If you do sign Porter, it's safe to say that there will be a lot of annoyed Hartlepool fans (myself included) as he's currently one of our best players and it will be a black mark against our manager (Danny Wilson) who seems to rate Joel lower than the fans do. The feeling is mutual all round - a lot of us don't rate Wilson (a subject of much debate is whether he should stay or go) and letting Joel go would confirm him as an idiot in my view.
I noticed one or two comments indicating doubts about him - well, in terms of ability it depends on what standard the A-League is and having not seen anything of it I can't comment. In terms of the standard Pools play at though it might surprise you if you've not seen much League 1 soccer - with the number of foreign stars in the Premiership, better players than ever before are moving to lower levels, and more teams than ever are fully pro - all 92 of the Prem/Football League clubs, most if not all of the Conference, and even one or two below that, so not far off 120 clubs. If you get to see much football from the Championship (ie the level West Brom, Wolves, Coventry etc are currently at, just below the EPL) - I'm not alone in thinking that Porter could have played Championship level had he stayed fit. He almost did it with us, as we got to the Playoff Final to get into the Championship in his best year before losing in extra time to Sheffield Wednesday. Porter had been half of arguably the best partnership in the division that season - he scored a few himself but also set up a good number for Adam Boyd, who netted over 30 that season. Porter and Boyd were both out the following season, and that (with an inept coach) was what saw us relegated the year after.
For comparison in terms of standard, Shane Smeltz's career in the UK is not a patch on Porter's acheivements: Mansfield are a division below us (and were at the time), Halifax are two divisions down, and AFC Wimbledon are about four or five divisions down. Porter has (when fit) consistently played at a higher level and been successful. Put it this way - I hope he stays at Hartlepool, but if he comes to the windy city then be prepared to be pleasantly surprised. He's not a marquee player, but he's a good player with the ball at his feet....
Now, if you're interested in Robbie Elliot let us know and we'll have a whip round for his air fare - living on his past glories and currently being kept out of the side by someone that's really a midfielder.....