Stickied Confirmed Signings 2023/24

[Aber gas]

Ex Mariner and Pools legend Andy Monkhouse has signed for Whitby Town after being released by us.

Also Gas legend

 

[Moss Rose Silkmen]

Gavin Massey has joined Wigan Athletic from Leyton Orient.

 

[EnglishRed]

Scott Boden has joined Wrexham.

 

[Luke Imp]

Bet that one caught you all by surprise.

 

[Sparrow]

WORST KEPT SECRET

 

[GTFCfish]

Also Gas legend

Also Grimsby Town scapegoat legend.

 

[Semi-skimmed Silk]

Josh Thompson confirmed signed for us.

Hope he's recovered from his kneecap being "halfway up his thigh".

 

[MTFC_07]

Josh Thompson confirmed signed for us.

JA has been after Thompson for the last couple of pre-seasons I believe. It's a bit weird because from an outsider's point of view, he doesn't seem to have torn up any trees in the last few years. It would be interesting to hear a Southport/Tranmere fan's opinion on him.

I expect he'll begin as cover anyway because Lowe and Pilkington are going to be the first choice centre half pairing.

 

[Semi-skimmed Silk]

I expect he'll begin as cover anyway because Lowe and Pilkington are going to be the first choice centre half pairing.

Probably right, but until we get more than 11 he's guranteed a start!

 

[The_Boss]

Probably right, but until we get more than 11 he's guranteed a start!

Now i'm only going off Lowe's age and knowing Pilks' game, but there doesn't seem an abundance of pace between that pairing.

I wonder whether JA may actually be looking at going 3 at the back and pushing Fitzpatrick & Hogkiss further forwards as wing-backs?

 

[MWS]

I really hope Josh Thompson manages to establish himself at Macc and fulfil the potential he showed at an early age.

Broke into the first team with us in 08/09 (League One) and then when we went into admin he left us to sign for Celtic whom he played a number of games for.

Since then he's kinda dropped a through the leagues which may well be a result of serious injury.

Hopefully though he gets back to playing, stays injury free and does well at Macc.

 

[Swedes]

Josh Thompson is well-respected here. When he's had a regular centre-half partnership with a confident partner he's excelled, unfortunately our turnover of players hasn't helped this. The injury he had was nasty, and I'll be pleasantly surprised if his knee can withstand the rigours of full-time football, but I sincerely hope it does hold up for him.

 

[The_Boss]

Josh Thompson is well-respected here. When he's had a regular centre-half partnership with a confident partner he's excelled, unfortunately our turnover of players hasn't helped this. The injury he had was nasty, and I'll be pleasantly surprised if his knee can withstand the rigours of full-time football, but I sincerely hope it does hold up for him.

George Pilkington and/or Keith Lowe should suit him well then.

 

[Boz]

Josh Thompson does seem to have been very injury-prone. Hard to judge any player properly during Mickey Adams' revolving door period, but he'd started to settle in then picked up a bad injury at Luton. Certainly capable of doing a reasonable job at this level.

 

[Master D]

Alabi to Tranmere. That's just the 16 strikers they've got now, clearly following the successful Eastleigh model.

 

[Mark kavanagh]

Norwood mangan alabi and cook..... crikey we have hundreds of strikers...

pongo waring too sorry

 

[Bluandwite]

Alabi to Tranmere is the best kept secret in football since Boden to Wrexham.

 

[Pablosammy]

Alabi to Tranmere. That's just the 16 strikers they've got now, clearly following the successful Eastleigh model.

5 strikers in a squad isn't too excessive is It? I imagine it'll be back to 4 before the season starts anyway.

 

[Semi-skimmed Silk]

5 strikers in a squad isn't too excessive is It? I imagine it'll be back to 4 before the season starts anyway.

It is to us Macc fans who just suffered a season of effectively only 1 striker.

 

[iesty wfc]

Norwood mangan alabi and cook..... crikey we have hundreds of strikers...

pongo waring too sorry

Jack Dunn too, and Connor Jennings is also a forward (though in reality he can play deeper)

 

[1884 Belmont]

Jack Dunn too, and Connor Jennings is also a forward (though in reality he can play deeper)

I have to agree here.
Cook, Waring and Alabi - out and out strikers.
Norwood, Mangan, Dunn, Tollitt, Kirby, Connor Jennings are more 'attackers' - can play up front or out wide/in behind. Kirby and Tollitt won't be back for a while, so we're looking at 3/4 from 7 depending on formation. That's not too bad.

 

[Tranmerewhite]

Slightly strange signing. A player with potential too, but so is Waring. Highly doubt we'd let Cook go for less than £250k, promotion worth far more than that.

Going to be very hard for us to keep all our attacking players happy. Mangan will probably get a move to a Macclesfield or Wrexham type now though.

 

[MTFC_07]

Slightly strange signing. A player with potential too, but so is Waring. Highly doubt we'd let Cook go for less than £250k, promotion worth far more than that.

Going to be very hard for us to keep all our attacking players happy. Mangan will probably get a move to a Macclesfield or Wrexham type now though.

We would never be able to afford Mangan's wages. If he leaves Tranmere, I'd guess he'd either join Wrexham, or he would go to a money bags club who wouldn't be bothered by his wage demands, like Fylde or Ebbsfleet.

 

[gtfcfan]

Slightly strange signing. A player with potential too, but so is Waring. Highly doubt we'd let Cook go for less than £250k, promotion worth far more than that.

Going to be very hard for us to keep all our attacking players happy. Mangan will probably get a move to a Macclesfield or Wrexham type now though.

Cook has been in the conference for like 7-8 years now and never been promoted...

 

[Monkey Tennis]

Cook has been in the conference for like 7-8 years now and never been promoted...

Got us promoted though...
To be fair he's only ever really been in a team capable of promotion for one or two of those years.

 

[jacobncfc]

Hartlepool have signed Louis Laing.

He's a weird one. Had two half-season loan spells with us. In the first one, in League One, he was fantastic. Confident on the ball, quick over the ground, just generally completely dominant. We couldn't keep him because Forest thought that he looked far too good for that level.

Fast forward a couple of years and he comes back with us in League Two and is an absolute disaster. Still capable of picking a pass and bringing the ball out, but making constant huge errors, seemingly about five yards slower and unbelievably weak. I'm not sure what he was doing up at Motherwell, but it didn't look good.

If he finds form anything like the first time he was with us, he'll be the best defender in this league. Sadly, I reckon he might be done.

 

[PaulHaddock]

I would still be amazed if Andy Cook was good enough for League 2.

 

[Master D]

I would still be amazed if Andy Cook was good enough for League 2.

And all this talk of 250k is deranged. He couldn't even get into the Tranmere team at the business end of the season.

 

[Tranmerewhite]

And all this talk of 250k is deranged. He couldn't even get into the Tranmere team at the business end of the season.

We don't need to sell.

 

[PoolieTom]

Hartlepool have signed Louis Laing.

He's a weird one. Had two half-season loan spells with us. In the first one, in League One, he was fantastic. Confident on the ball, quick over the ground, just generally completely dominant. We couldn't keep him because Forest thought that he looked far too good for that level.

Fast forward a couple of years and he comes back with us in League Two and is an absolute disaster. Still capable of picking a pass and bringing the ball out, but making constant huge errors, seemingly about five yards slower and unbelievably weak. I'm not sure what he was doing up at Motherwell, but it didn't look good.

If he finds form anything like the first time he was with us, he'll be the best defender in this league. Sadly, I reckon he might be done.

Hopefully we will be a team at the top of the division this year, and any mistakes he makes will be less costly than being a team down the bottom like we have been in the past few years. Only 24, so plenty of time for him to regain his confidence etc.

Not a signing, but we've also added Paul Jenkins as our assisstant manager. Fantastic record at Boro, and leaves them after 23 years, and producing the likes of Downing through their academy.

Hopefully 3 more signing to come and we should be done ahead of the new season. Positivity is growing each day around our club after the absolute clusterfuck we've endured over the past 5 years.