Bang on. Even if we were to sell him for £5m, we would struggle to get a player of his calibre for that plus wages. We really ought to be trying to keep Capoue for this season.
What about on loan? It doesn't have to be a permanent replacement given Capoue at 32 probably doesn't have many more seasons to give anyway. A quality loan signing could fit the bill and allow him to shuffle off to Valencia to get a room with Javi.
If that is an option I am sure it could work. I just can't imagine there are that many clubs loaning out players of Capoue's calibre, and if they are I can't imagine them going to the championship
I think we have to accept a like for like replacement ain't happening. We're not in that market. But we'd surely have a much better chance of getting a decent enough season loan replacement with the cash saved from his wages than a permanent signing?
Isnt it the case that the majority of moves happen at the last minute. Id like to see some stats but usually you have to wait for others to move and then the bigger boys all make moves around the same time and we get drawn into it
If we sell for €4m having only bought him for £6.2m and got the value we have out of him that is some incredible business in and of itself. So if he wants to leave or finances dictate he needs to go then thanks Etienne and adieu. If finances aren't an issue and he is content to stay (albeit that seems unlikely given he seems to be doing his bit to make the move happen), then we should be standing firm in our negotiating position. Absolutely irreplaceable at this level and will be a massive loss.
The boy did real good that's for sure. However the fact he has "refused to play" while accepting his full pay leaves a real sour taste.
Do we know he has? Or is it just Ivic wants people who want to be here and he clearly wants to be in the top flight.
Well we know he is getting full pay and not playing. If he wanted to play then he would definitely be in the team so I think that indicates he doesn't want to be here. I hope these ******* don't get a leaving bonus.
I think there is a difference between not wanting to be here and refusing to play. If I was Capoue I would want to leave our sorry lot as well. One of the few players with talent who turned up last season.
I keep reading this line that Capoue turned up last season but someone is going to have remind of all the games where that happened? He didn’t stink the place out like some and he is undoubtedly a player I’d love to keep. But he was also pretty bad on the whole.
Last year of his contract, 32 years old, can't get in our team, always unfit. Anything above £3m would be amazing business.
I disagree with this. I think he was out best player last year before the lockdown. He did fall away post lockdown granted and was injured a fair bit as well, but think he and Hughes would still be considered players of the season (as much as anyone can be given that credit in a relegation year).
Valencia struggling to agree a deal and have turned their attentions to Adrian Silva at Leicester apparently
Has Capoue publicly expressed a desire to leave? Doucoure did ages ago. That gives me some hope Also Capoue would be the best footballer in the league. That would definitely be useful.
So in what games did he stand out? I’m not arguing he was the best of a bad bunch - but the comment I was replying to was that he ‘turned up last season’ when to my mind, by his standards, he didn’t. He just played less worse than the rest the majority of the time.
Capoue wasn’t the problem last year, it was the chickens coming home to roost after years of under investment in the defence, and employing 3 idiot managers.
I'm not very good at remembering specific games generally, so am struggling to answer directly. I do get your point though that my impression of him as a stand out player may not be because he was objectively excellent, but because he looked better relative to the rest of the squad who pretty much underperformed to a man.
I think my opinion of Capoue has been adversely influenced by the interviews in which he states he doesn't really care about football. Every time I saw him miss a tackle or misplace a pass I was reminded of that statement so tended to overlook the good bits. In fairness there were plenty even last season but like so many others he looked a declining force. I still hope he's around this season, even if its one game in two. I think he'd be slaughtered by the Valencia fans whereas we're generally a forgiving bunch (with the exception of the usual suspects!).
He played well in that Leicester game, but tailed off as the games wore on. Age catching up with him perhaps? Premier League matches with Championship scheduling is difficult on anyone tbf though
Capoue on his day is excellent and would without doubt be one of the best players in the league. But none of us know if he wants out or not.
Very very split on this, we absolutely need an on form Capoue with our midfield currently looking like it is. Will be still be bothered to play for us though? Can he hack such a tight schedule? I'd like us to be in a position to make a decision either way on him, the absolute last thing we need is for him to whore himself out to Valencia if there's no way of them being able to offer us anything suitable
Zaha and Raul Jiminez have both publicly stated they want to move elsewhere, but both had MotM performances last weekend and got their sides the win because they are professionals. These players should be playing, and if they refuse they should be punished accordingly. As it stands we are just giving them an easy way out and paying for the privilege of it.
Do you think Zaha would be turning out for Palace now if they'd been relegated and he hadn't yet moved on?
You fallen foul of the 'Chinese Whisper factor' regarding the whole 'Capoue doesn't care' thing... An interview is published that carries some comments - let it spin through social media and forums for 18 months and what comes out it something that wasn't said at all. For reference...the interview in question: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/may/16/etienne-capoue-watford-manchester-city-fa-cup-final ...Capoue, Watford’s player of the season, has said there is “no way” he would watch even a cup final on TV, preferring to watch basketball or spend time with his children. “I love football, I am passionate about it, but there is not only football in life,” he said. “I don’t really watch it on TV. The highlights are always on at the training ground but I will not be focused on a particular game. I’ll watch every [NBA] play-off and I try to get out there [to the US] every year. I am very passionate about basketball.” When the Frenchman finds himself with a free Saturday during the football season, he has no difficulty ignoring the game altogether. “I’ll spend a normal day with my wife and kids and try to learn something outside football,” the 30-year-old said. “I try to do a lot of activities. I don’t know what I will do after football but if I am too focused on football it would not be smart. It’s good to get a lot of information about other aspects of life.” Capoue, 6ft 2in and who has children aged five, four and one, watches NBA highlights if they wake him early in the morning, and might have gone into basketball full-time only for his family to change his mind. “The family said: ‘Come on, football, please,’ he said. “My cousin was a professional footballer so knew about the world of football and the family said it was crazy not to go. I had the ability to do both, but at the end of the basketball sessions I realised I just wanted to play football with the balls, so I thought: ‘OK, football it is.’ My friends still play basketball, so when I go home I play with them. It’s nice to get those basketball boots on again.” He is literally just saying he doesn't carry his job everywhere with him or let it inform every decision he makes - seems pretty healthy and wise to me!
yes, I think he would. Subjectively I can’t recall so many players downing tools at any other club before.....if that’s what’s actually happening. It really doesn’t help when us supporters are left to speculate rather than having a bit of information
If they hadn't sold him? Yes. But that's a by-product of the respect he has of the club. Which is why he didn't down tools when they didn't sell him last summer. None of the sit-on-the-sidelines mob have that about us. Which is why we got relegated and why they aren't playing now.
He didn't down tools last summer because the transfer window shut before the season started. And being in the Premier League shop window is still a massive thing compared to turning out in the Championship. I hand on heart don't think he'd be playing for Palace right now if the clubs swapped places. But in a way that's not the issue. As rochdale says, it's the sheer number at Watford that gets me. Do I think Andros Townsend or James MacArthur would have refused to play? Not at all. That's what's odd/rancid at Watford right now.
This. 100%. It’s pathetic that our owners are allowing our players to get paid for doing nothing. It’s very simple, refuse to play, don’t get paid, don’t your move. Keep fining them their weekly wages each single week until they do decide to play. It is that simple. Player power only exists because clubs allow it too. Gino has allowed it too, so now he needs to change that culture. Over the course of their contracts they have earnt millions from us. Now they need to repay it back by playing and earning their move. Sarr will have been training for 2 weeks with us now. He is more than fit enough to start the opening 60mins and he should. Suarez should start and play the entire game. Gino has got to stop playing best friends with the players, pull them and their agents into the office and let them have it. If they want out that bad, then they can pay out their own contracts to Watford and go for free. They won’t do that obviously. It’s so infuriating that other players who want out can get on with their job, prove their worth, get on with it and wait for the move to transpire. Our lot sit around sulking, refusing to play in the championship, the league they sent us too by playing crap all season, and cry to their agent to get them out. All the while, being paid thousands of pounds a week. Sarr isn’t injured, he is match fit, and he should 100% start this weekend. Suarez isn’t injured, is match fit, and he should 100% start this weekend. Time to make a stand against these mercenaries.
None of us know - but if I had to put money on it, I’d sooner bet that the club just aren’t picking the majority of these players for whatever reason at this point, as opposed to them ‘refusing to play’... We can all rightly be annoyed at the sheer number of players missing and the names among them - but it seems silly to get overly worked up trying to guess the exact reasons.
