Winter's World 30/11

As usual, I keep up to date with the message boards and note that some Darlo fans are questioning the inclusion of my article on their site as it has little specific to say about their club.

As Darlington and Hartlepool home games usually clash, then because of my involvement this season with Radio Hartlepool, it is sensible that I attend their games.

Steve Staunton has the nigh on impossible task of keeping the club from relegation. He is using the club as a stepping stone to future employment and he is in a totally no win situation.

The club is paying less in wages than many conference clubs and is having to rely on young talent coming in on loan. Some of these players will no doubt eventually become stars in the future, but at a time when experience is needed to fight the drop, the only way seasoned pros will come to the club is for the money.

Back to square one then!!!

People talk about the loyalty of fans. The 1,600 or so who remain for home games and the loyal noisy away support is as good as any set of fans in the country. It is for them that I hope things pick up. I do not have too much confidence though.

Football is like life - it's about money. You look at any league, from the Premier League to non-league football, and the clubs that have the most dosh are usually the ones winning things.

Likewise at Hartlepool, they went to high spending Huddersfield and gave them a run for their money.

On Tuesday, they faced another side with the considerable benefit of having over 20,000 at home games and the ability to spend £1million on a goal scorer. The fact that Southampton brought over 600 fans the length of the country to watch a game that had been ridiculously scheduled for a Tuesday night in November shows exactly the task they face just to compete in League One.

Even clubs that command great numbers of supporters are not necessarily going to be able to compete against clubs that have extra income from TV revenue, which means they can buy considerably better players.

With no game on Saturday for either Darlo or Pools, there were no press conferences to attend. However, then Pools changed their mind and I had not checked my emails. So it was a lie-in rather than a trip to Durham.

Following my trip up to 'The Goalies' book launch, enquiries have been flooding in to speak at Rangers dinners next year. However, this week, my appointments were closer to home.

As I set off for Turf Moor, news came in of another three loan signings for Darlington. These were another youngster and two experienced professionals, albeit ones that I have not heard of.

Even loan signings cost money and it is apparent that Raj must be sinking more money into the club as it does not appear other commercial ventures are as successful as they have been in the past. More about that later.

Travelling home, I heard that Borders the bookstore chain were likely to go into administration. It is a great worry for their staff but also for many local authors.

I have done a few signing sessions for them at their Teesside Park store but always found it very difficult to get paid for the books. Many may think that writing a book is a profitable pastime but the stores usually take 50% of the book price.

Fortunately, on this occasion I was paid up, but many local sportswriters are faced with a potential problem.

I know of one author who recently received a cheque from them and it bounced. My advice to the Bernie Slaven's, Alastair Brownlee's etc is to get down there and get your stock back or otherwise, like with Darlington FC, you might end up losing money!!!

Saturday is obviously a football day, but thanks to Pools and Darlo being out of the Cup and me deciding not to go to Peterborough, I had one of the laziest days of my life.

Weather permitting, I am off to Carlisle to watch Pools on Tuesday, Catterick races on Wednesday and Hartlepool v Millwall on Saturday.

The next Phone in show will be on air on Saturday after Hartlepool's home with Millwall on Radio Hartlepool.

The show will be on 102.4 from 5-6pm. So Poolies will have the chance to get their views off their chests immediately after the game.

You can ring me on 01429 275111, contact me to let me know your views by email, or text me on 60300 starting your message off with 'hart'.

Enjoy your week.

Jeff Winter

For more of Jeff's columns visit his official site at jeffwinter.co.uk

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.