought Neale Cooper was either a good appointment or at least deserved a chance - just three people said he was a bad appointment, all on the first day.

It's also reported that Billy Horner has left Victoria Park. As yet the club has made no official announcement; but if it's true, then it's the end of an era for one of the club's most faithful servants. Watch out for an article about Billy - as soon as I get round to writing it!