Football Season Guide

Hartlepool have been known as a shrewd club for years, and nothing changed this summer. As usual, the Pools were looking to cut the dead wood from their squad and bring in some new players on free transfers, and have done just that. Seven members of the first team squad have been released or left on free transfers, none of who will be particularly missed, while the club also made five signings, with the most interesting ones being former Manchester City trainee James Poole, who already had a stint with the club, and veteran Peruvian midfielder Nolberto Solano, who signs on a free transfer. Former Sunderland trainee Nathan Luscombe is also expected to challenge for a first team spot, as is former Hibernian man Colin Nish. The list of new faces is completed by young defender Jack Baldwin, who joins from lower league side Faversham Town. To conclude, Hartlepool lost absolutely nothing during the summer transfer window and can only get better than they were last season, supposing that some of the new signings deliver the goods. The club has been in a steady upwards trend since Mick Wadsworth took over last season, and even looked like challenging for Play-Off places at one point. This season, they will be hoping to go a step better and challenge for the top six.