Triangle wrote:
He was registered with the English FA as a player with a contract mutually cancelled by Wycombe, but still registered with the English FA. He needed an ITC. I believe the regulations were changed for this season regarding ITC and I believe there was a genuine misunderstanding regarding the ITC.
The downside was that we had Hayes out for a period on a reduced contract. The upside was that he trained with us as a member of the squad and was itching to get on the pitch. The results speak for themselves. We have had Crocked players, or unselected player effectively do the same for much longer periods of time.
If we had not signed Paul then we may not have picked him up at all and be without the 4 goals.
Yes. But he is a registered player and couldn't play because somebody at Newport County did not know the regulations. My understanding is that he was registered with with Hemel. I don't see why Hayes would have thanked County for not cancelling his contract if he hadn't misled County.
So if your contention is correct County's behaviour is worse. Not only has someone failed to do their job properly, not only have the club misled the supporters on this, but in addition they have tried to pass some of the blame on an entirely innocent party.
Finally you are quite right about the signing of Hayes potentially being a good thing. Unfortunately this is a nuanced argument about accountability. Not about the merits of Paul Hayes.
Edit.
I should point out that I don't think that the third limb, that is Newport County AFC trying to pass some of the blame onto Paul Hayes as an innocent third party is true. I merely say that if Triangle's contention is true that would be the case.
The websites of Hemel Hempstead FC, the official Vanarama National League, Transfermarkt.com, Wikipedia, soccerbase.com and others all have Paul signing for Hemel Hempstead on 22nd September 2017. We could all be making fools of ourselves and Spencer might be right in that Newport County have behaved worse than I thought.
However I believe that it is Triangle who is wrong. As ever I leave it to the discerning readers of this board to make their own minds up.