Pools Liddle appeal set to go ahead

It appears that Hartlepool United are going ahead with their appeal against being docked three points by the Football League as punishment for fielding an ineligible player, even though they avoided relegation by a whisker. The cynics thought the appeal had been made in an effort to save the club's League One life, but it appears now that principle is at stake.

Pools always insisted they were harshly treated after playing Gary Liddle in the home win over Brighton when he should have been suspended after being booked for the tenth time, and at the time there was a chance that the three docked points could make the difference between relegation and safety.
But they survived anyway and it was felt in some quarters that the appeal might be dropped, but Pools appear determined to get their three points back and to have the suspended £10,000 fine also imposed by the League overturned. They are not, however, appealing against the FA's £3,500 fine and the one-game ban imposed on Liddle.
He and the club claim they didn't know he had been booked ten times, and while there are mitigating circumstances - like the League website stating he had only eight yellow cards - but the football authorities have a long history of disliking any club, player or official arguing with their decisions.
Nobody should expect any sympathy when the appeal goes ahead. Pools might think they didn't do enough wrong to deserve such a punishment and people like Ken Hodcroft, Chris Turner and Liddle can shout all they like about injustice.
But don't bet on the points being restored.
Meanwhile, Turner is continuing his pursuit of Roy O'Donovan after the striker's successful end-of-season loan from Sunderland, and it's also thought he is taking another look at former Sunderland midfield man Colin Healy, who was on the verge of signing last year before Pools were gazumped by Roy Keane at Ipswich, where Healy didn't get a chance last season.
The club will be going on another pre-season trip to Holland, squeezing two friendlies between training sessions at the Dutch FA centre, and have also fixed a home friendly against Leeds on July 24 and a visit to York on July 31.