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I.M.O. There are only two possible explanations, the one I prefer is that Knill has already arranged two or three quailty season long loans from Prem/ Champ. teams, & these players will arrive complete with boots & socks by friday at the latest. My second explanation which seems more likely is that all of the spin about Knill having great contacts in the game is a load of rubbish, & he is not able to attract the two or three players he needs to start the season. Is this because he has not got the funds? Ling did not have a problem did he? Knill has said that Rendell was unfit when he came down here to trial, what is the excuse for a professional sportsman not being fit enough to compete? Why did Knill even consider playing him if he was unfit? It could be argued that striker wise Knill is already scraping the bottom of the barrow. To finish on an up note I am very pleased ( I think) with the players that he has signed.

Knill is keen on Cooper though..

http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 36901.aspx

Nick wrote:Knill is keen on Cooper though..

http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 36901.aspx

What is the point of inviting a player to trial if you are not sure that you can afford his wages, wasting everyones time I.M.O.

Perhaps we can, but perhaps Knill has a striker lined up that he is waiting to come back on, and so doesn't want to go over budget and get us into financial crap, which Bury and Scunthorpe fans say he did at their clubs...

wodger of awabia wrote: My second explanation which seems more likely is that all of the spin about Knill having great contacts in the game is a load of rubbish

I feel there really is a load of twaddle talked about mangers "contacts".

Why do you need contacts to sign players? There are hundreds of agents banging on your door trying to get you to sign their clients.

Nick wrote:Perhaps we can, but perhaps Knill has a striker lined up that he is waiting to come back on, and so doesn't want to go over budget and get us into financial crap, which Bury and scunthorpe fans say he did at their clubs...

Perhaps you are right, but in any case he will have been given a budget. Surely you discuss wages that you are prepared to pay prospective new staff before you invite them to trial, it is exactly the same if you want staff for your (say) greengrocers, you first find out if the money is acceptable, & then if you think they are suitable offer them a trial .It's not f#####g rocket science!!!.

Wodger - I agree with some of what you say although I am really not sure what to make of Knill's comments about Cooper. Clearly he is not an out and out centre half so signing him to play in that position would seem folly to me.
I don't agree about the comparison with Ling as Knill hasn't signed anyone of the standard of Mcphee and given him a two year contract.
You are quite right about Rendell though - its hardly as though he hasn't played for years - he is still a pro footballer still contracted to Luton so if he is nowhere near any standard of fitness then why we are bothering with him I have no idea.
My assessment of Knill's transfer dealings are as follows:
I think all of his signings are good or potentially good. Cameron has potential. Chapple is a great signing. Benyon will score goals at this level. Harding is a solid signing. He also has Bodin who will probably improve and in Yeoman and Thompson he has back up players who could potentially make a big impact - and this is definately something that Ling never had - all his back up was complketely useless!
So we look ok going forward but maybe will struggle defensively.
Things we are lacking - a decent centre forward, ball playing midfielder and a bruising centre half.
With the likes of Howe,Jarvis,Saah and Morris off the wage bill (probably four of the biggest wage earners at the club) I can scarcely believe that Knill has blown all his budget on what he has signed so far - certainly if that is the case however we are in deep doo dah.
I suppose the answer is though that we don't really know - and it will only become clear when we know what else we have (if anything) in two weeks time.

Rendell is a dud - how any professional can turn up in his condition is beyond me, surely he should have been hard at his fitness all summer with pre season in mind. We should not sign him on this basis. He won't be fit for two weeks and way short of match fitness for weeks after.

Cooper for me would be a 3rd signing, he's not big enough to be a commanding centre half. Bit of a luxury, but someone to consider.

My main concern now is that time is short to fill two key positions. Even if these pros posed new signing have had a full pre season programme they need time to get to know the team, their surroundings, spend some time on the training pitch.

If we don't have a centre forward and a centre in place by this Friday then we will be starting the season on the back foot......

OhJimmyJimmy wrote: Even if these pros posed new signing have had a full pre season programme they need time to get to know the team, their surroundings, spend some time on the training pitch.

Another oft repeated sentiment with limited truth behind it.

When you sign a player during the season they don't have weeks of training with the side, they're signed and then straight into the team. Some of our stand out players of the last few years were signed during the season (Labadie, Chappell, Bodin, Branston, Stanley etc) and performed from the off without needing to get to know the team.

In an ideal world everyone would be signed and sealed in the first week of June, but realistically this never happens and you can be sure that pretty much every side in the division will still be looking to add players before the season starts. The last day of the transfer window is always the busiest!

brucie wrote:Wodger - I agree with some of what you say although I am really not sure what to make of Knill's comments about Cooper. Clearly he is not an out and out centre half so signing him to play in that position would seem folly to me.
I don't agree about the comparison with Ling as Knill hasn't signed anyone of the standard of Mcphee and given him a two year contract.
You are quite right about Rendell though - its hardly as though he hasn't played for years - he is still a pro footballer still contracted to Luton so if he is nowhere near any standard of fitness then why we are bothering with him I have no idea.
My assessment of Knill's transfer dealings are as follows:
I think all of his signings are good or potentially good. Cameron has potential. Chapple is a great signing. Benyon will score goals at this level. Harding is a solid signing. He also has Bodin who will probably improve and in Yeoman and Thompson he has back up players who could potentially make a big impact - and this is definately something that Ling never had - all his back up was complketely useless!
So we look ok going forward but maybe will struggle defensively.
Things we are lacking - a decent centre forward, ball playing midfielder and a bruising centre half.
With the likes of Howe,Jarvis,Saah and Morris off the wage bill (probably four of the biggest wage earners at the club) I can scarcely believe that Knill has blown all his budget on what he has signed so far - certainly if that is the case however we are in deep doo dah.
I suppose the answer is though that we don't really know - and it will only become clear when we know what else we have (if anything) in two weeks time.

Yes, I did not think McPhee was up to much, but he did score 17 goals for Kidderminster in the BSP the season before.

Just spoke to Rob Farkins, Centre Half for Bideford. It appears that he was due to sign for us within the next week or so and was due to play tonight at Tiverton until he received a phone call on Sunday evening from Chris Brass informing him that it was being regretfully cancelled due to budget restraints. This is a big shame, Rob is a 6ft 3 local lad living within 100yards of Plainmoor. He would have cost us nothing. By the way he played against Argle last night and Bideford beat them 2-0.

LOL all round. Farkin(s) hell we can't even get a bloke from Bideford.

Forgot to mention, they would have put him on a first year apprentice rate, under £200 quid a week!

How old is Rob SBP?

23 years old, ex Royal Marine, seems a nice lad and obviously very disappointed