Because managers like to have such big squads now compared to the past and the going rate of pay that many lower league full time pro players seem to want is absolutely ridiculous and obscene, surely replacing a few full time bench warmers or squad numbers with 2 or 3 decent part timers/semi pros would be a viable financial option seeing as we are now destined to become an established non league club for the forseeable future.
How much money would part timers be on in comparison to our lowest earning full timers I dont know but if we could save a bit of money on the squad in general and invest a bit more in a few key positions establishing a good mixture of youth and experience whilst at least trying to create a decent spine for the team surely it is an idea worth exploring.
This is from the Hargreaves thread -
wodger of awabia » Yesterday, 15:00
Yes, keep the youngsters, dump the dead wood, and even sign a few part timers that are interested in winning games, playing football & securing a full time contract for themselves. IMVHO.
So what do you fellow supporters think is the idea abhorrent and sacrilege or as we dont have the resources and thanks to seeing the drain that certain so called full time pros have put on the club in recent times is it a natural progression and inevitable. It cant hurt that much surely as we have loads of players down the years who werent really deserving of being professional anyway. There must be some semi pros out there that we could use, who could at least give a decent performance and do a job for us in a game without breaking the bank.by chunkygull » Yesterday, 22:02
Absolutely agree with this! This is something I have thought about for quite some time. Hopefully there would never be a need for the club to go part time, but I see no reason as to why we cant use part time/semi-pro players to fill some squad places as opposed to having quite a few so-called full time professionals on a hefty wedge of money, not giving good value, not pulling their weight, not breaking into the first team and being a drain on the club.
Many who feel they are in the know have commented on club finances, how much some of our players earn, how much on average professional footballers in league 2/conference earn or what the going rate is. The club needs to save money and the standard some of the so-called professional footballers we have attracted in recent times has been poor. Are all the available full time pros out there absolutely that much better than some part time players. Weighing up the financial implications having passengers in the squad or paying somebody less for doing the same thing its surely a move worth looking at. Would it really be a big difference in quality or the teams chances to have a part time player who is on a less money coming off the bench during a game, giving it their all for the last twenty minutes or do we keep on a dis-interested so-called pro who you might get a performance out of and he gets hundreds of pounds more a week for doing pretty much the same thing. Most footballers only work part time hours anyway dont they.
Personally there have been many players at this club down the years who come on lets face it havent really been good enough to be called pro footballers and should be done under the trade description act. So many you look at and think how on earth are they a pro. There must be some semi-pro players out there I suspect who are probably better than some of the crap we have had in recent times.
Watching some early round FA cup games this year of league 2 clubs vs part time clubs, to be honest there wasnt much in it, granted a lot of part time players were probably playing out of their skin but there are a few rough diamonds in there that being attached to a full time pro club would enhance their talent and they would at least be good enough squad players. In the games I saw there wasnt really much in it when it came to skill or technique it is only really near the end of these types of matches that the real tell is the fitness levels, this is where the difference between semi and full shows, thats all. So, would a player coming off the bench for 15-20 minutes at a fraction of the cost and doing the same job be so bad?
Some points have been made on here in recent past that some very decent players dont become full time pros because they can earn more working a normal job and playing part time, why dont we use players like this? Some have also stated that the difference in quality of football or footballers from conference to the next few leagues down which are often part timers isnt that big, so why not use a few of these part-timers in our squad to save some money and help us live within our means and cut our cloth accordingly. Is it really too much of a gamble, would it really be that bad, is it just football snobbery not to try it?
With the ridiculous money that even conference and league 2 footballers earn now and yes I have read on here what the going rate is (outrageous) and some of ours are supposedly on what is considered peanuts in comparison (still too bloody much), but if it puts the club in financial straits it just isnt worth it and I would rather TUFC didnt pay that sort of money and tried something else. It has to change, somethings got to give and I cant see why we cant at least look at a couple of part timers as an option. When you look at the amount of money we have chucked down the drain on players who have barely given part time service even when fit it must be worth considering.
