Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson hails backing of owner Raj Singh this summer
Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson has been reflecting on his relationship with Raj Singh - and insists he has been delighted by the owner's backing so far.
Ever since Pools were relegated back to the National League in 2023, the club has been blighted by various off-field issues. The last few months has seen one of the most dramatic period's in the club's recent history, with Singh's sudden and unexpected resignation in March and the subsequent collapse of takeover negotiations plunging Pools into a deeply precarious and troubling position. After Singh's initial deadline to sell the club of May 5 - the end of the 2024/25 season - passed without a deal being completed, the drama continued unabated. While there were both hopes that a takeover could still be completed as well as growing fears about what the future might hold, Singh performed a u-turn when he returned to his former role as chairman following a divisive vote among season ticket holders at the end of May. While there have been one or two blips since then, Singh has put his hand in his pocket to finance the club and assemble a competitive squad ahead of the new season; although the owner still has his fair share of critics, even the most sceptical of supporters would struggle to argue that it hasn't not been a strong summer at Victoria Park.
In amongst all the swirling uncertainty that has overshadowed large parts of Singh's tenure as owner, Pools have got through a remarkable number of managers. Since taking over at the end of the 2017/18 season, Singh has appointed 12 different permanent managers; of those, only promotion-winning boss Dave Challinor lasted more than a year in the role, while none of the previous four appointments survived more than six months. In Simon Grayson, who replaced head coach Anthony Limbrick on June 12, Pools are hoping to have, at long last, found the man to take them back to the promised land of the Football League.
As long as off-field issues, which do seem to have abated in recent weeks, don't return to plague Pools again next season, then Grayson can afford to feel reasonably confident ahead of the new campaign. Pools have made 11 summer signings, including the likes of Alex Reid, who scored 17 goals in 32 games for Wealdstone last season, Danny Johnson, a proven goalscorer in the Football League, Jermaine Francis, who enjoyed an impressive loan spell at Braintree last term, and Reiss McNally, who was an integral part of the Kidderminster side that finished third in the National League North. With the squad taking shape, Pools have won all five of their pre-season matches so far, scoring 14 goals and keeping four clean sheets in the process.
Although York, who finished second last season and look to have made a whole host of impressive summer signings, including National League title winners Ollie Banks and Ash Palmer, Altrincham's Alex Newby, who scored 15 goals for the Robins last term, Mark Kitching, fresh from helping Oldham clinch promotion back to the Football League, experienced Mansfield midfielder Hiram Boateng, Gateshead skipper Greg Olley and, of course, popular Pools attacker Joe Grey, look set to be tough to beat, there is a sense that the remainder of the division is wide open. Rochdale, who lured prolific frontman Mani Dieseruvwe away from Victoria Park earlier this summer, last season's beaten play-off finalists Southend and Carlisle, who signed Regan Linney after he scored 23 goals in 43 games for Altrincham last season, all have the potential to challenge, while Forest Green Rovers, who finished third last term, have taken a big risk by replacing experienced manager Steve Cotterill with the relatively unproven Robbie Savage. Pools look to have a reasonable claim to be the best of the rest and will fancy their chances of gatecrashing, at least, the play-offs when the new campaign kicks off next month.
So much of what happens next season will hinge on whether or not Pools can remain on the straight and narrow off the pitch. While there are deep-seated issues that still need to be resolved in due course, it seems as though Singh has a point to prove and is prepared to put his hand into his pocket in order to prove it. If the club can establish some solid foundations from which to build, then Pools fans can afford to feel confident ahead of the new National League season.
"I've spoken to the owner quite a bit," Grayson told BBC Look North.
"I had reassurances that he was going to back me in the transfer market and he has with the players that we've got and, maybe, others to come in. As a coach, that's all you want.
"Of course there are going to be people that are going to question the ownership still - that will be decided whenever things get decided. All I'm interested in is getting things sorted on the pitch and winning as many games as possible. If there are people out there that are undecided about coming back to follow their football team, hopefully the early months of the season will suggest that we're going in the right direction and people will come back. I'm not going to change everybody's opinion about what's been going on behind the scenes. All I can say is that I've been given backing, and long may it continue."