Former Greek keeper signs

Czarcasm wrote:

£250 a week equates to less than the minimum wage!

Assuming footballers work 37.5 hours a week?

Many players in the Conference are used to needing work outside of football, especially for semi professional clubs.

But even if you were to say Bittner was on £400 a week, or even £500 - it is still likely to have saved the club money over paying two keepers on starting GK salaries.

Edited to add:

Just seen this from Bittner's twitter.

Quote :

Honestly is there any job on offer on any of the job search sites for someone with zero qualifications and no experience? I can't find it!!

I think it is fair to say he wasn't overly picky with his contract offer given that he was having a tough time finding work outside of football.

Czarcasm wrote:

£250 a week equates to less than the minimum wage!

to be fair this is pafc they ould try anything to not spend cash

Looks like no league midfielder wants to join, have salisbury got a freebie midfielder who nearly played a full second half for Torquay ten years ago we could sign? coming together nicely 

Same old story- players not wanting to move down here or wanting higher wages.

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We could probably afford a few of the Brazilian midfield after last nights performance.   

Santos Gaia?

Oh yes please :-D

Blah blah blah...location...wages. Yes wages are important but surely if you're talking to someone that's the first hurdle you clear. After that it's up to the club to sell the area and the vision etc. I know that might be funny to those on hear but surely it's a self - fulfilling prophecy if all the player sees are people moaning about the location, travel times and how isolated the SW is.

I am so feckin tired of that 'location' bullshit.

Maybe the underpinning reason is that the club has zilch, zero ambition other then the upper reaches of L1?

Argyle boss John Sheridan admits to 'knock-backs' in search for new central midfielder.

MANAGER John Sheridan is ‘working hard’ to add a new central midfielder to his squad at Plymouth Argyle.

Sheridan confirmed there had been setbacks in his search for a replacement for former captain Conor Hourihane.

The Pilgrims’ boss admitted one player – who he would not name – had turned down a season-long loan because of the location of Plymouth.

Sheridan has made seven new signings this summer and his top priority now is to recruit a goalscoring midfielder.

It follows the £200,000 transfer of Hourihane – who netted nine times for Argyle last season – to League One outfit Barnsley in June.

Sheridan told Herald Sport: “There have been a few knock-backs but we will carry on.

“The lad who I thought I was going to get, the position where we are in the country has put him off.

“It’s a shame because I would have liked him to come.

“He would have been a loan deal for a year but he’s a player from up north and wants to stay at his club.

“We will just keep working hard. The centre of midfield is an area I want to fill and get competition for places in there.”

Herald Sport understands Sheridan also wants to add a right-sided defender to his squad and a loan deal for a young player from a Premier League club is on the cards.

That would provide cover and competition for Argyle’s 2013/14 young player-of-the-year Curtis Nelson and right-back Kelvin Mellor, a close season recruit from Crewe Alexandra.

The location of Plymouth has always posed a problem for Argyle in attracting players and Sheridan understands why that is the case.

He said: “If you are married, it’s very difficult to move to a different area.

“In football now you are not going to stay at a club for five, six, seven years. That’s just the way it has gone.

“If you knew you were going to settle somewhere you could uproot and move the family, but it’s very difficult nowadays.

“I understand it when people have got family and children, but one or two have said ‘yes’ to us and we will carry on.

“That’s just life. You get your knock-backs but you keep trying to get the right player you want.”

Meanwhile, Sheridan will name Argyle’s new captain at the start of next week.

That will be before the first pre-season game, away to Tavistock at Langsford Park on Tuesday, July 15 (7.30pm).

Former Hartlepool United defender and captain Peter Hartley, another of Sheridan’s summer captures, is expected to take on the role.

Sheridan has already decided who it will be, but is not ready to say who it is yet.

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Plymouth last stop before America.......years back with poorer transport links players used to come.

Maybe Brent should sort the Airport situation out.....for a City of a quarter of a million it is a must for an area cut-off from the main centres of population and commerce.

Punchdrunk wrote:

I am so feckin tired of that 'location' bullshit.

Maybe the underpinning reason is that the club has zilch, zero ambition other then the upper reaches of L1?

I never understand why top L1 OR L2 players will not move down here.

It is a nice area to live, the weather is always on the ok side much of the year. Exeter and Bristol are only up the road if the players fancy doing some designer shopping.

It has to be money and what they are asking for.

zyph wrote:

Plymouth last stop before America.......years back with poorer transport links players used to come.

Maybe Brent should sort the Airport situation out.....for a City of a quarter of a million it is a must for an area cut-off from the main centres of population and commerce.

H cant sort out his other countless projects without that good idea never happening.

Maybe Brent should expand his building portfolio.....  ...  

Getting worried now.

We needed to replace Luke Young, now we need to replace Hourihane. And Sheridan is only talking about replacing Hourihane.

An injury to the centre mid who comes in, or to Cox, and we are severely restricted. Blizzard doesn't have the mobility, Wotton doesn't have the legs or the skill. Neither are up to filling in for a few months in a two man centre midfield. Meanwhile we sold our best centre mid and let the young prospect go for free, getting rid of Gurrieri too.

Signing Cox was good though, but Sheridan's having a bit of a mare with his midfield shake up. I've got a bad feeling we are going to end up with one or two turkeys.

Walton is available  

Nelson has also been used as a defensive midfielder in the past (not under JS I think) but agreed with ejh our Midfield is looking lacking on numbers.

Chemical Ali wrote:

Walton is available  

Nelson has also been used as a defensive midfielder in the past (not under JS I think) but agreed with ejh our Midfield is looking lacking on numbers.

he signed for Stevenage Chem

VillageGreen wrote:

Punchdrunk wrote:

I am so feckin tired of that 'location' bullshit.

Maybe the underpinning reason is that the club has zilch, zero ambition other then the upper reaches of L1?

I never understand why top L1 OR L2 players will not move down here.

It is a nice area to live, the weather is always on the ok side much of the year. Exeter and Bristol are only up the road if the players fancy doing some designer shopping.

It has to be money and what they are asking for.

Players will play on the moon if the move benefits their career ambitions and/or the pay is good. While Plymouth has many good points its fast becoming an desereted island as transport links arent good enough coming in or out of the area and there is nothing in terms of attraction in shops and hangouts (thanks tudor evans) so its never going to appeal to a ambitious player or its high maintaince wag to come here to be paid less and have nothing to do other than nandos in his free time.

sort it out PPC  make your ocean city thing work

Sheridan seemed to have no trouble convincing signings before Hourihane left.

Hopefully it is just a case that JS is aiming for the stars at the moment, for players who have offers from League One clubs (or other decent League Two clubs), where they don't have to move so far for it.

But as Branston has written, we might have a dozen players start coming back to us after realising their stock isn't that high. That Bristol City have decided against them, and Yeovil have reduced their offer by £500 a week. Whereas before they turned down our offer before, waiting to assess their options, they might be a little clearer on what the best choice is - a two year contract to get 'Plymouth' out of League Two. And as Branston says, that is when our offer goes down £300 a week.

Players/girlfriends want to be nearer the bright lights of London/Manchester etc.

When they get married/families etc....relocating/schools become a problem.....a player can never be sure how long he can stay at a club.....travelling after a match to see their family can be expensive and time consuming.

Plymouth needs an airport and a better train system to attract not only pro-footballers but commerce/business....to create wealth.....which then might....cough cough..... spill over into PAFC...... 

I don't really see it as a problem.

If a player can't deal with a 5 hour commute to London, a few times a month, then they really aren't hungry enough to be playing for PAFC. Similarly, if they want to be like Puncheon and in London three times a week, then again, they aren't focused on the job.

Players like Lewis Alessandra and Conor Hourihane who came to Argyle as determined young men, didn't see it as a problem, and they show it on the pitch. They are hungry for themselves and their careers, and would have pitched up in a tent off the A38 to be starting for a club like Argyle.

I don't want Argyle to be pleading to big timers like Alan Gow and Paul Hayes, begging them to come. Offering them beyond their value to be here. If they see long bus journeys as an issue, then they aren't made of the right stuff.

Hourihane was totally isolated from his family at Plymouth - yet in one hour's drive to Exeter, and 90 mins on a plane to Cork and he can be having afternoon tea with his nan if he wanted, on any given day. Same for any player all over the UK and even France. God help these pampered players if they had to play in the MLS, China or Russia.

Walton used to beat the London fans onto the train at times.....especially if he'd been sent off or subbed.

Seriously? Has the man no shame

We need to cover the centre mid position by loaning a prem/CCC youngster in the meantime we need to sign a good young prospect to bring on ourselves so that we can sell him when he gets good, and so on and so on.

zyph wrote:

Walton used to beat the London fans onto the train at times.....especially if he'd been sent off or subbed.

  

I laughed thinking that was a joke, even funnier if you're serious....

Which players would refuse to play on here


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