Unattached Players....

I'm currently managing Chester and have found that there is a lot of young players that have been released from Premier League clubs that just aren't interested in joining any lower league teams.

I understand Chester might not be the best club in England but surely these players should be happy to find a club, get some money and increase there chance of another move to a bigger club?? I've seen plenty of promising players retire at 20 because they just wont sign for anyone and no-one other than me is interested in them. Also i've had a goalkeeper from Man Utd on loan for the past 2 seasons and Chester are listed as a favourite club, his contract is up at United and he has been released but still he wont sign for me!

Is this a some sort of bug, are Chester really that bad, even though i've just got them promoted to League 1 in the 2nd season, with a media prediction of 17th, or is it the players themselves being to full of themselves (not sure thats possible)

p.s sorry if this has been mentioned before

Having just been released from a premiership club they are probably thinking to themselves that they can do better than Chester. This may change for some of them as realism kicks in: try again later, or change your targets.

Known issue m8, some of them have rep set to high so they wont join any club, and just retire. Others will only sign if they are released by thier club.

Think its being sorted in the patch.

cheers lads....skorp i tried signing some of them 9months after being released and still no luck.

hoping it is sorted because it can be a major part of lower league football, to me anyway.

Yeah I had a striker was tipped to be world class, wouldnt sign a new contract, so i let him go on a free, had over 20 clubs interested in signing him and he retired at age 20.

One of the biggest problem the database has is accurately mirroring the standard of youth players. I'll only speak from a Scottish perspective as that's my area of knowledge, but when a player leaves an SPL club as a 19 year old, as many do each year, their likely destination will be well down the divisions.

Again in reality, a significant number of released players don't even have the ability to make it in part-time football, either in the lower reaches of the Scottish League or in the non-leagues. Most players without a club would jump at the chance of a contract somewhere, though there will be those who don't want to play at a lower level.

I am Walsall and still in League One in my 2nd season after finishing 15th in my first and have a little tip. Take young players with 12 months left on their contract on loan for a season and make sure they are good enough to play 1st team football. James Chester from Man Utd started 51 games for me and got an average rating of 7.07. Walsall became one of his favourite clubs and he accepted my contract offer when his expired. £2,400 a week it cost me though...