Success or failure: Analysing Hartlepool United's transfer window

Paul Hartley was unveiled as the new manager of Hartlepool United just three days after the transfer window opened for business this summer. But 12 weeks on and he already appears intent on doing further business with players out of contract.

In that time, 16 new players have arrived at the Suit Direct Stadium. There have been 12 to leave, plus an additional five loan players who returned to their parent clubs since the end of last season.

This has not been a simple keyhole procedure to the squad, this has been major surgery.

But just how do you assess Pools’ summer transfer window now that business is over?

The most important question you have to ask is whether or not the squad is in better shape than it was when Hartley arrived, and there are a myriad of factors to consider here.

On the one hand, when Hartley walked through the door he would have struggled to field a starting XI given the numbers that were available to him.

On the other hand, Pools’ winless start to the season sees them sitting 23rd in the table from seven games which tells its own story.

But the caveat to how successful Pools’ transfer window has been must be taken into context with the messages relayed by the club upon Hartley’s unveiling in June.

“I think we’re all comfortable with the money that’s there and, if it’s spent wisely, we should be there or thereabouts in the play-offs,” said Hartlepool chairman Raj Singh when asked about the budget and targets for the season.

He added: “You need to give the manager the tools to do the job and I think we’re doing that. The rest is up to them and how they spend the money.”

And Hartley, too, was unfazed by that notion.

“That’s the plan, to challenge at the top end of the table,” he said.

“We’ve been used to success and we want to bring more success to Hartlepool.

“[But] it’s about how we’re going to play. I want to see a lot of passion from my team playing on the front foot with real attacking football.”

And yet, a month into the season, those claims seem to be off.

Although budgets are used when it comes to signing-on fees and wage structures for players, of the 16 players signed this summer only Josh Umerah commanded what was described as an undisclosed fee from Wealdstone.

And while it is worth noting the majority of business done at this level comes via free transfers with players heading out of contract moving from club-to-club, Hartley has also hinted that one or two deals he had lined up may have collapsed due to finances.

Speaking after the weekend draw with Colchester United, Hartley said: “It’s various reasons.

"You’ve got to have players who want to come. You’ve got to financially match what they want and then the right type and quality, do they want to drop down to League Two?

“So that’s part and parcel we’ve had to deal with for a lot of the summer. We’ve been in the market for so many players and we’ve not managed to get them, but that’s the way it is.”

Losing key players has also not helped Pools this summer.

In Luke Molyneux, Pools have seen their top goal scorer, and player of the year, walk out the door for free for the second successive summer after Rhys Oates did similar a year ago.

Timi Odusina was voted young player of the season on the back of a really solid campaign while club legend Gary Liddle turned down the option of a new deal in favour of a move to South Shields.

Quite how much Liddle may have featured this season is open for debate, but to lose someone of his character around the dressing room must be a huge hole to fill, where Molyneux and Odusina leave obvious holes when it comes to quality.

Neill Byrne and Omar Bogle were two further senior players to surprisingly leave this summer - Byrne citing a desire to be nearer to his family while Bogle, it was suggested, was keen to explore the option to link back up with his former coach James Rowberry at Newport County where he has already scored six times.

In their place came a mixture of signings from the Football League, non-league and the Scottish leagues.

In that respect you can perhaps assume which signings featured more prominently on Hartley’s list and which signings were on the list of head of recruitment Chris Trotter as they sought a cohesive blend.

On paper, some of these players seem smart acquisitions: Euan Murray captained Kilmarnock to a Scottish league title, Callum Cooke made over 100 appearances for Bradford City, Jake Hastie still has untapped potential which convinced Rangers to sign him as a 19-year-old, Ellis Taylor has been on the periphery at Sunderland and Josh Umerah has done well.

But so far it has been tough for Pools.

The speed, power and fast football Hartley desired has not been on show enough in the opening month of the campaign with Pools already the occupants of the worst defensive record in the league and, outside of Gillingham, the joint lowest scorers in the division.

Hartley’s frustration at not being able to add another striker to his group has poured out over the days since the window closed and you can see why with Pools’ struggles in front of goal this season.

In that respect, you have to ask whether or not the key areas of the squad have been addressed?

Only two teams scored fewer than Pools last season and only five conceded more and yet it already seems as though they will be at the wrong end of both categories this time around.

And while we remain in the formative stages of Hartley’s tenure, the concerns over how quickly this new squad of players will take to gel are justified.

You only need to take a look at the league table to see the likes of Barrow, Stevenage and Salford City, who have had similar turnovers in players yet have hit the ground running - something Pools maybe needed if they are to challenge for the play-offs.

As things stand, the club are already nine points adrift of that target having been 23 points short last season.

The fact that Hartley had already pre-emptively considered free agents ahead of the window closing suggests he was not completely satisfied with the business conducted over the summer.

The key with any transfer window is to ask yourself whether you are stronger than when the window opened and, although there are mitigating factors in play with Pools this summer, you would have to say the answer, currently, to that question is ‘no.’

The hope is that will change over the coming weeks now the window is closed and players can continue to gel with one another.