Chris Turner was delighted today to be able to announce the signing of Andy Monkhouse after the winger accepted the contract offer made to him by the Club.
Monkhouse was at The Vic this afternoon to put pen to paper and Turner admitted he was pleased to have once again secured the 28-year-old's services;
"I think it is a massive signing for us this summer," Turner told hartlepoolunited.co.uk.
"There are key players for us in the team and we all know who they are and Andy is one of them.
"These players are always going to attract attention from other clubs and there were lots of rumours about Andy and I have been asked a lot of questions from other people in the game about him so I was thinking at the back of my mind that Andy may not be here next season.
"I spoke to him at the end of the season and made him an offer, I told him where we plan to go in the future with the Club - a Club he enjoys being at and we're delighted he has signed."
And Turner insisted that players who did re-sign for Pools must show the enthusiasm expected of new signings,
"It is important that players who re-sign for the Club come back with freshness in their mind - we don't want them just coming back because they had nowhere else to go and it was easy to stay at Hartlepool and pick up their money.
"We want players who show energy and enthusiasm and the right attitude to strive on and be better.
"We don't want another season like the last one - we want to be positive and push on and with people like Andy Monkhouse in our team, we have a good chance of being in that situation."
Turner is spending the summer addressing key areas of the team for improvement and sorting out the wings was a key priority for him.
"The wide areas are very important and we know we need to get more crosses in from the left hand side.
"I've had a chat with Andy about the role I think he should be playing for the team and he is obviously happy with that.
"His game is about more to us than crossing the ball, I think we could have a few more goals from him as well.
"Even Andy Monkhouse has room for improvement and I am sure with the right people around him, we will see an even better Andy Monkhouse next season."
Monkhouse is something of a flair player, able to excite the crowd with his fancy footwork and The Director of Sport stated this would be a feature of the team for next season,
"I think it is what people like to see - he can light up a game within seconds and I like people like that in the team.
"Adam Body is similar - I know Adam is not going to be charging round and chasing every lost ball but I know he can turn a game with a bit of magic and I am pretty certain that is what people come to see.
"We know that something can happen at any stage in the game - in a very tight game or a poor game, a moment of magic can turn it around and that can win you games and it is that kind of football that will get the fans in to watch us play.
"That is what players like Andy Monkhouse can certainly bring to the game."
