By Albatross
July 30 2003

Former Wimbledon and Newcastle forward Paul Robinson has finally signed on the dotted line at Victoria Park; and Hartlepool United look likely to be adding Andrew Jordan to the squad in the near future as well. Having taken part in a number of the pre-season games and scored three times, it's no surprise that Robinson has agreed a deal. It may be that a move back to the North-East is precisely what the former Darlo and Newcastle forward needs, after a less than happy time following his £1.5million transfer to Wimbledon that saw him farmed out on loan more times than he made appearances for England's first Football Franchise.

Competition for places up front will now be hotting up. Eifion Williams, Gabbiadini, Robinson, Richardson, Boyd, Henderson, Easter.... with seven pros, it may be that someone is going to find himself made available in the near future. Of the latter four, Richardson looks to be improving under Cooper's tuition, Easter is once again impressing in spurts when there's nothing at stake, leaving Henderson - who many doubt is up to second division football - and Boyd - who once again seems to be struggling for motivation - as the prime candidates for the transfer list.

Last night's trialist Matt O'Halloran looks unlikely to be joining Pools; after starting the game he was substituted after half an hour at Berwick, with at least one eyewitness reporting that he lost it a bit and was pulled off by Cooper straight away.

From out of nowhere though it looks like there's another siging on the cards; several York City sites are reporting that Pools are about to sign defender Andrew Jordan. Jordan has impressed on trial at Bootham Crescent, and had been offered a twelve month deal; however Player/Manager Chris Brass has told the local press that he's turned down the offer after Cooper came in with a two year deal.

Jordan is left footed, but has mainly played in the centre, and is available on a free after being released by Cardiff. He made very few appearances in an injury-hit three year spell, and scored a couple of own goals shortly after signing from Bristol City. Jordan though was always going to have a tough job convincing the South Wales fans; as has been widely reported, he's the son of former Scotland Striker Joe Jordan. Older Welsh fans still hold a grudge against Jordan snr following an infamous incident during a World Cup Qualifying Playoff in 1977: the game was at Anfield, and Scotland were awarded a penalty for handball. The problem was that the hand the ball had hit was not a Welsh player, but Jordan's; the resultant penalty helped the Scots win 2-0, and the game is still rated by many Welsh fans as one of the most infamous in their history as Scotland went to Argentina while Wales had to stay at home.

Jordan Junior has also been involved in controversey; he was the victim of the Mark Viduka challenge that saw the Ref tell the bench to substitute the Leeds player, and has since seen the Ref disciplined for not showing him the red card.

Despite this, Swansea were interested in signing him earlier in the Summer, and when he left Bristol City their boss Danny Wilson was cetainly sad to see him leave. Whether he will play in the centre, or take Mark Robinson's spot on the left remains to be seen, but it looks highly likely that he'll be pulling a Pools shirt on soon. It may not be at tonight's game with Billingham Town though. With a strong side having beaten Berwick 3-2 last night, it remains to be seen what sort of side Cooper will field at Bedford Terrace, kick off 6:45pm.