Emmanuel Dieseruvwe has finished the season on 23 league goals for Hartlepool.
Wasn't too shabby at Halifax last season either.

Scored some massive goals for us in the promotion season, and his goals per minutes played was phenomenal.

He is the one player that I cannot understand why we let him go. In a season when McAtee was going and so was Ryan Taylor, it just didn't make sense not to have this goal scorer around.  

We all have different opinions of players, but I thought Mani was a magnificent number 9 leader of the line character, who not only scored vital goals, but could also win high booted balls upfield; and direct them well to other players.

Quoted from DaleH

Emmanuel Dieseruvwe has finished the season on 23 league goals for Hartlepool.
Wasn't too shabby at Halifax last season either.

Scored some massive goals for us in the promotion season, and his goals per minutes played was phenomenal.

He is the one player that I cannot understand why we let him go. In a season when McAtee was going and so was Ryan Taylor, it just didn't make sense not to have this goal scorer around.  

This!!  I was peed off when we didn't try to keep him.

Along with Orsi  both should have been made decent offers to stay. Hurst made a few mistakes. But many was saying   in hurst we trust . back fired a bit didnt it . Golden rule  never trust in anyone

Didn’t he want to be guaranteed first choice or similar? Or was that orsi? Or both 🤷🏼‍♂️

Don't think either were happy to play second fiddle and sit on the bench most weeks, and with good reason too. They were right, Hurst was wrong.

No disrespect to current strikers here, but Mani had an eye for a finish, and that helps at any level of playing. He never gave up, and had enough physicality to hold his own up front.

BUT - no one can demand a starting place every week, so Hurst made his decision accordingly.

We lose a scorer, and end up with lesser players bringing injury problems or lack of experience to the role.

Obigwu may develop more physically and needs to understand the offside rule, but has shown glimpses of a player in him.

Let's also remember that service to ALL strikers has been poor all year !

Would Mani have succeeded at League level? Who knows?

An opportunity lost ! Move on !

I'm very grateful for his pivotal efforts in helping us win promotion the other season, but let's try not to lose sight of the fact that he's a 29 year old striker who has 4 Football League goals to his name in roughly 5 seasons playing at this level.

He's obviously a very useful player in the Conference, but if he was going to make it in the League, he'd have done it by now.

The problem with releasing him was that we never replaced him with the same “type” of player thus we lost this attacking option. Even more baffling was throughout our first season back in L2 PH often commented on our lack of height and physicality, however, going into this season we still didn’t replace him and let Orsi depart. Whilst we did sign Danny Rose, who certainly puts himself about, he is not particularly tall and we again have had a full season without this option in our attacking play. The demise of Waterfall and the decision not to select Efete further reduced our physical presence and we have been bullied by too many teams too often as a result.

Mani was not only big but he was quite mobile and a nuisance who scored a few scrappy goals an option every team should not only want but have available. Be interesting what the summer brings.

I thought he was only on loan to us. But an opportunity missed?

He was out of contract at Tranmere, we had the option of signing him as in talks were held.  Hurst was clear to him, you won't be coming here as first choice.  Mani wanted at least the chance to be the main man but it was made clear it wasn't going to happen.

Hindsight's great.  Season after Mani left we struggled to even field strikers never mind effective ones.  Taylor looked absolutely broken, McAtee couldn't get going, Simmonds and Pepple were useless and Orsi...well, let's not go there.

Would Mani have cut it in League Two?  History suggests not but his whole career was unspectacular prior to rocking up for us.  3 goals in 26 games in the Conference North for Salford.  4 goals in 29 appearances in the same league for Kiddy.  He had 18 career goals to his name before we loaned him, 7 of those were in the FA Trophy!  Maybe everything just clicked for him here and he certainly hasn't looked back.  

We'll never know if he would have been any good last season for us but I'm confident he would have been better than some of the loan lads we had last season.  Equally so persisting with Taylor as your main man was a bad move.   But you can see why Hurst didn't fancy it.  A purple patch for us, plus lets face it if you take away his goals at Notts County and Wrexham away and no-one is really waxing lyrical about him anymore than Tristan Abrahams, probably isn't enough to buck the trend from the previous 9 years of football.  

I suspect we'll find out next season if Mani can cut it at this level.  23 goals that finished midtable is impressive and certainly will have put him on a few League Two radars.

Mani belongs in a similar box to Max Crocombe. It's not the decision not to retain them that's the problem, but rather the failure to replace them with demonstrably better, like-for-like alternatives.

I imagine there's always an element of jeopardy about not attempting to retain players without replacements securely in place, but ultimately swapping Crocombe for two 'keepers with less than 30 EFL appearances between them and swapping Mani for effectively no one looks like some pretty poor decision making / planning in retrospect.

It's the lessons from scenarios like this that need to be front of mind when the club is evaluating whether they should seek to retain the services of messrs Clifton, Green etc.

Quoted from sam gy

Don't think either were happy to play second fiddle and sit on the bench most weeks, and with good reason too. They were right, Hurst was wrong.

Forgetting the 2nd sentence I respect their decision. Too many players settle for collecting a wage sitting on the bench

Quoted from Poojah

Mani belongs in a similar box to Max Crocombe. It's not the decision not to retain them that's the problem, but rather the failure to replace them with demonstrably better, like-for-like alternatives.

I imagine there's always an element of jeopardy about not attempting to retain players without replacements securely in place, but ultimately swapping Crocombe for two 'keepers with less than 30 EFL appearances between them and swapping Mani for effectively no one looks like some pretty poor decision making / planning in retrospect.

It's the lessons from scenarios like this that need to be front of mind when the club is evaluating whether they should seek to return the services of messrs Clifton, Green etc.

And also the absolute failings of Paul Hurst at this level.  That the man got us out of that god forsaken league twice means he'll always be held in the highest esteem.  But his ability to kick us on at this level is his ultimate shortcoming.  Recruitment at the fifth tier was outstanding, fourth tier was largely abysmal.

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

The problem with releasing him was that we never replaced him with the same “type” of player thus we lost this attacking option. Even more baffling was throughout our first season back in L2 PH often commented on our lack of height and physicality, however, going into this season we still didn’t replace him and let Orsi depart. Whilst we did sign Danny Rose, who certainly puts himself about, he is not particularly tall and we again have had a full season without this option in our attacking play. The demise of Waterfall and the decision not to select Efete further reduced our physical presence and we have been bullied by too many teams too often as a result.

Mani was not only big but he was quite mobile and a nuisance who scored a few scrappy goals an option every team should not only want but have available. Be interesting what the summer brings.

Absolutely spot on. Anyone who witnessed Kings Lynn away would say thanks for a massive contribution to promotion but not for us at League 2 level, but then we could have used him when PH proceeded to leave us short up front and bring in a series of loanees, some of whom were ok but got injured and some just not up to it. Orsi was a different level - perfectly good enough as a league 2 starter alongside an energetic partner like Lloyd or Rose.

Quoted from denni266

Along with Orsi  both should have been made decent offers to stay. Hurst made a few mistakes. But many was saying   in hurst we trust . back fired a bit didnt it . Golden rule  never trust in anyone

Hurst got rid of every decent striker we had one way or another

I imagine Manny wont be the only ex mariner from that squad we face up to next year, I imagine even if Halifax don't go up then Max Wright will be on a few radars aswell.

Quoted from LocalLadGTFC

I imagine Manny wont be the only ex mariner from that squad we face up to next year, I imagine even if Halifax don't go up then Max Wright will be on a few radars aswell.

Now that will be frustrating and why on earth couldn't we get him fit enough?

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

Now that will be frustrating and why on earth couldn't we get him fit enough?

It’s not just us; his ankle spontaneously combusted within minutes of landing at Harrogate.

Personally, I’m just pleased for the lad that he’s managed to make 40 appearances this season (comfortably a PB), scoring 7 goals along the way. I genuinely hope the worst of his issues are behind him, and would love to see him playing a league game at BP next season.  

Quoted from Poojah

It’s not just us; his ankle spontaneously combusted within minutes of landing at Harrogate.

Personally, I’m just pleased for the lad that he’s managed to make 40 appearances this season (comfortably a PB), scoring 7 goals along the way. I genuinely hope the worst of his issues are behind him, and would love to see him playing a league game at BP next season.  

If, and it’s a big if, his injury issues are behind him then I wouldn’t be unhappy to see him back here. He’s direct and very quick which is something we’ve been really lacking. He probably wouldn’t cost loads in wages and would also mean we can field a player that’s come through the youth team in the match day squad.

Really important to remember there’s a big gap between doing it in the NL compared to the EFL. His record at this level is really poor and there’s nothing that suggests he’d all of a sudden bang them in at this level.

That said, absolutely delighted for him, he struck me as a properly sound bloke.

There should be a 6-month limit on pining for all players. Never known a fanbase so absolutely obsessed with players who have left us, especially when the bloke responsible for them leaving has been sacked.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Absolutely spot on. Anyone who witnessed Kings Lynn away would say thanks for a massive contribution to promotion but not for us at League 2 level, but then we could have used him when PH proceeded to leave us short up front and bring in a series of loanees, some of whom were ok but got injured and some just not up to it. Orsi was a different level - perfectly good enough as a league 2 starter alongside an energetic partner like Lloyd or Rose.

Lost count of how many sitters he missed that day.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Really important to remember there’s a big gap between doing it in the NL compared to the EFL. His record at this level is really poor and there’s nothing that suggests he’d all of a sudden bang them in at this level.

That said, absolutely delighted for him, he struck me as a properly sound bloke.

His record at every level was really poor prior to joining us. That, coupled with the comically bad highlights reel his agent had knocked together, left me feeling hugely underwhelmed when we signed him.

Up there with as wrong as I’ve been about a new signing, and he’s really kicked-on since that prolific short spell with us. Pleased for him - deserves another crack at league football.

Quoted from friskneymariner

Lost count of how many sitters he missed that day.

Most of the Town fans there that day wouldn’t have seen that though to be fair - if they were on the terrace facing the wrong way…

I think there are a few with rose-tinted spectacles here. He's a good NL striker but is he really better than Donovan Wilson? No he's not.

Quoted from ska face

There should be a 6-month limit on pining for all players. Never known a fanbase so absolutely obsessed with players who have left us, especially when the bloke responsible for them leaving has been sacked.

At one point we were even more obsessed with former managers, not just Alan Buckley, for years there was discussion about Lawrie Mc coming back…

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

Didn’t he want to be guaranteed first choice or similar? Or was that orsi? Or both 🤷🏼‍♂️

As it transpired he'd definitely have been first choice. Never understand why players insist on that when it manifestly true that if you perform well you will be first choice, or vice versa. Our numbers 9 and 10 hardly played for most of the season.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Most of the Town fans there that day wouldn’t have seen that though to be fair - if they were on the terrace facing the wrong way…

I was in the seats view o.k there.It was at that match Max Wright was given his chance and played atrocious I think it was the last game he played for Town.

Quoted from friskneymariner

I was in the seats view o.k there.It was at that match Max Wright was given his chance and played atrocious I think it was the last game he played for Town.

We all climbed into the disabled area where there was plenty of room. The steward was hilarious - people were climbing over fences, but the steward had been told to guard the gate and that’s what he did, officiously, at the same time ignoring all the clambering over fences going on…

Personally I wouldn't have been upset to see either of them stay but I think the poor season we've had is overinflating their historic stock a little.

Orsi was a hard worker and has proven this season to know how to score but that wasn't the case last season. He was largely ineffective for most of the season but showed glimpses from time to time and his FA Cup performances mostly offered some hint of promise. No-one would be saying we should have kept him if he'd only scored 5 this season, same as if he had stayed and not scored the theme would be 'should have improved in the summer'. I would have kept him too but not with the same degree of flattery he seems to be getting, even if I am pleased to see him doing well.

Its a bit the same with Mani. I'm sure I remember people saying that he was worthy of being a backup in the squad on promotion and I would again agree with that but he wouldn't settle for that.

I liked both of them, wouldn't be unhappy to see them here again in the future but also think that neither really set a standard like Danny Rose did, both more like Wilson who has shown there's something but isn't fully convincing and it's only what they've gone on to achieve is the basis of why people are calling decisions a mistake, not based on how they performed here.

I liked Mani when he was here. Hoped he would stay when we got promoted. Had the pleasure of seeing him twice this year. Small sample size but I’m really glad he left. Absolutely anonymous both times. Think he left at the right time to be remembered fondly at Town.

Quoted from gtfc_chris

Personally I wouldn't have been upset to see either of them stay but I think the poor season we've had is overinflating their historic stock a little.

Orsi was a hard worker and has proven this season to know how to score but that wasn't the case last season. He was largely ineffective for most of the season but showed glimpses from time to time and his FA Cup performances mostly offered some hint of promise. No-one would be saying we should have kept him if he'd only scored 5 this season, same as if he had stayed and not scored the theme would be 'should have improved in the summer'. I would have kept him too but not with the same degree of flattery he seems to be getting, even if I am pleased to see him doing well.

Orsi started FIVE league games for us last season and managed to score 2 goals. Hurst, quite simply, did not give him a chance. He only got a chance in the FA Cup because we literally had no one else and he more than proved his worth. But even then he couldn't buy a start in the league.

This season he's started FOURTY FOUR games for Crawley and scored 18 goals. The last time he played a decent amount of games was when he played 32 games and scored 19 goals for Maidenhead in the conference.

Mani is fair enough, he hasn't ever torn up any trees in the league so it's debatable and time will tell.. But letting Orsi leave, and not playing him when we had him, was an appalling decision by Hurst.

Not only was he a decent goal scorer, but his performances in teh cup showed he's also a grafter and a pretty clever player all round.

Totally agree about Orsi. Letting him go was crazy. As insane as letting Podge go when we did.

Quoted from RonMariner

Totally agree about Orsi. Letting him go was crazy. As insane as letting Podge go when we did.

Know I’ll get slated for this but Podge was a proven goalscorer with us, Orsi showed promise at times. I definitely think this is a case of somebody who performed well in a few cup games, to me didn’t look anything much in the league and had gone elsewhere and done well and is now hero worshipped for some reason.

Quoted from tashee69

Know I’ll get slated for this but Podge was a proven goalscorer with us, Orsi showed promise at times. I definitely think this is a case of somebody who performed well in a few cup games, to me didn’t look anything much in the league and had gone elsewhere and done well and is now hero worshipped for some reason.

Notwithstanding his amazing performances up front on his own against Luton, I think the reason PH didn’t play him more is being a one up front doesn’t suit Orsi, he looked decent when he was paired with Lloyd near the end of the season. It was the second biggest PH blunder of the close season,  compounded by replacing him with Pyke. Rose / Orsi Rose/Wilson Orsi / Wilson would have been a very solid set of options, but PH I suspect was planning 4-3-3 with Rose Vernam and Eisa or 4-4-1-1 probably with Gav behind Rose, so couldn’t guarantee Orsi better than third choice

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Notwithstanding his amazing performances up front on his own against Luton, I think the reason PH didn’t play him more is being a one up front doesn’t suit Orsi, he looked decent when he was paired with Lloyd near the end of the season. It was the second biggest PH blunder of the close season,  compounded by replacing him with Pyke. Rose / Orsi Rose/Wilson Orsi / Wilson would have been a very solid set of options, but PH I suspect was planning 4-3-3 with Rose Vernam and Eisa or 4-4-1-1 probably with Gav behind Rose, so couldn’t guarantee Orsi better than third choice

He was also victim to the fact he was the only available striker we had for the cup and we couldn't risk him getting injured. Every other striker was cup tied.

Quoted from RonMariner

Totally agree about Orsi. Letting him go was crazy. As insane as letting Podge go when we did.

We offered podge a kit of fish to stay Ron I think we ( fenty ) insulted his efforts tbh we don’t pay the money and even now don’t.  Ryan Bennett was offered 2 kits of fish to come here in the summer Cambridge offered 3 times more obviously a no brainer for him

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

We offered podge a kit of fish to stay Ron I think we ( fenty ) insulted his efforts tbh we don’t pay the money and even now don’t.  Ryan Bennett was offered 2 kits of fish to come here in the summer Cambridge offered 3 times more obviously a no brainer for him

Well with the cup money blown by Hurst I guess it will be down to 1 1/2 kits this time!

Quoted from diehardmariner

He was out of contract at Tranmere, we had the option of signing him as in talks were held.  Hurst was clear to him, you won't be coming here as first choice.  Mani wanted at least the chance to be the main man but it was made clear it wasn't going to happen.

Hindsight's great.  Season after Mani left we struggled to even field strikers never mind effective ones.  Taylor looked absolutely broken, McAtee couldn't get going, Simmonds and Pepple were useless and Orsi...well, let's not go there.

Would Mani have cut it in League Two?  History suggests not but his whole career was unspectacular prior to rocking up for us.  3 goals in 26 games in the Conference North for Salford.  4 goals in 29 appearances in the same league for Kiddy.  He had 18 career goals to his name before we loaned him, 7 of those were in the FA Trophy!  Maybe everything just clicked for him here and he certainly hasn't looked back.  

We'll never know if he would have been any good last season for us but I'm confident he would have been better than some of the loan lads we had last season.  Equally so persisting with Taylor as your main man was a bad move.   But you can see why Hurst didn't fancy it.  A purple patch for us, plus lets face it if you take away his goals at Notts County and Wrexham away and no-one is really waxing lyrical about him anymore than Tristan Abrahams, probably isn't enough to buck the trend from the previous 9 years of football.  

I suspect we'll find out next season if Mani can cut it at this level.  23 goals that finished midtable is impressive and certainly will have put him on a few League Two radars.

Wouldn't "you'll have to fight to secure a regular first choice starting place" be a better message to give to a potential signing?

Agreed.  My following sentence summed up the situation though.  From what I was told, Hurst was very clear to Mani that he would only be back up.

Hurst was notorious for having his favourites and not budging on it.  Switching between strikers who we may/may not regret keeping, Orsi is a classic example of Hurst having made his mind up and not budging.  It didn't matter what he did in his fleeting chances, Taylor was always viewed as Hurst's main man even though he was painfully past it.

Quoted from Captain Sensible

Wouldn't "you'll have to fight to secure a regular first choice starting place" be a better message to give to a potential signing?

Probably, but Hurst only saw him as a backup option and Mani already had offers from elsewhere that could promise him the football he wanted. Taylor and McAtee were leading the line and that was that.