Exactly, it's like any job - pay will probably be the most important consideration followed by things like the people you work with, opportunities for career progression (so facilities and the sense of being a club on the up) and location.
We aren't going to move Plymouth so just have to make other aspects of the offer as attractive as possible. Footballers, who have a short career, operate from contract-to-contract and probably accept that some element of moving around is going to be part of the job are probably more amenable to relocating than most.
I've always thought the location thing was a bit overdone, and that the disadvantage in terms of recruitment is more than offset by the benefits of such a huge catchment area for supporters and youth players.
I've always thought the same. Players sign for clubs all over the place – even in different countries (not so much English players, I grant you). If teams can attract players to move overseas, why can't we attract players of the right calibre to Plymouth?
Also, kids up sticks and get themselves into debt in order to study at the right uni, or even the one uni that will actually take them given their grades. Why can't we persuade young players to move to a different part of the country to be paid handsomely to do what they love and put themselves in the shop window for career progression?
I suppose it's a bit of a stages of life thing too. It's easier for a guy in his early 20s to leave home to play for a decent team with decent facilities, even if it is miles away, than it is for a pro in their late 20s/early 30s who has a family and has set down roots in a particular part of the country. In either case the proposition on the table has to be life-enhancing, maybe even life-changing to make a big move.
I left Plymouth to study in my early 20s, always with the intention of returning. Here I am decades later with a wife, whose family are on the doorstep, and kids who are settled in school and friends who live on their road. Sometimes, I long to be back in Plymouth – bleddy love the place and often question why I left and never returned. Post lockdown, I could probably persuade my employer that I could work from 'ome in Devon just as well as can work from home where I am now. There would be little or no change in income, but I could afford a bigger, nicer house in a much nicer part of the country.
A no-brainer for some, but the crux is … this is my wife and kids home. They're settled and love life where they live … near family and friends.
Translate that to a footballing scenario. I'm young and ambitious with nothing too much to tie me to one spot … "Thank you, Argyle, for the opportunity – take me, I'm yours!" (Until someone bigger and richer comes along.) I'm longer in the tooth with family who are happy and settled – "Thank you, Argyle, for the opportunity – Plymouth's a lovely place and the club has a great reputation with wonderful fans, but it's not home, and I have no friends and family down there, you're really going to have to make this worth my while!"
Just remember, we're all individuals with different priorities, ambitions and needs. One man's Plymouth cup of tea is another poor exiled, entrapped or deluded man's poison!?