Exclusive: Former Sunderland and Manchester United man snubbed by Raj Singh at Hartlepool United
The former Sunderland favourite was once snubbed by Hartlepool United owner Raj Singh...
Former Sunderland goalkeeper Chris Turner has revealed details of a Raj Singh snub at Hartlepool United.
The 66-year-old ex-player started his career at Sheffield Wednesday before moving to Sunderland in 1978, where he would make 224 appearances in all competitions before sealing a transfer to Manchester United after six seasons on Wearside.
Three campaigns followed at Old Trafford before a return to Sheffield Wednesday for another three seasons in 1988. Turner also enjoyed a loan spell at Leeds United and a stint at Lincoln City before hanging up his gloves in 1994.
After his playing days had ended, Turner embarked on a managerial career and twice took charge of Pools between 1999 and 2002 and 2008 and 2010. Turner also managed Sheffield Wednesday, Leyton Orient and Stockport County.
Hartlepool United are currently 16th in the National League under manager Darren Sarll and have experienced some tough times under current owner Singh, including relegation from League Two in 2022–23 after two seasons in the fourth tier.
“I offered my services to them free of charge but Raj didn’t take it up two years ago,” Turner explained when asked about the current situation at Hartlepool United and whether he had been contacted for advice by the club in recent seasons.
“When you're changing manager every season, it's not helpful” Turner added. “It's not been helpful. They haven't had a settled period now for a good ten years. I mean, they've had one successful season, then the manager left and went to Stockport. They haven't really settled down prior to him or post him with a settled club. It's all up in the air. It's disappointing to see.”
Pools made the surprising decision to allow former Sunderland hero Kevin Phillips to leave at the end of last season with the aforementioned managerial merry-go-around a distinctive feature of the National League club in recent campaigns.
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“He's just starting out in management,” Turner added on Phillips. “He did well at South Shields, had a spell at Hartlepool, and now he's over at Fylde. I wish him well. He'll learn from these experiences from Hartlepool. From my point of view, they obviously had a reason why they didn't appoint him full-time at the end of last season. And they went elsewhere. That's their prerogative.”