Akinfenwa....

[Reg Smeeton]

http://torquayunited.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=972&p=2&stid=8383035

  SSP's replacement?  No way good enough yet for  Div 2.

[unclemark]

He would be an alright signing, but he is nowhere near as good as SSP.

[walrus]

He would be an alright signing, but he is nowhere near as good as SSP.

Not with an attitude like that he wouldn't.

Last season he was playing for Boston United and hardly setting "League 2" alight, and he's done nothing in this division.  Indeed, I thought they'd be questionmarks about whether he could survive in this league let alone move up it.

Yet another example of a distinct lack of loyalty from a professional footballer - I think the contract laws should be stiffened up to stop this jumping ship ala Grant Smith.  No more bosman ruling - instead compensation fees should be paid!

[DMR]

I think he'd be a good signing.

He's got pace, strenght, trickery and often beats his man. He showed that against us at Torquay in sunny February, he pissed all over O'Hanlon in that second half.

If the bloke could finish, he'd play for Man Utd.

[Kinky Tom]

I've watched all his goals from last season on STFC world, and if SSP does go, then we could do a lot worse.

[Simon Pieman]

No Bosman ruling? How would a club like us survive?

[Asher]

Parkin hasnt left yet so lets wait and see

[walrus]

No Bosman ruling? How would a club like us survive?

Because we'd earn money from the players who did leave?  The bosman ruling is only recent - I'm sure someone has the date but I think I'm right in saying 80s/90s when some Belgian footballer had a contract dispute that changed the laws regarding this.

[Simon Pieman]

Yeah but we would have to pay for footballers joining us. I think the rule now is fine, also doesn't allow clubs to steal talented youngsters without a fee

[DV]

No Bosman ruling? How would a club like us survive?

Because we'd earn money from the players who did leave?

but we would have to pay out on everyone we signed...

[walrus]

No Bosman ruling? How would a club like us survive?

Because we'd earn money from the players who did leave?

but we would have to pay out on everyone we signed...

But we'd earn money from the players who did leave?

I.e.:  Players Who Joined + Money From Players Who Left = 0 (if players of similar quality)

That way a team would not be shat on from a great height by bigger teams when a youngster is poached and they get bugger all for them.  Leigh Mills isn't an example however, as I think we got the good end of that deal.  At 16 it is impossible to say whether or not a player will make it - look at all the supposed stars on older versions of Championship Manager who have dwindled to nothing in real life.  (Cherno Samba anyone?!?!   )

Or am I missing something here?  I have a habbit of being a bit dense...

[Simon Pieman]

It will all depend on how good the player is Walrus. He could be really good when he joins but get an injury 1 month later that rules him out for the rest of the season. The likelyhood of getting the same money back compared to what was paid would be negligible in this case.

A team such as ourselves, with very large debts and unable to offer anything longer than one year deals will suffer, because we would be unable to gamble on a player that costs a fee. The Lloyd Opara's of the world would also make us even poorer, they are likely to leave for less than what we paid out. Also, if a player such as Igoe left now, we would also receive less than what we paid out, because the player has aged.

It could also be said that if a player is taken on and is improved by way of experience and coaching then a team could actually get more money than the initial fee. A team such as ourselves, with limited coaching experience would be very unlikely to do this on a regular basis however.

If you are looking for example, Smith and Parkin are probably the two that would have gaines us money; Heywood, Howard, Hewlett etc. would have lost us money. It would depend on the quality and numbers of of such players to balance things out.

That said, the bosman rule has created this huge growth in player wages so it could be argued that this could counteract the fees. The issue is so complicated you cannot put it into a black and white perspective. For every advantage there is a disadvantage etc. etc..

[Ben Wah Balls]

Don't think Lloyd Opara was out of contract anyway. Though we spent practically nothing on him anyway as he was on very low wages and agreed to terminate his contract after a couple of months and we paid for him with a friendly.

You did still get frees before the Bosman ruling. Hard to say how the Bosman has affected us really, with King we could probably make a profit but then we're likely to anyway as long as Parkin doesn't leave on a free.

[Simon Pieman]

Wasn't really being specific to the situation of Opara, just saying that type of player would make us poorer. I'm not really sure what would happen if the Bosman ruling was scrapped. I think that clubs such as ourselves who rely on free transfers may get crippled - that is my personal view anyway.

Anyway, back to the real issue  :-))(

I suppose Akinfenwa wouldn't be too bad a signing. We need to face facts, Parkin will not be replaceable with a player of his quality, we will basically have to lower our standards. Not sure Akinfenwa is the type of player we should be taking on though.

[sonicyouth]

If we lose Parkin then I feel we'd be best off trying to find a player who will partner Roberts and be capable of scoring 10-15 goals a season as well. I'm pretty confident that if Christian's fully fit and regains his pace he'll score at least 15 goals next season.