History must not repeat itself for Pools - Matthew Bates

Singh has talked in-depth about the need to make sure he builds his Pools’ business model in a very different way to his first venue into the football world.

At rivals Darlington Singh, by his own admission, got things wrong.

And coming in to Victoria Park he is hopeful he will be able to make an impact in North East football by bridging a number of perceived gaps in his plan.

The first step towards that was by employing Craig Hignett as a director of football.

Hignett has contacts up and down the land, and knows Pools inside out having now sat in the dugout, boardroom and played for the club on the park.

He will have a massive say in who comes through the door, have control over contract dealings as well as responsibility to get deals done with agents, players and their clubs.

At Darlo, Singh the man tasked with all of that, as well as dealing with issues in the boardroom. It was and is simply too much for one man - Hignett’s involvement is seen as bridging that gap at Pools.

And Bates welcomes the idea that Singh is learning his lessons from his past, but he is urging the owner to look a little closer to home to make sure things go smoothy for the club, whether he is here or not.

“It is hugely important this doesn’t happen to this football club again,” Bates said of all of the goings on at the Vic in recent months.

“Raj and Craig will be doing the work behind the scenes to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“I would hope that the new owners would have learned from what has happened this season.

“They haven’t made any mistakes, having just come to the club, but there have been plenty before that.

“Lessons must be learned taking this club forward.”

As yet, no decision has been taken on the future of Bates, who remains in the dark about whether he will apply for the managerial role full-time.

In a statement confirming the club’s takeover, Singh revealed the club’s position on the currently vacant manager’s position.

And he made it clear he would be looking to interview a number of candidates before making a call.

“We’re already looking at making the appointment of a new first-team manager and we met with Matthew Bates earlier on Friday to discuss it with him,” it read.

“It was only fair that we did that to allow Matthew to put his case forward on the back of the results achieved in recent weeks to secure our place in the National League.

“We will be talking to other people about the vacancy as well, because we have to make sure we get the right man for the job and let him get on with it as soon as possible.

“The club can’t afford to be left behind in terms of player recruitment or preparations for the new season, so we have to act swiftly and decisively on that appointment.

“I would like to thank all fans for their support and encourage you to keep right behind the team and the club as we look to move forward with purpose and ambition.”