Hartlepool sign yet another forward

Hartlepool United caretaker manager Chris Turner has signed his third new player of the transfer window, but the fact that the newcomer is yet another forward will prompt some questions from fans who believe that there are as many problems to solve in the defence as there are in the attack. The new man is experienced Norwegian international Rune Lange.

There's no doubting that Lange (right) has a good pedigree and Turner is delighted to have signed him to add competition up front, where top scorer Joel Porter is already in contention with on-loan Liam Henderson and Daniel Nardiello.
But it's the Norwegian mid-season break now and Lange admits himself that he isn't match fit. So why has he been signed then?
Lange was a prolific goalscorer with Tromso in Norway before a £4m move took him to Turkish club Trabzonspor in 2000.
He couldn't redicover his scoring touch there, and a year later he went to Club Brugge in Belgium, where he averaged exactly a goal in every other game in 108 appearances, some of them in the Champions League.
In 2006 he returned to Norway and played for Valarenga. The 31-year-old, who has one Norway cap, has been on trial with Pools for a week.
Turner clearly believes he needs extra cover in attack with a packed schedule between now and the end of the season, and Lange is more of a target man than a Joel Porter-type player.
If he has half the impact that Jan Ove Pedersen had a few years ago, everybody will be happy.