Robbie Stelling and Rich Mennear discuss the latest Hartlepool United takeover news and what the future could hold for Pools on the latest episode of the Poolie Podcast.
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00:00Fans are desperate for some positive news.
00:02Robbie, how would you see things currently?
00:04And yeah, it's a huge couple of weeks for the club.
00:10Yeah, it certainly is, Rich.
00:11I mean, it can be hard to see the wood from the trees at times these last six weeks.
00:15As you've said, so much has gone on.
00:18Sometimes it feels really positive.
00:21Sometimes it feels less positive.
00:23Look, it's certainly a daunting period.
00:25I mean, the one thing I would say is that Raj Singh can't be the owner of this football club forever.
00:30There was always going to be a time when this club was going to have to change hands.
00:34Inevitably, that brings with it a period of uncertainty and a purely footballing perspective.
00:40I think Singh has probably taken the club as far as he can.
00:43There have been some good times.
00:45There have been some less good times as well.
00:47I think importantly, though, the division between the fans and the ownership is so wide.
00:52I'm not sure that that rift can necessarily be healed.
00:55And we've spoken time and again about the significance of the fans.
00:59When Pools do have success, the fans play a really big role.
01:03I was speaking to Gavin Skelton before the game on Saturday,
01:07and we were reflecting on when Pools' last return to the Football League.
01:11A lot of fans will remember when they played Carl Lund at the time Skelton was assistant manager back in August.
01:16There were times then when the atmosphere was so red hot, it almost felt impossible for Pools to lose their home games.
01:23The backing was so impressive.
01:26And that has been lost to an extent.
01:28Look, fans have stuck by their side really well.
01:30They've travelled in their numbers.
01:32Obviously, Saturday's game was a really impressive turnout and a brilliant effort from the fans,
01:37who really did stick by their side despite a pretty abject display.
01:42But I think it's important that the fans, the town and the club are more united than they have been.
01:51It's very difficult to see Pools progressing in the current guise.
01:55Look, the ideal situation, the ideal scenario clearly would have been that a takeover deal is completed before the end of the season.
02:02Obviously, that would have secured the club's future.
02:04It would have been a much needed morale boost.
02:07And it could have been significant for a number of other reasons as well.
02:10Of course, inevitably, as you said, a number of the players who are out of contract this season could certainly be forgiven for looking around
02:17and at least beginning to explore what other options there might be,
02:20because it's easy to forget that these players have livelihoods to take care of.
02:25Football, especially at this level, is a very uncertain business.
02:29You're unlikely to get more than a one or two year contract.
02:32So you want to make sure that you can secure yours and your own family's futures.
02:36A number of these players have young families.
02:38Nathan Sharon, obviously, his wife, Charlotte, just gave birth to their second child only last month.
02:44So it's certainly going to be significant.
02:48The next couple of weeks are going to be significant in terms of what sort of state the squad,
02:52this season's squad, is going to be left in.
02:54Look, first and foremost, the first priority is making sure Hartlepool United still exists next season.
03:02But I think what fans want is they want to have a club that is capable of thriving, not just surviving.
03:07The last couple of years since relegation back to the National League,
03:10I think it's felt a bit like pools are going through the motions.
03:13At times there have been supporters of long, long standing who have stayed away on principle
03:17because they feel that Raj Singh is lacking the ambition, lacking the clarity,
03:22lacking the vision to help pools return to the football league.
03:26And Hartlepool United is a football league club.
03:28I'm not sure it always operates like a football league club at the minute.
03:31But when you look at the fans, when you look at the history, Hartlepool is clearly a football league club.
03:36The challenge that they have is that there are a number of other clubs at this level that will feel exactly the same.
03:41I mean, look at this year's playoffs.
03:42You've got the likes of York and Oldham gunning for promotion.
03:46Those are both former football league clubs, proud former football league clubs in similar positions to pools.
03:53Look, the statement seemed to suggest to me that there are still talks ongoing.
03:59That's obviously a positive thing.
04:01I still believe that Singh is pretty sincere in his desire to put company with the club.
04:08But obviously, the sooner things can happen, the sooner things can get sorted, the better.
04:13Because if pools are to thrive and not only survive, then they're going to need to have a lot of the summer, a significant amount of the summer to plan.
04:20There are some big decisions to be made over the future of the staff, both playing and non-playing.
04:27And of course, recruitment is so significant at any level.
04:30But sometimes, especially at this level, and if things are allowed to drag on for much longer, then pools risk not only losing a number of their players from this season.
04:38And I think most people would still agree, despite Saturday's performance, they have the core of a competitive squad that if they can add to, they could have a reasonable hope of challenging next season.
04:48But also in terms of signing players, I'm sure pools would like to have a list of targets drawn up and try and get some of their business done early on.
04:56How often do we have that conversation that we're frustrated pools take too long to get going with their business?
05:01Well, it looks like that's going to be similar this season.
05:04As I say, the first priority is securing the future of the club.
05:07And it's important that it gets done as quickly as possible.
05:12Obviously, there are a number of challenges, a number of things to overcome when negotiating a deal.
05:18I imagine it is a time-consuming and difficult process.
05:21But of course, Raj Singh completed his takeover of the club in about three weeks, albeit things were perhaps slightly more pressing, given the incredibly precarious financial situation.
05:31But there is a bit of a feeling, I think now, Rich, that things are starting to drag on.
05:35So let's hope it gets done sooner rather than later for all sorts of reasons.
05:39I remain cautiously optimistic.
05:41I can certainly understand why fans feel as though it's a really daunting time.
05:47And the sooner it gets done, the better for absolutely everyone involved with Hartlepool United.