Hi everyone and welcome back to the north of England and to Hartlepool United. After last season’s brilliant league form Hartlepool were about to have their first ever venture into Europe in the Europa League cup competition but before any of that I need to bring in some fresh faces that were going to take Hartlepool to the next step and get rid of the players that were just not going to feature.
OUTS
A total 7 players left generating another £7.5 million to the clubs kitty. The most noticeable transfers were probably Joe Cole, Stiliyan Petrov and Ben Watson these where all decent players but I just feel that some are getting on a bit and I need to bring in some younger players.
INS
11 players arrived at Victoria Park over the course of the summer and I spend nearly the entire original transfer budget but there was still a bit left it I ever feel I find a talented youngster that I could bring to the club when the January transfer window opens.
LEE HODSON £1.9m from Man City
VACLAV KADLEC £9.25 from Chelsea
RICKY VAN WOLKSWINKEL free transfer
HICHAM ABDELLAOUI free transfer
TAUFIC GUARCH free transfer
GABRIEL TORJE £3m from Aston Villa
JONJO SHELVEY free transfer
SLOBODAN RAJKOVIC £5.5m from Porto
RYAN BABEL £2m from Aston Villa
AMEUR SASSI season long loan
JOE MATTOCK £5m from Mackems
PRE-SEASON RESULTS
Quiet a poor pre-season in all honesty but I’m sure and hope that this will not reflect on my teams performances this season. Now that pre-season was over I couldn’t wait for the season to get going and see how my new players perform and more important to see what we could win this season.