Wow, it's not like a Watford fan to hark on back to irrelevancies of the past... I think we should look into seeing if Emile Heskey fancies coming out or retirement for a season in the Championship as well. He's an ex-international, after all. Tom Cleverley is a 31 year old, past his prime, injury prone, nothing player, and people who believe he is suddenly in any way good enough for the Championship are off their heads. He's finished.
I’ll quote this back to you at the end of the season. The championship is **** mate and he will be good enough for it. Ok I get he’s injury prone but managed correctly and with games and training he will be more than capable of holding his own in that league. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Go for it. Similar was said to me when I said we were going down last season due to our horrific recruitment and over reliance on ageing, declining players, but here we are again.
What’s not good enough for the premier league, will be enough for this league. The likes of Dawson Cathcart Cleverley deeney foster will be at their level. But I can’t see grays first touch becoming better overnight cos we are a league lower. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So a few ideas for a Capoue ‘replacement,’ if need be. Wanted to find someone who appears to be good at winning the ball and progressing the ball and would be both (plausibly) willing to join a Championship side and yet make a step up should we get promoted: Ben Pearson at Preston. Someone who has been mentioned before. 1 year left on his contract. A real standout for them and in the league more broadly with excellent tackle and interception numbers and also has an eye for a pass. Would probably be available for £5-10m. Mario Lemina: much feted when he joined Southampton but it went a bit pear-shaped. Did really well seemingly on loan at Galatasaray but due to COVID-19 they are now unable to pay the £16m option. Southampton keen to get rid to raise funds and reports in the ever-reliable Turkish media have suggested that Southampton are seeking just £9m. Some might question his attitude but there is definitely a great player somewhere in there. A riskier option than Pearson, no doubt. Still only 26. Azor Matusiwa (Groningen) had an outstanding breakout season having joined Groningen from Ajax. 22 years old. Has been likened to Kanté - though those likenesses are of course pretty crude. On a long contract so wouldn’t necessarily be cheap but Dutch clubs saw their finances hit particularly hard due to COVID-19 as they are very reliant on gate receipts. Orestis Kiomortsoglu another interesting young option from the Eredivisie. Felipe Augusto - 27 year old Brazilian DM at Rio Ave. Don’t know about work permit but he’s been in Portugal for a while. More passes per game than anyone in the league (and seemingly not just a function of his team seeing lots of the ball) and a prodigious ball winner too. 1 year left on his contract. Honourable mentions for: Josh Cullen - stood out on loan from West Ham at Charlton; Matt Grimes - though Swansea unlikely to sell to a promotion rival; and Allen Campbell at Motherwell. Walace at Udinese wouldn’t be the too bad, though.
Some good shouts there. Dan Glazer seems to be highly rated by Ivic and was key to his success at Maccabi. Lots has been written about him but I wouldn’t be surprised if Capoue is making way for him. Another name popped up was Isaac Hayden from Newcastle. He just sacked his agent and hired a new one. Guess who his new agent is... yep, Ohi Longe who was at our training facility today meeting with our new Director of football, Giaretta. Hayden has one yr left on his contract, isn’t a guarantee starter, and by the sounds of it, wants out. Whether or not he will be willing to take a step down to the championship is probably unlikely, however Ohi Longe (his new agent) doesn’t have many other players on his books that I can see us being interested in. (Nathan Redmond, no chance, Cyrus Christie RB at Fulham, Doubrful, the rest are all youth players). If we sell Capoue but bring in Hayden then I’m all for it. However it’s highly unlikely. Valentin Antov has also been mentioned a lot. Either way with Doucoure and Capoue heading out, we have to bring someone in this week so they have enough time to gel with squad, get their fitness levels up and ready for the season.
You always run the team down every time you post, so I suppose you have to be right sometimes, even a stopped clock is right twice a day
I read an article online yesterday about emerging young talent in MLS over in the states, and before anyone asks for a link I'm dammed if I can find it again. It said that MLS is no longer just a place for old pros to go and retire, as they are now producing some very exiting young talent of their own, such as Alphonso Davis at B Munich and Pulisic at Chelsea. I know those two are way out of our league, but there is apparently plenty more young talent not unlike them coming through over there who might still be available at prices even we can afford. Therefore maybe we should be poking around over there where hopefully we might be able to pick up a hidden gem or two, that is if we are not already doing so of course.
Anyone who didn't expect this window to be a significant net reduction in squad quality following relegation was kidding themselves.
Of course the vast majority of our squad are already "good enough" for this league, but we're not just aiming to be good enough/mid-table, we need to win the damn thing.
We have debts and tax bills to payback- that will be the main concern. Not spendimg millions on better players than we have really. Maybe a few bargains or loan players. They basically want to rely on the youngsters to come good which is a big risk I know. Pearson was probably told this and demanded we have better quality and experience himself so got the sack.
Of course this was going to happen. But I still believe the squad could and should be made stronger in the positions that were neglected. Everyone is replaceable. Gibson for instance would be a massive improvement to any of our centre backs. He is more than in our range of players that need looking at.
The defence should be able to be made stronger you would think on the basis that it's very unlikely that we will lose much quality there ! Gibson looked great a few years ago but hasn't played much and not sure why. It can happen to players, look at Joe Hart. We seem to be putting a lot of confidence in Ben Wilmot who is still only 20. I actually think Cathcart and Dawson will be good at this level.
Hayden would be excellent, but he's also been linked with Palace and West Ham. Dan Glazer was "highly rated" in the Israeli League, but none of the few posters on here who have watched him regularly are convinced he's good enough for what we should be aiming for. From the bits I've seen of him he looks way too sluggish and immobile.
Agreed. I've said before that I only saw Wilmot live once for Swansea and Mitrovic owned him. Ok Mitrovic is an excellent player and shouldn't of been playing in the Championship but if that was anything to go by he looked woefully inept. But it's just one game. Dawson and Cathcart worry me because there is no pace between them. But I have no idea on ivics formations or style of play. If we sit deeper ok I'm happy for them to play. If we play a highline we going to see their weaknesses.
Cheers for the ideas. I'm not sure Pearson really did look a "a real standout" for mid-table Preston though - only the 9th highest rated of their regular starters on whoscored and not particularly impressive stats. Lemina would probably be too expensive for us and very unlikely to drop down to the Chamo. Matusiwa seems an interesting shout - good tackling and interception stats, seems to throw himself about a lot in a similar manner to Glazer appears to have done at Maccabi except with more athleticism to go with it. Rio Ave qualified for Europa League, which might make things a bit more difficult, but Felipe Augusto seems to tick the boxes from a quality and stats point of view. Other DMs with good stats from Liga NOS who might also be obtainable include: - 22 year-old Spanish midfielder Pepelu, who was on loan at Tondela from La Liga side Levante last season. - Mikel Agu, 27 year-old Nigerian at Vitoria Guimaraes. - 23 year-old Frenchman Mohamed Diaby at Pacos Ferreira. If we could get Walace from Udinese he'd probably do though, I agree.
Yeah, really those calling for Glazer can't have watched many clips of him, our current version of Cleverley would probably still beat him in a foot race.
A couple of other random names to throw in there having looked at stats from Ligue 2 (so that's now Liga NOS, Eredivisie, Championship and Ligue 2 covered): - Qazim Laci, 24 year-old Albania youth international at Ajaccio. Pape Gueye made 69 tackles and interceptions combined in Ligue 2 last season in 25 matches, which was pretty much the best for any young midfielder in Ligue 2, but Laci managed the same total in only 2 more matches. Gueye's numbers were tilted a bit more towards interceptions, Laci's towards tackles. Laci also had 3 goals and 4 assists last season, compared to Gueye's 2 assists. - Charles Pickel, 23 year-old former Swiss youth international at Grenoble. They signed him from Grasshoppers last summer for £400k. Pickel managed 60 combined tackles and interceptions in 1 more match than Gueye. Pretty even between tackles and interceptions overall. He seems to have started this season in a similar manner as the last one, with 3 interceptions and 1 tackle in his first match back. We've done well with Swiss-Albanian midfielders in the past, so perhaps if we paired a Swiss midfielder in Pickel with an Albanian one in Laci it could also work?! Laci goal: Year-old vid of Pickel in Switzerland:
Yeah looking at stats for the Liga NOS, Pepelu looked like a really good shout. But as a La Liga side Levante have more bargaining power than a lower league or non big-5 league team. So if they want him, they’ll be able to keep him. Pearson’s overall who scored rating for last season isn’t compelling, but he is seemingly very highly regarded by Preston fans and comes up very high (2nd and 1st respectively at Preston but one of the best in the league more broadly) on tackles+interceptions and passes per 90. Will take a look at your other suggestions. Although I think if Valencia really are trying for a loan, it’s perfectly possible that we keep Capoue.
Thank you. Someone who understands. There's been a significant lack of YouTube videos on suggestions. How am I suppose to judge these people before they might arrive? I called Sarr a sprinter with no end product before he arrived, and a waste of money. Please don't take these moments away from me.
Udinese, Palumbo could be shot at Watford 0 The Friulians will have to set the market in concert with the relegated Hornets, also owned by the Pozzo © LAPRESSE Wednesday 26 August 2020 0 UDINE - Udinese continues to negotiate with the Cittadella for striker Davide Diaw and expects to define strategies with the relegated Watford , a company owned by the Pozzo family relegated from the Premier . A big problem, because this will force us to review the “economies of scale” and to bring back some players with higher wages such as Pereyraand Pussetto to Friuli . From England, however, claim that could be shot in Championship(Serie B English) Ekong and Sierralta , Becao andSamir . But also Martin Palumbo , the Norwegian midfielder to whom the Friulians have signed a five-year contract and who could play continuously in Watford Absolutely no chance we will get 4 defenders from Udinese.
Palumbo would be a good fit. Played one senior game ever. Loves solving a mystery. Also, we ruin all of our young players, might as well make a start on Udinese's.
Nevermind these ******** Watford transfer tidbits, it’s all about the Messi saga now. Way more interested in where he ends up.
While I think he should have been a target, given he was POTS at Derby and clearly enjoyed his time there, I suspect he’d have still gone there. Potter has just been on SSN and said Derby wanted him permanently and they had no intention of selling him.
Probably, but it’s the fact that we didn’t even try that bothers me. We have a much better chance at promotion (right now on paper) than what Derby do. Whilst he most likely would have gone back, we would have been a tempting option for him. Playing with the likes of (again right now) Sarr, Suarez, Estupiñán, Pedro, and partnering Wilmot in this energetic dynamic team, is far more attractive than playing with Rooney and co.
