Join Robbie Stelling and Rich Mennear on the latest episode of the Poolie Podcast as they take a look at all the latest transfer and injury news from Hartlepool United as Darren Sarll's side finalise preparations ahead of the new season.
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00:30Hello, and welcome to the latest Pooley podcast with me, Richard Muneer, and our Hartlepool
00:39United writer here at the Hartlepool Mail, Robbie Stellin. Robbie, how are you doing?
00:43I'm well, thanks, Rick. Big week for sport in Hartlepool. I've been doing a few interviews
00:47for the English Amateur Golf Championship, which Seton Carew and Hartlepool are hosting,
00:52which is fantastic. And of course, the mighty Hartlepool United continuing their preseason
00:57preparations.
00:58Yeah, plenty to chat about. Yeah, it's been good for the golf after the weather. So that's
01:02been good, putting Hartlepool and Seton Carew on the map. I live in Seton Carew, so any
01:08good press we can get around here. All good. Plenty to chat about then, Robbie. Let's kick
01:14off with the latest preseason game. Pools at the Vic, the first of three friendlies
01:20this week. We're recording this on Tuesday morning. Hartlepool were trying to front against
01:25a young Sunderland side. Sunderland's first team away is Blackpool on the same afternoon.
01:30How did you see the performance, Robbie? And a bit more generally in terms of how Pools
01:37are shaping up with the type of football that Sal wants to play at Pools this season?
01:42Yeah, I mean, on the performance, first of all, I was really impressed, actually. It's
01:48one of those, isn't it, with preseason? You never know quite how much to read into it.
01:52And speaking to Sal afterwards, he was quite measured in what he had to say. He basically
01:58said that they're sort of OK. He felt they weren't fantastic. They weren't bad. I felt
02:02actually that they were a little bit better than that. It was an interesting sort of clash
02:07of styles. You know, Sunderland, obviously, who have had success with their youth teams
02:11in the last couple of years, they look to play out from the back every time, whereas
02:16Pools are going to be a lot more direct under Sal. We've seen that all preseason. We saw
02:21that again on Saturday. It was a fairly even opening 15 minutes, but then Pools scored
02:27two goals in quick succession. Manny Dee and Adam Campbell linking up for the first goal,
02:31which is hopefully something that Pools fans are going to see a lot of as the season progresses.
02:36And Tom Parks, the centre-half, scoring a fantastic goal from almost 25, 30 yards. They
02:41got another one late on, and it was the Sunderland under-21s, but it was a strong Sunderland
02:47team. I've got the team sheet in front of me. They had Luis Samedo, who I think they were
02:54maybe expecting bigger things from when he signed last summer, Portuguese under-20, international
02:58Juasson Benet, who has 12 appearances for Costa Rica. There's plenty of decent names in there,
03:05but after the first 15 minutes, I felt Pools dominated things. Obviously, physically,
03:10they had the edge, and Sunderland struggled to deal with some of their directness. Pools
03:14defended their box really well, actually, and like I said, two goals in quick succession,
03:19and then another one late on. Sunderland were a bit unlucky not to pull one back
03:24towards the end. But overall, there was a lot to like, and I think, pleasingly, for Sal,
03:28is all three goals, again, came from Pools winning the ball high up in the Sunderland
03:32half, which is obviously that high press is his trademark, really.
03:38Yeah, he's obviously pretty straight-talking, isn't he, in his post-match presses and things
03:42like that. Do you feel like he's playing it down a little bit, or do you, I think you described
03:46it as okay, didn't he, the pressing performance? Do you feel there's a lot more to come,
03:51or do you feel he's generally happy with how things are? We'll talk about the squad issues
03:55in a little while, because I think we probably both agree they certainly need a bit more
03:59depth there, and some personnel, which you'd expect to see over the next month or so, with
04:03a kind of EFL transfer window closing on August the 30th, and that obviously then filters down
04:09a little bit. But yeah, just going back to Sal, do you think he's playing things down,
04:16or do you think he's just generally being very honest and that it's okay and nothing more than
04:20that at the minute? I think he probably is the type of man to say it as he sees it. I think
04:27he'll probably think that where they are now, he's satisfied, but he'll think there's more to come.
04:32I think also he's a pretty demanding manager. He drives very high expectations and high standards,
04:40and we have started to see that, I think, in pre-season. There has been an improvement. The
04:45first game when they played FC Hartlepool was a team from a trial list, but since then they
04:49had a bit of a blip when they lost to Scarborough a couple of weeks ago, but then they responded
04:55really well with a fairly resounding win against South Shield, scored all five goals in the first
05:00half and changed a bit in the second half. I think Saturday there was definitely signs that
05:06they're beginning to progress. I mean, it was the first time I think anyone really has played more
05:11than 45 minutes of football. Again, physically, Sal's style is very demanding because it is
05:16relentless. It depends on that press all over the pitch, and as we've discussed in the past,
05:21Pools weren't necessarily one of the fitter sides last season, and they were certainly more passive
05:25in terms of how they liked to play. They tended to sit deep and invite opposition onto them,
05:30and that's totally different. We saw it against South Shield to an extent, and I think we saw it
05:36against Sunderland as well. I think Sal said that really for an hour he was satisfied. I think
05:40against South Shield he was pleased for 45 minutes. I mean, the press, it's really noticeable, and I
05:48think Pools fans will respond really well to that. They like that sort of blood and thunder
05:53approach, which we haven't seen so much of in the last couple of years,
05:57and there's definitely signs that that's beginning to take shape because, of course,
06:02when you press, it's no good just pressing ones and twos. You've got to press as a team and as
06:07a unit, and that's something that Sal's really big on. I'd like to say to have all three goals
06:13coming from winning the ball back in their own half, two of the goals against South Shield
06:18came from something similar, so we'll get on to the personnel, which could be a sticking point,
06:22but I think in terms of how the players are adapting to Sal's style and approach and brand
06:28of football, I think the boss will expect that there's more to come, hopefully before August
06:35the 10th, and they've got a little bit more time to continue to develop that to more pre-season
06:39friendlies, but I think he'll be quietly pleased, yeah. I enjoyed this quote, we're okay, that's all
06:44we are. We're not bad, we're not great, we're right probably bang in the middle. Well, plenty
06:48of work still to be done, which I think is fair enough. Talking of work to be done, in terms of
06:53the squad, obviously they've made three or four probably key signings so far, but a lot of holes
06:59and gaps still to fill, particularly with the goalkeeper situation. Dixon's been getting a fair
07:04bit of game time recently, obviously, because the limit is there, but he's still on the transfer
07:08market list, isn't he? Do you still expect him to leave, and how do you see the pool's
07:14goalkeeper situation developing? Yeah, it seems that goalkeeper has been a position that's been
07:20at the forefront of discussion. Really, throughout most of the summer, obviously in last season,
07:25pools were sort of plagued with goalkeeping issues. 12 months ago, they let Ben Killip go,
07:30who was sort of much maligned at the time, although he did a lot of good things during
07:35his time at pools, and of course was an important part of the promotion winning side in 2020-21.
07:40Pete Jameson and Joel Dixon both came in, and it was kind of expected to be a battle.
07:45They had two number ones, it felt like, for the first time in a long time. Unfortunately,
07:48it didn't quite turn out like that. Jameson was obviously on loan. I think there was potentially
07:55a case to be made that he might return after his release from Harrogate. That wasn't to be. He's
08:01gone off to Darlington, where he had a few good years previously. Dixon, like you say, was
08:06transfer listed. He was given a two-year deal when he arrived from Bolton. Clearly, there's a
08:12good goalkeeper in there, because he was a National League title winner with Barrow, almost 200
08:16appearances for them, and I think he's a real legend. I think if you go and visit Barrow's
08:23ground, there is a picture of him with the National League trophy that you can still see.
08:28He's obviously held in high regard. He's just lost his confidence somewhere along the way,
08:33presumably during a difficult time at Bolton, and that was obvious last season. I would be
08:39very surprised at this stage if he left, I think, with respect to him. It might be difficult to
08:46ship him out, given that he's got another year on his contract, and that would probably require
08:51at least a nominal fee. Also, his form in the last few years hasn't been great. If you were
08:57to watch him last season, he struggled with a number of things. He's kicking his command of
09:02his area, and I think it all boils down to his confidence, which has seemed to plague him ever
09:09since he's arrived at Pools. To be fair to him, it can't have been easy this summer. All the talk,
09:14all the speculation has been around, there's got to be a new goalkeeper, there's got to be a new
09:18goalkeeper. He's responded pretty well. He made a few good saves against South Shields, and again
09:23against Sunderland in the second half. I thought he was a bit nervous, actually, in the first half.
09:27He flapped at a couple of crosses, which is something that he's struggled with ever since
09:32he arrived at Victoria Park. But to his great credit, he kept coming for the crosses. Obviously,
09:36there's a bit of a balance to be found there, but it was good to see he's trying to take the
09:41initiative. And in the second half, he made a couple of great saves. Tommy Watson went through
09:45one-on-one, and he made a really good low save and then was up to save the rebound as well.
09:49So there's definitely an improvement in Dixon. But that said, while I'd be surprised if he left,
09:55because I think Pools will want to have two goalkeepers, I think that they will very much
09:59be keen to bring in another goalkeeper. And that's not just due to the sort of indifferent form of
10:04Dixon. I think it would be a brave manager that goes into the season with just one goalkeeper,
10:10because obviously, if you have an injury, then that's going to really scupper your plans.
10:14Adam Smith has been, well, somewhere between training and on trial with Pools. He played
10:19the second half at South Shields. He played half an hour at Sunderland. He knows Sal well. They
10:26were together at Yeovil. He spent the last couple of years at Morecambe. We've spoken to Sal about
10:31him, and he says that they have a close relationship. They formed a friendship.
10:36They went through a lot together at Yeovil. So I get the sense that Smith is not necessarily
10:42an option, not one that they're going to pursue. It's just a case of helping out a favour and
10:49Smith getting some fitness and getting his name out there. I would think that probably the route
10:54they're going to go down is a lone goalkeeper. Zane Luton-Leban, who's of Everton, who had a
10:59good season at Farsley Celtic in the National League North last year, has been linked quite
11:04often. It's difficult to establish quite how concrete those links are. But I think someone
11:10along those lines, a young goalkeeper, maybe from a Premier League club or a Championship club,
11:15to come and get another year's experience in senior men's football would be what I would
11:21imagine would be what the plan is. And that's probably why it's taken so long as well. Obviously,
11:28as the season approaches, and obviously the National League season is just under two weeks
11:32away now and the Premier League and Championship round the corner as well, probably clubs are going
11:37to really start setting the wheels in motion and get those lone moves out. So I think that that's
11:41what we'll see. I think we'll see Dixon as number two, and I think we'll see a new face as the
11:46number one. But Sam has said that if it is Dixon in goal on August the 10th, and if he is in goal
11:51for the duration of the season, he will certainly have his support, which I don't doubt at all. But
11:56it's difficult once you've lost your confidence as a goalkeeper to regain it. So time will tell,
12:01I think. Another decision that Sal's made last couple of weeks is the new captain,
12:06Luke Waterfall, who's described as the outstanding choice. He's a 33-year-old,
12:11I think he skipped both, was it Lincoln and Grimsby, I think it was Lincoln and Grimsby,
12:15and he's spoken, hasn't he, in quite glowing terms about Waterfall's character and kind of
12:20influence on the dressing room so far. So solid choice for yourself? Yeah, for sure. I agree with
12:26what Sal had to say. I think the outstanding choice, I think they've actually got a few
12:32leaders in the camp, to be fair, which is really positive. Tom Parks, the man who plays alongside
12:36him, who arrived just two weeks before Waterfall, and again, has made a massive difference to the
12:42heart of defence. He's a real leader as well. Nicky Featherston, of course, who capped in the
12:46side for quite a bit in last season, is a leader in maybe a slightly more understated way. And
12:54Manny Disarue as well, I think, is a real leader and obviously is a talismanic player. So I think
12:59they've got good options in terms of leadership. And Sal is all about characters in the dressing
13:05room. And I think in Waterfall, he's got not only an excellent defender who leads by example,
13:11he puts his body on the line, he's brave, he's courageous, he's a good character by all accounts
13:16in the dressing room. He's got an excellent CV, particularly when it comes to wearing the
13:20armband like you alluded to there. He's captained Lincoln to promotion from the National League,
13:25he captained Grimsby to promotion from the National League, that remarkable
13:28playoff campaign where they beat Wrexham, I think it was 5-4 in the game that went to extra time.
13:34Manny Disarue, I think, was in the Grimsby side as well. So he knows what it takes not just to
13:39get out of the league, he knows what it takes to lead a team out of the league. And I always enjoy
13:44watching Waterfall, especially towards the end of last season, Louis Stevenson, the teenage fullback
13:50was alongside him. And Waterfall had such a profound impact on Stevenson. If you were to
13:56watch the two of them, I mean, he never stops talking to him. And I imagine we'll see that again
14:02this season, not just in terms of how he relates to his defenders and pools have looked so much
14:07more well organised, so much better structured since Waterfall and Parks have arrived, but he
14:12is incredibly vocal. So not only his role in the dressing room and his impressive pedigree as a
14:18captain, you've just got to watch him out on the pitch and see how he talks and communicates. And
14:22yeah, for me, he was absolutely the right choice.
14:26I was to say we're recording this on Tuesday morning, so ahead of the Scunthorpe game tonight,
14:30second of three friendlies at the Vic this week. After the game,
14:34Sal provided a bit of an update as well on the injury fitness-wise on the likes of Anthony
14:38Mancini, Joe Gray and Greg Sloggett. And you kind of get the impression Sloggett in particular
14:43would be kind of key for that press. I think his ankle, was it his ankle that had blown up?
14:49Yeah, it was his ankle, yeah. He had a little knock about 10 minutes before half-time.
14:59He kind of went under the radar, Sloggett, in terms of his arrival. I think you look at
15:03Jack Hunter and Nathan Shearer, and they were ones that were maybe slightly more expected,
15:07especially Hunter, given his links to the local area and whatnot. And obviously that's something
15:11that pools have looked to pursue. But Sloggett arrived, he spent most of his career in Ireland,
15:17160 appearances for Dundalk, played 16 times in the Europa League as well, very highly thought of
15:23in Ireland, had a good spell with Derry City and came through with University College Dublin,
15:28got them promoted to the League of Ireland Premier Division. Played twice for Cheltenham
15:33towards the end of last season, obviously Cheltenham in a relegation battle, so maybe
15:38difficult to come in there and make much of an impact. But he certainly made an impression
15:43since signing for pools. He was very good against South Shields, he actually made two of the goals
15:47from winning the ball high up the pitch. And I was really impressed with him again at Victoria Park
15:53on Saturday, like you alluded to there. He leads the press, he looks to me incredibly physically
15:59fit. He's got a great engine, he's strong, pretty powerful, broad shoulder, looks to have really
16:04good running power and made a real impact in all areas of the game in midfield. And I think that's
16:10what Sal's looking for, is those more dynamic midfielders that can influence the game at both
16:15ends of the pitch. So it was a bit of a shame, certainly, and a bit of a concern to see him
16:20pick up that knock. It looked sort of fairly innocuous challenge on halfway, but he had a
16:25bit of treatment, he hobbled off, he left the ground on crutches. We saw him leaving the dressing
16:31room. He seemed in good spirits and he suggested that it was nothing too serious. Obviously it's
16:35difficult to tell, as Sal said, it's tough to tell quite what the extent of it's going to be.
16:40Hopefully it's just going to be swelling or bruising on the ankle and the fact that he's
16:43left on crutches is a precaution and nothing more than that, because he could have a big role to
16:48play as well. And I think Joe Gray and Mancini, nothing too serious, let's hope. I think with
16:54Mancini, whenever he misses a game, there's always that natural concern, given his injury
16:58record last season, played just 14 games. I'm not sure we'll see either of them tonight. I think
17:04it's probably, certainly Mancini, I think we won't see it. And Sogut, I think Sal pretty much ruled
17:10him out. So it wouldn't be impossible to see Gray, but obviously it's preseason. There's no need
17:14necessarily to risk these guys, unless he's a hundred percent sure that they're absolutely fit
17:19and firing and ready to play. Just a bit of transfer news, I think over the last week,
17:25Kieran Burton leaving in search of some regular football. I suppose that's fair enough on all
17:32sides, isn't it? I don't think it'll be a huge loss for Pools, but I'm wishing we had a spell
17:38at Buxton. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I was a bit surprised if I'm honest, Rich, just because of
17:44the relative thinness of the squad, I think they've only got 19 or 20, which maybe we'll
17:50touch on again in a minute. But Burton, he arrived last summer on a two-year deal from Scarborough,
17:56where he had a good year, kind of a versatile defender, can play centre-back, full-back,
18:01wing-back. It kind of felt like at the time he was going to be one for the future. John Askey,
18:05the manager at the time, kind of alluded to that. Only played six National League games for Pools
18:11and looked reasonable, actually, to be fair, when he did play. I think in general was fairly
18:17impressive. And it was that sort of Christmas period when Pools were really struggling as well.
18:21So it was difficult circumstances for him to come in. But I thought he did perfectly well. He had a
18:26good loan spell at Darlington. I think he was their player of the month in his first month there
18:32and was a real hit, really popular with the Darlington fans. Then he went on loan to Chester
18:37back in the last season and didn't have quite such luck. I think he came on after about an hour
18:42for his debut and he was sent off 10 minutes later. So obviously that sort of put paid to his time
18:48there. I thought there might be a place in the squad for him, given that he's versatile and
18:55Pools really, in David Ferguson, is their only out-and-out left-back. So you kind of felt he
18:59could be cover at left-back, cover at centre-half. They've got Finlay Sass-Davies, who's a centre-half.
19:05He's on trial at the minute and is a player that's worked with Sarr on both the overland
19:08woking. So that might be a move that Pools look to complete in the next week or so. I wouldn't be
19:14at all surprised by that. But I suppose, like you say, it's the quest for regular football. Sarr said
19:19he's only 20 years old. And if he wants to move on and play regular football, then who's to stop
19:27him? I think it makes sense certainly for Burton, who will want to go out and prove that he can
19:32impress playing regularly and obviously develop and progress his own game. And from Sarr's point
19:37of view, he said himself he couldn't guarantee that he was going to give him the game time.
19:41And you would struggle to see him certainly as a regular starter, maybe as a squad player,
19:46but hopefully a move that works out for all parties. And yeah, of course, wishing him all
19:51the best and hopefully he goes and does a good job for Buxton. And yeah, just sort of moving,
19:56I guess, a bit more generally now onto the makeup of the Pools squad. A month or so,
20:02the National League doesn't have a transfer window, but the Premier League and EFL do. And that is
20:08Friday, August the 30th, 11 o'clock, I think. So you'll get the cooldown effect often. So clubs
20:15will start doing their business at the top end a bit more rapidly and then more players become
20:20available, etc. And I guess Pools are likely to be in the market for a few loans, although
20:25hopefully a few less than last season, given how many players they had on loan last year.
20:31Just in terms of the area, obviously we've spoken about the goalkeeper situation, but elsewhere,
20:35what kind of areas do you think Sarr needs to strengthen further? And how many players
20:41realistically do you think will get added to the squad? I think he said previously he likes
20:44to work with a relatively small squad, doesn't he? Yeah, yeah. Yes, he's repeatedly said he
20:52likes to work with a small squad. But that said, I think going into the season with only 19 or 20
20:57is too small. I think goalkeeper, as you said, is an obvious one. Covering defence, I think they'll
21:03add another defender, at least one more defender. Billy Sass-Davies is the one that I mentioned.
21:09He's been on trial now for a couple of weeks. He was at Boreham Wood last season. His parent club
21:15was Crewe. I think he had 10 different loan spells during his time at Crewe. So he was part of the
21:20Boreham Wood side that were relegated from the National League last season. Was pretty regular,
21:25I think played 34 times, something like that. But like I say, knows Sarr well. Sarr signed him at
21:30Yeovil and then he signed him again at Woking, which presumably is a good sign that he impressed
21:35him enough at Yeovil for him then to be convinced to sign him at Woking. He's 24, so he looks to
21:41have plenty of potential from what I've seen of him. I've been impressed with his ball playing
21:46ability. There was one lovely moment on Saturday. He played the second half against
21:50Sunderland when he carried the ball out from the back and that was really good.
21:54Defensively, I think he has been found wanting a few times. Sarr was actually quite critical when
21:59he's spoken about him in the past. He says he needs to see more from him, even though he knows
22:02him well as a player. He needs to see more from him before he's convinced that he's going to sign
22:08him. A few times with Poole's playing the high line, he's been caught out with the ball over
22:12the top, which is a slight concern. You mentioned the Joel Dixon saves that you'd seen on the
22:17highlights. I think a few of those were from Sass Davis just getting his body position slightly
22:21wrong and Paul Blackett, the South Shield striker, getting in behind him. We'll see on that one. I
22:27would be a bit surprised to think if they didn't go for Sass Davis, given Sarr's relationship with
22:32him. I think another winger, they've got Joe Gray, who had a great season last season, obviously can
22:36play anywhere across the front line. Luke Charman, one of the new faces, who has had a back injury,
22:41played 45 minutes against Sunderland, first time we've seen him. He would still take a bit of time
22:46to get up to speed. He didn't look especially fit, which is understandable. He's missed pre-season
22:52with an injury, so he can be forgiven for that. You would like another option, I think, out wide.
22:56Adam Campbell, obviously the marquee signing, he can do that role if you wanted him to.
23:02Dylan Montley-Henry was on trial on Saturday, formerly of South Shield. He's had a lot of
23:06different clubs. He had a really good game, actually. He played wide in the first half and
23:10through the middle in the second half, scored the third goal, and certainly did his case no harm.
23:16Not the most impressive CV, in truth. He sort of bounced around the National League North the last
23:22couple of years, and he's had a lot of clubs for someone who's only 26. But what he does have is
23:27electric pace. He showed that a couple of times on Saturday. So he could be one that they possibly
23:31explore, but I think definitely they'll look to add another winger. And a backup striker, I think,
23:37which is such a difficult thing to sign, because you've got to bring a player to the club who
23:42you know really is going to be second fiddle to Manny Disarue, because it looks very likely that
23:47Pools are going to play with the one central striker. And obviously Manny D, having scored
23:5125 goals in all competitions, 23 in the league last season, you know he's going to be the main
23:55man. Mark Beck, the Son Heung-Min striker, was linked for a long time, but that seems to have
23:59cooled. I think he's picked up an injury in pre-season that could derail that move.
24:04Bayley-Adamson, teenage forward, formerly of Lincoln under-18s, had a good start to pre-season,
24:11but then tailed off a little bit as they stepped up in quality. And I understand he played for
24:15Blythe Spartans on the weekend, so I don't think that's going to be a move that they necessarily
24:19pursue. So it's never easy to find these players, and Sal said he's not going to
24:24sign a player unless he's absolutely in love with them, unless he's absolutely sure on it.
24:28But I think that we will see some new faces, particularly in those areas.
24:32One or two loans as well, Rich. I know, as you rightly said, they used far too many loans last
24:36season, but one or two high-quality loans can impact in a really positive way. We saw Dave
24:41Chaloner do that especially well with those sort of longer-term six-month loans, especially if you
24:46do it in the summer. They're players, presumably, that the parent clubs really have, you know,
24:52they think they're going to go on and kick on and do well and hopefully really benefit from a
24:56loan. Of course, there's not necessarily as much need to panic because, like you say,
25:00the national need transfer window never seems to end, really, so they might still try and do
25:05some business, I'm sure, as the season progresses. But ideally, you'd like two or three, four new
25:12faces in before the Yobel game on August 10th. I think probably more likely it'll be two or three,
25:16but let's see. Good stuff. Busy week then, Robbie. We'd better let you crack on. Hot
25:23up your night to play Scunthorpe tonight. We're recording this Tuesday morning,
25:27and then Nottingham Forest's B team, isn't it, on Saturday. So, we'll wait and see what kind of
25:32side arrive from Nottingham Forest, but I'm sure it'll be pretty strong with them being,
25:38obviously, Premier League side, so I'm pretty sure their youth team is pretty strong. I'm
25:41sure we'll be made up of quite a few of them, and then the real action starts a week on Saturday.
25:48So, just finally, are you optimistic, Robbie, heading into the season? What's your realistic
25:53ambition for Poole's, as things stand? I would say, certainly, that Sal has gone some way to
25:58instilling some renewed optimism, because back in the last season, although Kevin Phillips did a
26:05good job with pretty limited resources, the feeling around the club was, in general, fairly
26:10negative, and then the sort of controversial decision not to stick with Phillips, and the
26:15fallout from that, the raise in season ticket prices, all those sort of things, there was a
26:21real sort of sense of frustration and even apathy around the place, but Sal, I think people,
26:27supporters, are really warm to the way he speaks, the way he is, the way he carries himself.
26:34Five new recruits, I think, all look to be, on paper, very good signings, players that are
26:38capable of impacting the first team, which is really important. So, I am cautiously optimistic.
26:43I think the league is open this year, no Notts County, no Wrexham, no Chesterfield. I think
26:48Barnett and Sanger-Hull will be up there again, but the league does look reasonably open. If Pools
26:53can add two, three, four new faces, and get better luck with injuries this season, and hopefully
26:59they're going to be much fitter as well, then there's no reason why they can't realistically
27:03challenge for certainly the top seven. So, yeah, I'm cautiously optimistic, Rich, and I'm not
27:08usually too optimistic, so that should tell you something. Good stuff. Pleasure to chat, Robbie,
27:14as always. We'll be back very shortly with another Pooley podcast, with hopefully a couple more
27:19signings. Yeah, as the season very quickly is upon us, it doesn't feel like too long since the last
27:26one ended. But, to be fair, it was the end of April, wasn't it? So, it has been quite a while,
27:29to be fair. So, Poole's fans raring to go, and I'm sure they'll be well supported down in the
27:33Oval. So, we'll be back soon. Enjoy the games this week, Robbie, and we'll catch up with transfers
27:38in a week or so. Thanks all.