George Williams: Forest Green sign ex-Fulham midfielder, 7 caps for Wales !!

His goal per game ratio is fantastic for a forward

Forest Green Rovers are a real threat to us because of where they are. Many players at our level stay local. We can't compete with the wages Forest Green Rovers can offer. The problem is that we could bankrupt ourselves if we try and have to make substandard signings if we don't.

If there is anyone out there who still believes that the 'Fair Play' rules will assist us frankly you are wrong. I have a great deal of sympathy for the board of directors and the new COO. This is a very difficult and serious problem.

Or the hippy could get bored and we have yet another Hornchurch, Rushden and Diamonds etc

daftasfxxx wrote:Or the hippy could get bored and we have yet another Hornchurch, Rushdenvand Diamonds etc

He might. But even if he does it's not going to be this season looking at the quality of the signings, is it? And that is the very real problem we face now.

His career is plummeting fairly quickly. I was in Brussels to watch Wales play Belgium a few years ago, and he started and played well in a 0-0 draw. Three years later and he's sunk down to League Two and will be turning out for this joke of a club. Wonder what went wrong?

rncfc wrote:His career is plummeting fairly quickly. I was in Brussels to watch Wales play Belgium a few years ago, and he started and played well in a 0-0 draw. Three years later and he's sunk down to League Two and will be turning out for this joke of a club. Wonder what went wrong?

I believe he came on for the second half to replace Cotterill & played really well since then he's had an awful time with injuries and has been on loan to MK, Gillingham & St Johnstone. He's still only 22 so still has time to bounce back but as said previously the wages FGR pay would've been an incentive I believe Doidge is on £2,500 per week!!

CTY74 wrote:

rncfc wrote:His career is plummeting fairly quickly. I was in Brussels to watch Wales play Belgium a few years ago, and he started and played well in a 0-0 draw. Three years later and he's sunk down to League Two and will be turning out for this joke of a club. Wonder what went wrong?

I believe he came on for the second half to replace Cotterill & played really well since then he's had an awful time with injuries and has been on loan to MK, Gillingham & St Johnstone. He's still only 22 so still has time to bounce back but as said previously the wages FGR pay would've been an incentive I believe Doidge is on £2,500 per week!!

I can't see we will be competing with FGR to sign many players who won't also have at least one other offer higher than ours from another club.
What FGR need is a manager capable of molding a group of expensive players into a team.

This time last year there were many who thought that FGR would be challenging at the top end of the table. They seem to work on the principle that high salary equates to quality. They must be an agent's dream.

excessbee wrote:This time last year there were many who thought that FGR would be challenging at the top end of the table. They seem to work on the principle that high salary equates to quality. They must be an agent's dream.

I agree with that. However much we don't like it though success can be bought. Chelsea and Manchester City both in the last fifteen years have had a huge influx of cash. (Money stolen from the Russian and Arab peoples but don't get me started.} Just look over the last decade or so how many trophies have been won by those two clubs compared with the number of trophies won by the pair in the previous 130 or so years.

We like to concentrate on the times when big spenders fail, and it does happen. But the norm is the big spenders succeed. As Voltaire put it 'God is on the side of the big battalions'.

rncfc wrote:His career is plummeting fairly quickly. I was in Brussels to watch Wales play Belgium a few years ago, and he started and played well in a 0-0 draw. Three years later and he's sunk down to League Two and will be turning out for this joke of a club. Wonder what went wrong?

well I wish he was signing for us to find out !

A good signing for them, but I agree with daftasfxxx that it will not end well for them.

Once The Mad Hippie gets bored of his toy, they will plummet.

RThomas55 wrote:A good signing for them, but I agree with daftasfxxx that it will not end well for them.

Once The Mad Hippie gets bored of his toy, they will plummet.

I agree with you. Forest Green is too small a community to support a league football team.

However whilst the 'Mad Hippie' is in control at Forest Green the fact remains that they can offer far higher wages than we can. As Forest Green Rovers are our closest neighbours in League Two it means that in pursuit of League Two standard players in the Monmouthshire/Gloucestershire area they are in a position to outbid us.

It may very well be that ten years from now Forest Green will disappear but next season and perhaps for a few seasons to come they are a very real threat to our future.

I see that they have Brighton u23 keeper Robert Sanchez on loan for the season working with Pat Mountain