By Albatross
July 1 2003

Plenty of speculation about who Hartlepool United may be lining up - but not much of it seems to be holding water. And a couple of other Nationwide Division 2 clubs are still in trouble, as we round up some of the news. The players have reported back for training, with new boss Cooper apparently impressed by the cameraderie amongst the squad. Jon Bass proved himself to be the fittest player at the club so far according to the video report on Pools World.

With the signing of Michael Nelson already in the bag, today sees the official release of many of the players on the Free Transfer list. I wouldn't expect too many moves by Pools in the next few days though; even if Cooper has already come up with a list of targets, negotiations would be likely to take a few days yet - particularly as it might take a while for some players to realise that they simply can't command the sort of salaries they have been used to receiving.

Nevertheless Pools are being linked with players - though how realistic some of the names mentioned are is open to question. The names of Steve Vickers and Tony Barrass - as mentioned by a Sunday Paper 10 days ago - are still in the offing; with both being released they have to rank as possibles. Meanwhile we were also reported to be after Martin Smith of Huddersfield and Shrewsbury's Luke Rodgers. Smith was available on a free - but has signed for Northampton with a wage of 3.5K a week mentioned. Meanwhile, to capture Rodgers Pools would almost certainly have to pay out a record transfer fee: and although Rodgers is without doubt a threat to most teams up front, he also comes with a considerable amount of baggage. I don't think the dust-up with Chris Westwood is a problem: they have faced each other twice since with no trouble on the pitch; but he has a disciplinary record that is poor (25 yellow and 4 red cards in a little over 120 appearances), plus some well-publicised off-field problems, most recently a prosecution for an incident involving a firework. A fee of £250K would probably be required to obtain the under-contract Rodgers; and is that a risk worth taking?

Elsewhere, Oldham continue to cling on to existance by their fingernails. Despite it being reported that they needed to find a buyer by Friday, they are still just about hanging in there - though the players have not been paid and can now hand in 14 days notice to leave. The latest possible backer to come forward is Peter Risdale; having been linked to Barnsley, who have just been bought by a Scandanavian consortium, he's been pictured at Boundary Park. If he does take over, Oldham fans will be hoping he's learned the lessons of what went wrong at Leeds.

The Luton Farce continues, with Steve Cotterill confirming he was offered the job on the weekend before the announcement of Mike Newell as boss. All this casts further doubt on the claims by John Gurney that Newell won the vote fair and square; and with the winning margin alleged to be just four votes, the almost inevitable reaction of some Watford fans in voting for Newell would make the result highly suspect anyway.

One thing that may well bring some cash into the club though is the possibility of taking in the wandering minstrels of Wimbledon FC. Franchise are currently up the creek without a canoe, never mind the paddle; the proposed move to the National Hockey Stadium has collapsed, and the administrators have said it's their intention to play at Selhurst Park again. However, they seem to have so far neglected to ask Crystal Palace, and with Watford apparently also turning down a deal to host games it leaves the much-reviled club with no fanbase and no ground to play at. Gurney is probably just the sort of man to help them out in their hour of need - for a price, of course.

Talking of prices, the latest thing to attract the ire of the fans is the price of the two high profile friendlies against Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United. It will cost £9 and £10 for adults respectively; and especially given that the Magpies are also sending a side to Hillsborough on the same day, it does seem a little steep. The proof of the pudding is in the eating though, and it will only be when the attendances are announced that the club will know whether they have pitched things at the right level.