forevertufc wrote:Sorry Jeff got great respect for you as a forum poster and not meaning this to have a go at you, but come on we really have to get over this every god damn player "is he to expensive for us" Jeez, if on Janaury the 1st last year Aaron Downes name came up as a replacment how many of you hand on heart would have thought no way even if we could afford, but we could and he did sign for us.
Despite some of the pie in sky figures you often read on forums about players in league 2 are earning, very few indeed are on anything like £2k a week, he is out of work now and Torquay would not be a big move in terms of re-location, unless there is a club out there prepared to offer big money then have a word and see if he would come, you never know.
I know what you are saying, we should be able to afford players like this. But for me - and with the greatest respect to you too - this is the sort of rationale that I'd associated with the "Football Manager" view on how L2 actually works.
I've seen Jeff Goulding play for Fisher Athletic, Bournemouth and Cheltenham (scored the equaliser against us 2 years ago didn't he?) and he is definitely a capable player. Quite a big guy, definitely in the Rene mould but not quite as powerful. He's at the critical point of his career really where he needs regular football - but even if we had offered something to him it would likely be nothing more than a deal to the end of the season to warm the bench in case Rene gets injured or suspended.
A player like Goulding is likely to draw attention from teams like Newport or FGR - teams where he would be likely to start, not need to relocate and earn the same amount as he would with us.
We've made it plainly obvious that we're after backup for Rene, and Goulding almost seems to be too good to settle for that and wouldn't represent good value for money. The only sort of player who would accept the kind of deal we're offering is someone who really is in the last chance saloon, like Logan. Or to get some kid on loan who is heavily subsidised by his parent club. Its the economy of a lower L2 side unfortunately.
(Of course, I could end up being proved wrong!)