Watson out, so who takes his place?

By Albatross
September 16 2002

The thing Poolies were dreading has been confirmed: Gordon Watson broke his leg during the derby win over Darlington on Saturday. His are big boots to fill - he adds so much to our team - but there are some options available to Chris Turner.

After an initial assessment in Hospital, the Official Site reported that Gordon Watson had broken his Fibula - one of the two bones of the lower leg. Fortunately it's not the leg that was injured so badly before, and the initial report is that the injury will take 6-7 weeks to heal. This will however be subject to the severity of the break etc, and assuming that Flash can resume training after 6 weeks, it will still be at least another couple of weeks after that before he will be ready to play a game, even in the reserves. So we're looking at at least two months before Watson can play for the first team again.

In the short term, we've got Lincoln at home to think about. CT has a number of options, so let's go through them.
1) Adam Boyd. Boyd is undoubtedly a player with plenty of ability, but rumours abound about his attitude. He seems to have come back into the picture though, and this may be his big - and possibly last - chance to show he is worthy of an extended run in the first team. Probably the favourite to start.
2) Kevin Henderson. Hendo hasn't been able to get into the team, and in many eyes is starting to look like a peripheral figure in the same way that Tony Lormor did last season. Injuries and then the good form of Watson, Boyd and Williams restricted his chances last year; at the moment he seems to be behind Boyd in the pecking order and may have to settle for being first reserve on Tuesday.
3) Richie Humphreys. He's already scored three times this season, and his attitude and quality are all that anyone could ask for. However, to move him up front leaves a gap on the left; a gap that Pools will struggle to fill until Smith reaches full fitness again, unless CT is willing to throw Matty Robson in at the deep end. The other alternative is to go 3-5-2, but Pools tend to look a much better outfit playing 4-4-2.
4) Jermaine Easter. Easter fell from grace after a poor performance against Macclesfield after coming off the bench. He may make the Subs again against Lincoln, but he must know that he's currently at the back of the Pools Striking options. He does have the eye for goal - he's shown that in pre-season - but when it comes to competetive games he seems to struggle.

The longer term may depend on how we do on Tuesday Night. If Boyd or whoever comes in and scores a hat-trick, then the pressure's off a bit; and come the end of the month when Smithy's available again Humph can be moved up front if necessary.

There were rumours even before Flash was injured that Turner was looking around for another striker, possibly a tall physical one to provide a bit of variety should we need it. Names such as Leo Fortune-West and Efan Ekoku have re-surfaced, while the name of Kevin Kyle has been mooted as a possible loanee, though it's doubtful whether Sunderland would let him come to Pools. Maybe we should ask if we can have Tore Andre Flo....

Newcastle may be a place worth looking at, as they have a number of strikers on the books at the moment and have helped Pools out before, notably with Coppinger. With Shearer, Bellamy, Lua Lua, Cort, and Ameobi on the books they have no shortage of forwards; and one or two Poolies have already mentioned the name of Michael Chopra as a possible target.

Personally I wouldn't be looking to bring another forward in; instead, if we sign a decent left winger it will free up Humphreys to play up front. And as the injury to Smith has shown, we could do with some extra cover on the flanks anyway.

If there's one thing that's certain though, Barry Conlon will NOT be in the frame!