Jon Daly joins Hartlepool United

By Albatross
February 4 2005

The rumours have proved to be true: Hartlepool United have today confirmed that they have signed Stockport County forward Jon Daly on a permanent contract. There's no details about a fee, and it looks like Daly will have to wait until the game with Luton on Feb 15th for a chance to make his debut.

Following all the recent speculation and the reaction from the majority of Hatters fans, there will no doubt be plenty of Poolies wondering if this is a good deal. After all, he's hardly held in high regard by fans at his current club, and has already been allowed to go out on loan to a lower division side this season - where he blotted his copybook by being sent off for use of the elbow.

However Daly seems to be a player that has been in demand in the recent past - and unless he's managing to con a heck of a lot of scouts and managers, that may tell us something. Rochdale were certainly after him - their boss Steve Parkin has said as much - and Aberdeen were apparently interested over the summer, Sammy McIlroy insisting though that Daly would remain at Edgely Park.

Daly signed for Stockport from Irish amateur side Cherry Orchard as a youngster almost seven years ago. His debut for the first team came three months before his 17th Birthday as a sub against Walsall - and he'd caught the eye of those in charge of the Eire youth squads even before then. He's obtained international honours at u14, u16, u18, u19, u20 and u21 levels. In some cases this proved counter-productive though - he was away on international duty on several occasions when he might have expected to start games.

While at Stockport though he has spent almost all his time in a side that's been battling away at the wrong end of the table. It seems that he's struggled for motivation, and only rarely has shown the work-rate that the Hatters fans expect. He's certainly not been prolific in front of goal, either - his most productive season so far saw him grab eight goals in 26 starts and eleven sub appearances.

Much will depend on how well Cooper can motivate Daly; but Pools fans also need to bear in mind the role that he is likely to play for us. He certainly doesn't look like being a first choice, but what I would expect is for him to be used in a different way to our existing forwards. There have been times this season when Coops has talked about our players being bullied; and times when Boyd and Porter, for all their ability, have struggled against physical defences. A big forward to collect and shield the ball, and create space for his partner, might be just what Pools are after.

Daly though won't be available for our Cup Tie with Brentford having already played in the competition for the Hatters; and it seems the deal may have been too late for him to be considered for tomorrow's game against Chesterfield.

Whether Daly turns out to be the next Marcus Richardson or the next Paul Baker remains to be seen; however he is now a Pools Player, and so is deserving of our support. Let's hope that this turns out to be a good move for Pools and Daly!