United employer Paul Simpson isn’t one for permitting things to break his stride, however he confessed today that he’d felt some aggravation at having actually specified of bringing a prospective brand-new finalizing into the building, just to view him leave (after the medical had actually been finished) when a deal more detailed to his home base was communicated his method by his representative.
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“We’re finding it incredibly frustrating trying to bring players in, I’ll be really honest,” he said. “We’ll keep going and plugging away, and ideally we’ll get some more over the line over the next week or 2.
“Today, for instance, and this one seeks we’ve been working on bringing a player in for a week or ten days. That’s an example of how these things don’t happen overnight.
“We’ve met him, we felt he was a really good one for us, me and Greg had loads of conversations over the weekend with him, then we got to a point on Sunday where everything was agreed.
“He was in for a medical at 8.15am on Monday morning, he had his kit on and his squad number sorted. We hadn’t got the contract signed because it needed to go over to his agent to get checked by the lawyers, then five minutes later he came in and said he’d had a call off his agent with a better offer from a club closer to home, so he was going to take it.
“He took his kit off, put his clothes on and was then in the car on the way home. That’s how close we’ve got with that one, and there are a couple of other things we’re close on in terms of new faces and players inside our club.
“I’ve said it before, until the papers are signed it counts for nothing and we’ve just got to keep working away.”
On how frustrating that situation was, a few hours after it had happened, he commented: “The player this morning was a blow, but it’s not the end of the world.
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“I’ve got no problem with the player doing that because he’s got to do what’s right for him and his family. This sort of thing happens.
“It’s still disappointing when it happens to us when we’ve put a lot of work into it. Myself and Greg had numerous calls and texts over the weekend and we were at the point where we thought it was done.
“We had him down for training numbers on Monday, so it disrupted us a little bit. I understand the fans’ frustrations as well as the players’ frustrations.
“I’ve got no problem with the player doing it because he has to do what’s right for himself. But in terms of us massively frustrating and not the way I wanted to start the day at 8.45.
“I think it’s different now, though, isn’t it? Players have got much more power than they had when I was when I was young, but it’s the way the game is.
“We’ve got a couple of other things that are bubbling along that hopefully we’ll be able to get over the line, but today is another lesson that until that contract is signed, he isn’t your player.
“That’s something we have actually got to bear in mind moving forward. The media team actually had the story ready, but we have to move on. I’ve got no problem with the player.
“Fair play, he didn’t just disappear and dump his package in the in the skip and disappear, he came and explained it.
“I do want to help the lads who are already here because these players have got us to another level and they’re wanting new faces to come in and give them a lift. It’s bloody hard, but we’ll keep working away and hopefully we’ll be able to get players in who can help us.”
The subject of location has one that’s been cited by a number of managers in the past as a reason for players deciding not to make the move up to Cumbria.
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“The location is a real issue, and it can be a problem,” he commented. “It wasn’t going to be a problem today with this player, he was going to stay up here when he needed to without relocating his family.
“It does make a difference when you get an offer which is a lot closer to home and you don’t have to make the journey up here. It’s an issue, it’s there, but we’ll deal with it.
“We can’t change where Carlisle is and it’s actually a lovely place to be. It’s a good football club to be involved in and we’ll just keep working to get the bodies in we want.”
With the player also having been offered a higher wage, it was perhaps inevitable that he was going to take a different route.
“We have a value on what we believe players are worth and we’re not being disrespectful, it’s what they’re worth to us in terms of our playing budget,” the gaffer explained. “We are going to lose players due to the fact that they’re getting more money elsewhere, however that’s not a slant on where we are as a football club.
“We’re ok as a football club, however we’re not the wealthiest. We can’t do anything about that, and last year we weren’t the wealthiest and we achieved something. The money that’s being spent by some clubs is through the roof and we simply can’t do it, it’s as basic as that.
“What we’ve got to do is make sure we get a group this year who are competitive and give us a hell of a chance.”
