Race for a striker

[PlainmoorRoar]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21791193

plymouth also looking for a front man, will be interesting if we get one too

who would you rather go to us or them?

[ferrarilover]

The real answer, of course, is Plymouth, because footballers aren't bright enough to look beyond the name above the door. However, Torquay is where they should come. Plymouth is a club is absolute disarray, still. they have had almost 4 years of this now, financial irregularity, managerial uncertainty, relegation and struggle both on and off the pitch. They have an incredibly difficult run in and are playing in front of 6000 disgruntled fans every other Saturday. Players turn up expecting to lose because that's all they've done for the last 4 seasons, supporters turn up expecting to see a loss for exactly the same reason. Plymouth are a dead duck, they are like Portsmouth, far too far gone to be saved. Players going there will be immersed in a culture of doom and gloom and negativity and will be joining a rudderless ship, devoid of any real idea of how to arrest the slide which started so long ago.

Coming to Torquay, they'll come to a well run club with a few slightly miffed but ultimately understanding fans. They'll meet a squad who are rocking from the last couple of months but can point to a great deal of Playoff and Cup success in their very recent past. They can also reference a great deal of progress and some totally unavoidable upheaval as the cause of our problems. Unlike our green neighbours, we aren't in the poo because we are a liability unto ourselves, we are where we are due to an unfortunate combination of off field investment and a "poorly" manager.

At the end of the day, it's a choice between going to a club in terminal decline, or going to a club suffering from an unfortunate turn of events but with huge prospect of very great things to come thanks to wise and timely investment in infrastructure. Think of it this way, Mr Messi, would you rather play in front of the nicest STAND in League 2, or the nicest GROUND in the Conference?

I know where I'd be heading...

Matt.

[Yellow4life]

^Summed up perfectly...

[AustrianAndyGull]

Great post Matt and totally agree with it all but you forgot the one singlemost important thing. MONEY. And the fact that they will get more at Plymouth than at Torquay.

[ferrarilover]

I did consider money, Smif, but rather assumed that their pay would remain at whatever they got at their parent club. I don't know if loan deals incur a 'relocation bonus' or some such nonsense, but I'm happy to be reliably informed if anyone does know for sure...

Matt.

[hector]

Is there anywhere that actually suggests we are looking to sign a striker and whether this would be the same one Plymouth might try and sign?

[Dave]

Difficult to say with loans deals, not allways the case that every loan deal a club does is on the same terms. A loan fee can apply however not allways, you can end paying anything form 0-100% of that players wages, relocation costs, maybe, maybe not depending on the deal done.

This whole thing about Plymouth being a bigger club, bigger gates so can pay bigger wages is a bit of a missconception to me, Plymouth do pay bigger wages than us no doubt whether they can afford to in reality or long term remains to be seen.

Bigger ground bigger running costs, bigger wage bill, bigger this that and the other, does anyone really think that their current 6,000 gates are actually helping them to break even let alone make money, because I doubt it is for one minute.

[ferrarilover]

Didn't Jimmy Brent say something 6 months or so ago that they needed a certain gate figure to break even? I can't remember if he named the figure (I think not), or if he merely stated that they needed "just a few hundred more" or some such other thing. I remember thinking at the time that it seemed like a bit if a marketing ploy to get some more people through the door, but if it were true, they would be well short of that figure now.

Matt.

[SuperNickyWroe]

im sure it was 8000 matt.

[ferrarilover]

Jesus, 2000 people at £20 a pop, that's £40,000 a week short on tickets alone. Add in assorted matchday revenue and you're up to £60,000. Over, say, 20 games where they've been below 8000, that's £1,200,000 in matchday revenue they are behind what they need. Ok, they make back some of that with the odd bumper crowd, but overall, they've got to be looking at a deficit of £1,000,000. For a club without a pot to piss in, that's a shed load of cash. What were they paying that bloody donkey Purse, three grand a week? No wonder they shipped him out. Without knowing the facts, I'd hate to make too bold a statement here, but Plymouth really do seem to need to get their house in order and sharpish. The Conference is more likely than not for them next year and they need to come to the realisation that they haven't the squad or the finances to make a realistic challenge in that division. We were lucky, we had just enough money, just enough luck and just enough talent to see us through in an era when the Conference was relatively strong, but absolutely nothing like the nightmare scenario it is today. If no one at Argyle is planning for being mid-table in the Conference this time next year and playing in front of 3500 people and cutting their cloth accordingly, then it could spell the end of Argyle as we know them.

In short, Mr Messi, if you're reading this (and I am absolutely confident that you are), it's us you want. If you get to a very pretty bridge which seems to lead to a foreign land of strange accents and afternoon tea, you've gone about 40 miles too far down the A30.

Matt.

[Neal]

Most would choose Plymouth because its a bigger club, bigger ground, probably more money.

[Yellow4life]

They don't have any money but they are talking about a hotel, ice rink and a hotel...

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/New-gra ... z2NhrRm61O

[Scott Brehaut]

So pleased that our board aren't talking about trivial matters like plastic pitches and instead investing in the team