The Roman deity Janus was, apparently, able to look to the past and to the future at the same time, on account of having two faces. Fittingly, the month of January is named after him – reflecting on times past and looking to the future on New Year’s Eve, that sort of idea.
There is that sort of feeling around Hartlepool United at the moment. After a few tumultuous seasons of chaos and turbulent ownership, some of us Poolies are now daring to believe better times are in the pipeline, under Landon Smith. Whisper it, but Pools might even be in the frame for promotion. Let’s hope so!
Part of that quiet optimism is to do with the fact that new manager Lee Clark seems to be building a squad made almost entirely of incoming recruits. At long last, things might be looking up.
I travelled north for the pre-season friendly against Spennymoor Town and I have to say I was impressed with the way in which Clark’s players were beginning to gel, bearing in mind most of them have only just arrived at Victoria Park. Liam Gibson at centre-half already looks to be an excellent capture, and a solid replacement for Tom Parkes. I didn’t recognise most of the other players turning out at Spennymoor, but we’ll become more familiar with them as the season unfolds.
Speaking of looking back as we also look forwards, maybe we should wish Parkesy all the best for the next stage of his career, at Tamworth. I think Gibson will fill his boots well, but Tom Parkes brought a note of commitment to the defence even when things weren’t going well on the pitch. He could be relied upon to give his all, and that should be acknowledged, with our gratitude.
So, as we say farewell to Parkes and others who have left, we look to a new season. At the very least, as a fresh batch of signings find their feet and as Lee Clark does his best to manage well, one thing is for sure: Poolies will be cheering on their favourites with a return to the Football League at stake.
Author: Stephen
Author of Poxon's Pools