The frustration of players not wanting to come to your Club.

I'm playing as West Ham and in my game I have finished 6th in my first and second seasons and am floating around the 6th place area in my third season. So all in all not a bad spot and of course European football is a plus. So we are not looking at the real life Hammers here which is hardly an attractive proposition for any player right now.

Anyway as no present data update I have been trying to sign both Wayne Bridge and Robbie Keane as per real life and also Jack Wilshire. These three ar the examples.

1. Wayne Bridge.. Not interested at all in season one in a move or a loan to West Ham. Yet he accepts a loan move to Sunderland. Ok I can live with that. Season Two not interested in either again but stays where he is. City don't even register him amongst the 25 so he sits ineligible in the reserves. Come January City accept both my offers to loan or buy and he just doesn't want to discuss a move. Sits ineligible for the rest of the season. Season Three he finally will discuss terms but after sitting in City's Reserves for over a year he demands £130 grand a week in wages. I leave it. Now I know players are more than happy to sit in the Reserves these days on massive wage packets but surely if you are not even in the 25 you would seek a move? Even if he had gone elsewhere it would have made more sense?

2. Robbie Keane.. In three seasons not interested a jot. Won't even discuss terms even though seasons two and three he just sits in the reserves. Maybe a West Ham-Tottenham thing I don't know.

3. Jack Wilshire.. Arsenal won't accept a fee but do accept a loan yet despite listing West Ham as a favourite Club he just will not discuss terms. Ended up at Wigan who languished at the fot of the table.

Now I know you can't sign every player but surely if they are not in the first team and certainly if they are not even registered in the 25 surely a player would be keen on a move, or am I wrong?

There are also always loads of unattached players that retire at an early age because they're unwilling to sign for anyone on the wages the interested clubs are offering. This is not just restricted to human clubs, I've seen loads of players leave the game after turning down contract offer after contract offer from the AI. I'd think that if you're currently unemployed and want to be a professional footballer, you'd be much more likely to cut your losses and sign on a lower wage rather than retire completely from football.

west ham is not good enough for them maybe ?

Only players i have trouble signing as Liverpool are Germans and current/ex Everton players, everyone else is happy to demand over 100k per week

west ham is not good enough for them maybe ?

Maybe, but first team football and European Football or a place in the Reserves and not Registered for the 25 man squad. Know which I would choose!!

The fact that it affects out of contract players just as much as those not playing at all suggests that it's a deeper problem than simply "they don't want to join West Ham" - it suggests that players are quite oblivious of their current situation and that contract negotiations suffer from big problems. While I can understand players not wanting to take too much of a pay cut, I can't understand:

• Players being happy not even being registered for the team, let alone not playing much. Fine for young upstarts, but makes no sense for big name players. Surely they have some proffesional pride.
  
• Young players preferring to retire from football rather than sign for several hundred pounds a week at a lesser club. 1k+ a month isn't too bad a salary, they ain't gonna do any better at Tesco's etc. And, at age 17-20, the chances of them having a degree are zero. This particularly affects players released from big clubs - they won't sign for the clubs that want them, and those that can afford their extortionate wage demands and meet their aspirations aren't interested, because the players are crap for those team's standards (hence why they got released in the first place). You got released from Tottenham? No point in waiting for Aston Villa and Chelsea to call; sign for Leyton Orient/whoever and prove yourself!
  
• Older players preferring to retire early as well, instead of dropping down a level or two as would be appropriate at this stage in their career. They prefer to retire after a season of offers from lesser teams, often going on to become a coach who also never signs for anyone.
  

Overall, wage demands seem pretty silly in this version. I can understand the hottest players on the market can demand high wages, but if this is your last chance of a professional football career, or if you're looking for a couple more seasons before calling it a day, you would be willing to temper your demands and expectations somewhat.

I'm sure that reputation is largely to blame for all these issues though. If the game actually looked at how good a player really is, rather than how high his reputation is, there would probably be far less issues and players would be far more willing to sign for suitable clubs.