Hartlepool United ‘daft to commit’ to signings despite National League rivals being active in transfer market with uncertainty surrounding the 2020-21 campaign ahead of vote

Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor is not prepared to take any unnecessary risks in the transfer market.
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Pools are yet to bring any new players into the club in 2021 with Challinor’s main aim to keep his squad together as they look to mount a promotion challenge in the National League.

And with clubs set to vote on whether the season will be declared null and void by the end of February, the Hartlepool boss is refraining from bolstering his squad due to the risk of it being an unnecessary expenditure.

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But with a 28 day deadline before the National League resolution vote, there is still some scope for Pools to secure a one-month loan deal.

Jamie Sterry agreed an extended deal at Hartlepool United last month.  Picture by FRANK REIDJamie Sterry agreed an extended deal at Hartlepool United last month.  Picture by FRANK REID
Jamie Sterry agreed an extended deal at Hartlepool United last month. Picture by FRANK REID

Challinor also explained why Pools extended the stays of Ryan Johnson and Jamie Sterry until the end of the season despite mounting uncertainty.

“It would be daft of us to commit to things at the moment as much as we want to,” he told The Mail.

“We announced that Johno and Jamie last Friday but those agreements were already in place before everything came out with the National League funding.

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"We didn’t want to seem as though we were signing players after the funding situation transpired because that certainly wasn’t the case.

"We need to make sure things are right and if things are right and we have some clarity and get the go ahead to crack on this season then we look at areas we can strengthen but if not then we obviously won’t do anything.”

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In the meantime, several National League clubs have strengthened their squads over the past couple of weeks.

Even in the past 48 hours, Chesterfield and bottom of the table Barnet have both secured loan signings of Adi Yussuf and Myles Judd respectively.

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In fact, transfer activity in the National League seems to have increased slightly despite the financial uncertainty clubs are facing as well as the possibility of the season being cancelled in under four weeks time.

"I’m not sure why we’ve seen more business being done to be honest,” Challinor admitted.

"I guess, for me it works two ways. Some clubs are willing to take the risk and whether that’s because they have more information than we do I’m not sure.

"From a club perspective there’s a risk and for me, we’ve got loan players in our squad where if a decision is made and we end up not playing football. We’ve got lads who won’t be able to play football for the next six months because they’re in a contract where they’re on loan with ourselves until the end of the season.

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"If I was a player, I don’t think I’d want to be diving into that situation with the uncertainty and as a club I’m not sure I would given the financial risks involved.

"You might want to look short term and think we want to get players in quickly because we’ve got some important games coming up – we have to think medium term and be patient for a few weeks until the picture is clearer.

"We’re happy to be patient because we’re in a good position. We want to get the okay to continue so that we’re not potentially wasting valuable money.”

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