I think there's also a big difference between inquiring about a players asking price/availability, actively chasing a player and then actually convincing that player to want to come, and subsequently actually getting a deal done with his current club.
I'd imagine, as you suggest, Port enquired with Crouch's manager as to his asking price/suggested to his manager what they might be willing to offer. The two didn't match up and so both parties moved on. The trouble is for fans, is word gets to elements of the media that there were "discussions" or "interest" and suddenly it gets made out like there's something serious going on, when in actual fact its much more a "nothing to see here" type scenario.
On the flip side, there's a case like Atkins whereby Gold Coast have clearly identified him a long way out and chased him with a large offer to entice him across.
I'd imagine our interest in Fantasia is similar to Port's interest in Crouch, if the price is right, sure we're interested. However, we're not going to waste too much time haggling or losing sleep over the deal if things don't match up, we'll walk away and move on.
