Hartlepool: Gamble form is no surprise says boss
Joe Gamble's electric start to his Hartlepool United career has come as no surprise to Chris Turner.
The Irish midfielder has wasted no time in settling into life at Victoria Park after his transfer from Cork City in January. After a debut to forget against MK Dons, Gamble has shaken off the rust from a three-month break and provided a composed presence in the middle of the park with some much needed passing quality.
But director of sport Turner expected big things from Gamble.
"Joe has done very well but it doesn't surprise me," said Turner, who will be at Brunton Park tonight to see Pools' next two opponents Carlisle and Huddersfield go head-to-head.
"When we've seen him play before coming here and speaking to a lot of influential people in Irish football, they all said he was the best player in the Irish League."
"You can believe it because he's done extremely well.
"As I've said before, there are a lot of good players in the League of Ireland who could certainly play League One football."
Gamble's arrival has provided a better balance to the Pools midfield with Tony Sweeney ending his 10-month goal drought with the injury-time equaliser against Leeds United.
Turner expects Sweeney to start finding the net regularly and believes Gamble is the perfect foil for the 26-year-old.
"Tony has been very unfortunate on a few occasions this season not to score," said Turner.
"It's unreal for Tony not to score for this length of time during the season, given the amount of games he has taken part in.
"But I'm hoping he goes on a little scoring run now and that will give him some confidence and hopefully he starts scoring on a regular basis.
"When you have two midfield players running forward, it leaves the back four and the midfield areas exposed.
"Joe sits in there, gets it, gives it and keep the midfield area ticking over and allows someone else in midfield to push on and try to create and score.
"That's really Tony's forte, scoring goals from midfield."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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