Geograhical Location Excuses....

[andyr1963]

Brutal truth time?

Plymouth is absolutely fantastic if you want fabulous scenery, beautiful countryside, quiet beaches, open rugged moorland, in fact the outdoor life is second to none. Draw a circle of twelve miles around the city center and you will find the grounds of Saltram, Burrator reservoir, Whitsand beach (say hello to Freathy :greensmile: ) The River Tamar / Lyhner / Plym. An amazing coastline (Have a walk around Wembury / Newton Ferres / Mount Edgcombe etc it is amazingly beautiful.
We have no noisy jets taking off at all hours disturbing the peace, we have no serious M5 / A303 traffic noise generated by concrete road surfaces, tranquil beauty all around.

What young footballer would not want all of that? :think:

A bloke in his twenties (generalising here) wants good nightclubs, great clothing shops, quality spare time amenities that probably don't involve beautiful countryside (except maybe golf). If he is on decent money then perhaps some decent garages selling flash sports cars. Plymouth hasn't got any of these things and never will have, well not in the foreseeable future.

Players will go to all the other grim northern sh1th0les because it is a far shorter distance to the better quality distractions London/ Manchester / Birmingham name your wealthier city here.

Specialist quality outlets / stores are few and far between in Plymouth. The best clothing store is? The nearest upmarket car showroom is? (Bentley, Ferrari, Lotus, Porsche, etc) Where do I go to see the big rock / pop concerts?

This is not to detract from what Plymouth has to offer, I love it here, my home town etc have always been happy here BUT if I was an outsider coming down to live here :eh:

John Sheridan's mrs doesn't want to live down here, consequently John Sheridan doesn't live here as has been said before, just how do you sell Plymouth to an aspiring footballer / manager?

 

[Steamer]

If there is a problem with getting players down here because of wives and other family commitments, why not set up a training facility for the first team west of Reading. Players can then live in or near London and train in or near London. Come to Plymouth for home matches.

 

[Dalton Is God]

If there is a problem with getting players down here because of wives and other family commitments, why not set up a training facility for the first team west of Reading. Players can then live in or near London and train in or near London. Come to Plymouth for home matches.

Similar to what I was going to say. Base training around Bristol and players just travel down for games.

 

[HC Green]

Location is a problem as for a player to move here means uprooting their family potentially disrupting their children's schooling for possibly a stay of only a year or maybe two and then having to have all this disruption and upheaval again. If a player moves between two northern teams, two Midlands teams or two London teams they probably won't have to move house. So if a player has a choice of Argyle or a team 40 miles away from where they currently live I bet unless there is a big financial incentive which one the wife would choose! We currently have a player as well as the manager whose family hasn't moved down.

 

[Ade the green]

If there is a problem with getting players down here because of wives and other family commitments, why not set up a training facility for the first team west of Reading. Players can then live in or near London and train in or near London. Come to Plymouth for home matches.

So what about Plymouth born players?

Manager: I'm pleased to offer you a professional contract. You've done well in the academy now let's see what you can do training with the first team.

Youth player: oh thanks boss.

Manager: great, I'll need you to move to Reading.

Youth: but I love living in Plymouth.

Manager: then I'm sorry kid, I can't have someone who lives away from our training area, good luck at Exeter.

 

[pilgrimage]

Swansea isn't particularly easy to reach. They seem to be doing OK. This stuff about Argyle's location is a load of bull.

Rubbish. Have you been to nearby Cardiff? Bristol not that far nor Birmingham really. Motorways, airports, international venues for sport, concerts etc.

Plymouth is thought of a place full of country bumpkins. Nothing wrong with that as Pie Face proves.

 

[Steamer]

If there is a problem with getting players down here because of wives and other family commitments, why not set up a training facility for the first team west of Reading. Players can then live in or near London and train in or near London. Come to Plymouth for home matches.

So what about Plymouth born players?

Manager: I'm pleased to offer you a professional contract. You've done well in the academy now let's see what you can do training with the first team.

Youth player: oh thanks boss.

Manager: great, I'll need you to move to Reading.

Youth: but I love living in Plymouth.

Manager: then I'm sorry kid, I can't have someone who lives away from our training area, good luck at Exeter.

What about Plymouth born players.
Rent them a room in Reading. I think the issue is getting quality players from the rest of the country, if you are more concerned about looking after Plymouth born players then why don't you lobby for Argyle to train and keep the youngsters. The issue does not appear to be about single players but players wives, girlfriends and families.

 

[Ade the green]

If there is a problem with getting players down here because of wives and other family commitments, why not set up a training facility for the first team west of Reading. Players can then live in or near London and train in or near London. Come to Plymouth for home matches.

So what about Plymouth born players?

Manager: I'm pleased to offer you a professional contract. You've done well in the academy now let's see what you can do training with the first team.

Youth player: oh thanks boss.

Manager: great, I'll need you to move to Reading.

Youth: but I love living in Plymouth.

Manager: then I'm sorry kid, I can't have someone who lives away from our training area, good luck at Exeter.

What about Plymouth born players.
Rent them a room in Reading. I think the issue is getting quality players from the rest of the country, if you are more concerned about looking after Plymouth born players then why don't you lobby for Argyle to train and keep the youngsters. The issue does not appear to be about single players but players wives, girlfriends and families.

Not at all bothered, just funny how the problem with Sheridan not living in Plymouth can be surmounted by moving the training to Yorkshire.

 

[Lundan Cabbie]

If there is a problem with getting players down here because of wives and other family commitments, why not set up a training facility for the first team west of Reading. Players can then live in or near London and train in or near London. Come to Plymouth for home matches.

That would mean that every game becomes an away game in terms of the team travelling. Surely that would put off most players that the club try to sign.

 

[Steamer]

If there is a problem with getting players down here because of wives and other family commitments, why not set up a training facility for the first team west of Reading. Players can then live in or near London and train in or near London. Come to Plymouth for home matches.

That would mean that every game becomes an away game in terms of the team travelling. Surely that would put off most players that the club try to sign.

Whats wrong with that and why would it put players off. Away one night a week, I am sure even the most ardent WAG would be ok with that.

The fans know who they support, the team is still Argyle, The stadium is still Home Park.

Why not try something off the wall . . it won't be any worse than what we have got already and the excuse of distance would be kicked into the long grass.

 

[crownhill pilgrim]

Locating training facilities away from the rest of the club - away from the club admin and geographical base? Complete non-starter.It would cost a fortune. We're just going to have to love with the fact we're 120 miles south of Bristol.

 

[pearces greens]

surely a playstation or x box works just as well down here, as up north, what else do they do between games and training ? :roll:

 

[up the line]

I have to agree, I've been thinking this for some time. Club buys or builds a small hotel for players in Plymouth and acquires a training facility in close proximity to London.
OK, players will have to travel for every game but away fixtures will require far less travel for them and they'll be close to the bright lights.
Might sound zany but at least never again would we hear the excuse that such and such didn't want to sign because of the location

 

[crownhill pilgrim]

I have to agree, I've been thinking this for some time. Club buys or builds a small hotel for players in Plymouth and acquires a training facility in close proximity to London.
OK, players will have to travel for every game but away fixtures will require far less travel for them and they'll be close to the bright lights.
Might sound zany but at least never again would we hear the excuse that such and such didn't want to sign because of the location

Builds a small hotel? Builds a training facility close to London? Have you been playing Monopoly? That would cost a fortune. And property development isn't really our strong suit

 

[up the line]

Well at some point we might see some building work of some description and that could be the time to instigate such a project