Retained List announced: Going, Going.....

By Albatross
May 10 2006

...gone! Pools have announced that seven senior players have been released from the club along with three youth teamers. A number of others have been offered contracts.

So to business: leaving Victoria Park are Hugh Robertson, Darren Craddock, Steven Istead, Neil Wilkinson, Jack Wilkinson, Andy Appleby and James Winter, and youth teamers David Manson, Alex White and Martin Robinson. Everyone else either remains under contract or has been offered a new deal.

The highest profile departure is Hugh Robertson; Shuggy may still have much to offer but sadly his injury record over the last two seasons has been poor and so it's no surprise that he's leaving the club. His set-piece ability made him something of a cult hero, but chances to see The Hammer in action have been few and far between.

The other Pros leaving fall into the category of youngsters that haven't made enough of an impact. One person that may be interested in the list is Harry Dunn, manager of Unibond Champions Blyth Spartans; with fresh blood for their Conference North campaign on the agenda, he may well be giving a call to several players that he's previously had on loan. Neil Wilkinson and Andy Appleby both had spells at Blyth this season that left the fans hoping to see more of them; and while at Whitby, Dunn also had Darren Craddock and briefly Jack Wilkinson on loan.

It's a long way from a mass cull though, partly because a number of the main players already had contracts beyond the end of the season. Five players have been offered new deals, including Darrell Clarke, Matty Robson and the promising James Brown; meanwhile Gavin Strachan and Eifion Williams had options that the club has taken up. Eight youth teamers have been offered contracts, including Maidens, both Turnbulls, and David Foley.

One thing that springs to mind is that whether you feel some players should have been retained or not, IOR are continuing to back the club. Most of the high earners remain, at least until a good enough offer comes in, and that means that the club hasn't tightened it's belt too far. Whether there's money in the kitty for new signings remains to be seen of course - but until we have a new manager, which is likely to be June, there's unlikely to be much incoming transfer activity. We'll just have to wait and see.