It seems very much a 21st Century thing to me. In over 50 years of following Watford, I can only remember the bile rising twice. Like a tsunami when Bassett was appointed, let alone took charge of his first game. And in a heartburn sort of way with Vialli towards the end. It's a shame really. A reflection on, and of, our disposable society writ-large. I think it's Moralee wrong myself. Fcuk the Cup!!! Up the League!!! Keep the Faith SCG
I'm not so sure there is much, within the fanbase at least. In recent years QSF was sacked initially for poor performance and bringing him back was a schoolboy error, but there wasn't a lot of supporter hate. Silva is probably the exception but the way he conducted himself it's pretty justified. Most seem to think Pearson was given a rum deal. Most would be happy to see him Dyche, or Jokanovic back. Any hate for managers will be down to the wrong managers being appointed. I think there's more dislike of certain players and this dislike is growing, certainly within the fan base.
Yeah, the board definitely owned most of that fiasco. Vialli was a limited manager, but the biggest mistakes coming out from that era were not his.
Didn't Vialli sue us for £2m when we were on our knees financially, a payout which would have put us out of business? While he meanwhile lived in a castle?
Yes, only Silva since Bassett deserves to be hated. As has been mentioned, Vialli the manager wasn't hated by me. It was his antics afterwards which were a bit rum. But even that was down to the owners. Though it is true that a lot of the drooling hordes hated Mazzarri because he didn't wave at them on 90 minutes or learn our ugly language, quite rightly preferring the beauty of a Romance language. As a manager what was there to hate? He effortlessly kept a squad decimated by injuries in the premier league, and wasn't intimidated by Deeney, and even tried to sell him. Gracia wasn't hated. He was just a simple soul. A patsy. A schmuck. You cannot hate people like that, just pity them.
HB1 might tell you differently! We don’t tend to be a fan base who hammer managers . I think Ivic was one the first who were really unpopular in terms of how we were playing football Vialli wasn’t suited to the league and nor were his signings. Rogers isn’t liked due to the way he left.
HB1 is just a simple soul. A patsy. A schmuck. You cannot listen to people like that, just pity them.
He wanted Watford to respect his contract conditions, something any of us would do were we to be fired or made redundant.
I disliked him at the time due to our poor away performances, the 4-0 defeat at a terrible Sheff Wed side in the League Cup and his feeble excuses post-match, and the fact his heart didn’t seem in the job which was reflected in many of the players’ performances, and even more after he sued us (there’s a reason why the word Vialli was a profanity on this site for a while). However I had no problem with him before he came to us, and over time when he was one of the pundits covering Italy in the Euro Championship and did a pretty good job. But I agree the board had to share the blame, it was a questionable appointment to begin with, given he did an average at best job at Chelsea given the quality he had (winning a Man Utd-less FA Cup through one of the worst ever finals isn’t that impressive).
My Vitriol, were an indie band from 90's? Not gonna put a YouTube link up, they too tried, but didn't gain much success.
In normal life yes. But a millionaire suing a community asset for money they don’t need, knowing what impact it would have is entirely different.
Not once before have I ever heard anything referred to as being “a bit rum” and yet there it is, twice in this thread. Madness.
I'd agree that's different. The vast majority of football clubs aren't community assets, though, and we certainly weren't one at the time. Those who owned or part owned the club at the time were also loaded, so why should Vialli not seek to enforce the terms of the contract the club agreed to?
No beef at all with vitriol when a manager's gone (although LondonOrn is 100% right about the 4-0 League Cup defeat against the S6 Pigs. It was an absolute effing disgrace!!!). I just don't much care for the slaggings off during the tenure.
If I recall correctly, Vialli didn't even turn up for that game. Wilkins was in charge and we played a formation that we hadn't played all season to that point and got dealt with accordingly. Then the club published pictures of the team all having a wonderful Christmas party the next day with Vialli serving the food.
Maybe that was the problem! Saw this report on the BBC about the Vialli sacking and seems Mahon wasn't too happy. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/watford/2045074.stm