Robinson signs up with Hartlepool United

By Albatross
June 13 2003

Mark Robinson has put pen to paper on a new contract at Hartlepool United; and it could be make or break time for the left-sided defender in the season ahead. Oh, and there's going to be a new home strip.

Robinson has agreed a new 12 month deal, and this means that the only player with an uncertain future at the club currently is Graeme Lee; it's widely expected that the central defender is off to Sheffield Wednesday, but as yet he hasn't made his intentions known. Paul Smith has of course turned down a new deal already, while Arnison and Bass accepted their offers.

Just short of his 22nd Birthday, Robinson came through the youth ranks to make his debut for the first team at the age of 19, against Lincoln in the first game of 2000/1. He found appearances limited that season, making just six starts (and another as sub) as he found himself competing against both Sam Shilton and Ian Clark in the Wingback position. He became a regular the following season, and has again featured heavily during 2002/3. He did have a spell out of the side when Brian Barry-Murphy arrived on loan for a couple of months, but even then most Poolies thought that the Irishman offered no more than Robbo; bear in mind that he then went on to play for Sheffield Wednesday on a regular basis....

Sometimes Robinson has come in for criticism, but he's always managed to come back to generally perform solidly - if unspectacularly - on the left. With Paul Smith and then Ritchie Humphreys marauding down the left side ahead of him, his opportunites to come forward have been somewhat limited; but he has shown he can do a job at left back and left wingback.

Is he up to Div2 standard? Until we see him playing there who knows: but even so we need to be looking at someone else who can play on the left side of defence. One concern I had last season was that we were very short of cover there; if Robinson had picked up an injury, we could have been faced with playing Humphreys there, or throwing in Matty Robson. Indeed, the fact that Newell had been looking at trialists such as Joe Kendrick and John Cogger suggests that he intended to bring someone in.

This in many ways is a make or break season for Robinson. He's been given twelve months, and in that time he will have to persuade whoever comes in as manager that he's capable of playing in Division 2. He is likely to achieve at least one landmark in 2003/4 though; so far he's made 85 senior appearances for Pools, and it looks like he might well top the 100 mark.

The club have also announced that there will be a new home shirt for next season - although the current red away top will remain for at least another year. It's being kept under wraps for a little while yet, with the official unveiling to be on Wednesday. We're promised that supplies will be available in time for the pre-season games, though given the past history I'd suggest that this is not a reason to start holding your breath!

Good decision? Well, the current shirt hasn't been universally popular; I went for just the away shirt myself, not liking the white area at the top that in my eyes sometimes made it look like we were playing in Tesco carrier bags. Hopefully the new one will look better. On the other hand, it's meant that anyone with a current shirt will be out of date after 12 months or less, which will no doubt attract a bit of criticism. In general I think it's a good thing though; as it also means that the replacement cycle is now either home or away shirt each year. So there's no need to agonise about affording both at once, or deciding which one to go for. This should also help the club's revenue streams - as I'm sure sales of the shirts tend to drop off in the second year.

Elsewhere, I can confirm there is absolutely no truth in the rumour that David Beckham is going to take over as Pools Manager. The new front runner is instead Louis van Gaal, with Johann Cryuff as Director of Football