Agnew follows Scott out of Pools

No More
By Albatross
February 9 2006

After Scott's departure yesterday, his assistant has also left Hartlepool United. Steve Agnew leaves the club after the club gave him the required notice on his contract.

It was a fairly safe bet that Agnew would be leaving as well; it's often the case that the Assistant leaves at the same time, and as and when a new man is appointed it's likely he'll have his own ideas on who he wants as his right hand man. The fact that Paul Stephenson was handed the job of steering the first team rather than Agnew was also seen by many as an indication.

It does leave Stepho in sole charge for the moment, and that as much as anything will heighten the speculation about a swift appointment being made. He's jumped up from Youth Team Coach, and hasn't been in that role too long - it would be a little unfair in my opinion to ask him to hold the reins for too long at this point.

The main rumour remains of course Chris Turner, with a variety of tales floating around about his presence or otherwise in the town. Currently he seems to be spotted more than Elvis, so if he turns up singing "Heartbreak Hotel" be very suspicious! Feelings are however a bit mixed about CT; he had success at Pools of course, but his record since leaving the club is hardly sparkling and not everyone has been impressed with some of his comments since leaving the club.

Would appointing Turner be a good move? It's hard to say, but there would be a sort of logic to it that makes him a strong contender. He knows the club, is still believed to be on good terms with Hodcroft, and knows a number of the players including some senior pros such as Barron, Tinkler, Humphreys, Clarke and Williams. We've not got a lot of time to get things right, so bringing in someone that will probably be up and running quickly has an appeal.

Whether it's Chris Turner or someone else, it's almost certain to be Paul Stephenson in charge for the game with Chesterfield. Will the new boss be watching from the stands? Or will we have to wait a bit longer yet before we know who's coming in?