Biggest Mistake Of The Pozzo Era

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by pleaseenterthenamebywh, Jan 15, 2021.

  1. Manatleisure

    Manatleisure Squad Player

    If there's 1 'mistake' i would say comes out on top for me, its been the 'obsession' of signing young players for future profit and not doing enough with dealing with what recruitment was needed in respect of the squad that actually plays week in week out. That's what's bit us in the b*m imo.
    I understand the club is a business but i think we went too far with it and am hoping there is more of a balancing act down the line.
     
  2. The Voice of Reason

    The Voice of Reason First Team Captain

    The Kid insisting he is going to persist with Gray in the team, what is he on o_O
     
  3. Manatleisure

    Manatleisure Squad Player

    Did he really say that? Maybe its just press talk, and its Pedro and Deeney for Friday.
     
  4. Carpster

    Carpster Squad Player

    Well he can't honestly come out and say the truth can he?
     
  5. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    You'll have a long wait, I suspect.
     
  6. Jumbolina

    Jumbolina First Team

    Especially we are now banking on Mr Success and Mr Peneranda!
     
  7. Dorset-Orn

    Dorset-Orn First Year Pro

    I totally believe that the manager is not given the team sheet as some suggest, but I bet he's been told.... "Play the senior players and when fully fit if they continually prove to substandard we will consider other options. If you just won't pick them right now we're not interested."
    This explains Gray and Success' longevity.... They are never fit long enough to have much game time in the first place..
     
  8. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    I don’t remember Gray having many injury problems.
     
  9. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    ******* hell! Who hacked your account and posted this masterpiece?
     
  10. lm_wfc

    lm_wfc First Team

    Agreed, the biggest mistake has not been signed a good striker to replace Deeney. Thats what the club tried with Gray, and was a decent buy at the time (even if it was obvious from his past tweets and being a scummer he was a *****).
     
  11. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Don't get me wrong: it would have been very difficult to predict quite how historically bad Gray would turn out to be when he signed. But I can't in turn see how it was a 'decent buy' at the time, either - £18m (which meant, yes, slightly more than it would in today's climate, and was a huge increase in our record fee paid) for a striker who had one season in the top flight and, in it, had failed to score in 26 of the 32 games that he wasn't banned from playing in? One of those games (and three of the nine goals) coming against a catastrophically doomed Sunderland in freefall on their way straight to the third division and streaming stardom.

    At best, he represented something of a gamble with an enormous outlay, particularly for A) the Pozzo and B) our club. As it was, it turned out to be the kind of gambling that gets you taken into the back and your head squeezed in a vice until your eyeball explodes.
     
  12. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    I look at Sheff Utd with Rhian Brewster and see a similar waste of money. Transfer fees are ridiculous. A decent and proven Premier League striker costs £35m or more. So clubs need to spend that sort of money OR sign lower division players/players from abroad and hope they become a £35m player. We went a bit half way house with our spend and it proved to be a duff signing.
     
  13. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    It will be very interesting to see if Brewster manages to rehabilitate himself and get his career back on track in a team that isn't in the process of imploding, but at least in his/Sheffield Utd's case, he is still very young, and with a big club youth pedigree to boot (rightly or wrongly) he will have far, far more resale value.

    Playing-wise he's been a Gray for them so far, but as a signing he's nowhere approaching the mistake Gray was for us, so at least they've got that going for them.
     
  14. folkestone orn

    folkestone orn Squad Player

    Were the Venkys in for us?
     
  15. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    Yes at one point they were.
     
    folkestone orn likes this.
  16. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Interestingly, the Venkys seem to be (slowly) learning their lesson. I wonder if they might end up having the last laugh...
     
    wfcmoog likes this.
  17. folkestone orn

    folkestone orn Squad Player

    Bet Deeney's gutted
     
  18. tonycotonstache

    tonycotonstache Squad Player

    Look at Bournemouth buying Ibe and Solanke on long lucrative contracts too
     
  19. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Was a bad buy for them though, in the sense that they had essentially a championship team and that money needed to go on injecting proven quality directly into the team. He’s probably more comparable to us buying Sarr rather than Gray, though. The end result for them will be the same albeit more catastrophically so.
     
  20. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Yeah, I basically agree, but he did at least had an immediate record of scoring a lot of goals - yes, in the Championship, but at a very young age. They basically gambled that his pedigree would win out over his inexperience, to provide that injection of quality and allow him to be the player to score the goals to survive, and it hasn't played out like that at all.

    Obviously, that is probably in part down to the overall situation, and part because I'm not sure he really fits their tactical style. Nor was I ever that convinced of Wilder's incredible tactical genius of having a centre back run a bit further up the pitch, though, if I'm totally honest.
     
  21. foxywfc

    foxywfc Reservist

    Focusing on our global branding messing about with the badge and new ground big foreign sponsorships.
    Treating players of all standards and age with false promises. Ie sign for us and we will move you on to a bigger club when they come calling. Ending up with mercenaries. Not developing an academy floppo doing what he done or never done for so long.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  22. sherwood

    sherwood Academy Graduate

    Biggest mistake of the Pozzo`s? Well, they have managed to keep us in the Premiership for five consecutive seasons, which is quite an achievement in my opinion. They have done it being proactive by chancing the manager, when there have been signs, that we might fall apart. We have also been given new players, of which some have been very good or good enough at least. They have invested in the stadium, which is now good enough for us. They have also, in my opinion, been able to get rid of the long contract players if needed; not counting the current eviroment which is hitting everyone. (I believe that in normal circumstances we could have balanced the books with active player market).

    On the other hand, I don`t like the amount of managers we have had. If only one/some of those would have been able to make it, before being "sacked". It is good to see managers turning it given time; Arteta, Solskjer. Pozzo`s haven`t had believe or wisdom to give time. Well, which one of those would have deserved time, I can`t tell? But we did make that five year run...

    New signings are always like a breath of new air; will this be the one to change our fortunes? Not very often we are blessed with Coton/ McClelland; Helguson or the more current heroes (there are some). Most of them propably just come, do the basics and leave with a handshake, but not many exiting memories. Some of they signings have not been too succesfull, but they have managed to keep the team decent at least. The problem with the signings is that you don`t know what you get with your money. £18 million don`t get you standard amount of goals or tackles or saves... That is why signings are always a risk. I would say that a new signing in itself is not a failure; the failure comes if you can`t use that new player to his best abilities; he is played out of position or not using him the best way. Blisset wasn`t seen very good in Italy because the system was not working for him, but when returning back...

    So I can`t blame them too much with the player policy either. It is obviously clear that they could have signed players for certain positions, but had it been a right player we wouldn`t know.

    When I started to write this I didn`t know what my conclusion would be. One thing which might be worth looking more carefully is our own juniors. Could they have done more to try and guarantee better production line for young players? I understand that the current climate is favouring bigger teams and our decision to buy has been seen as a better value. Brentford have found they way and it seems to be working for now, but they will also have some lean years when they are not finding new Toney`s. Are they ready to work in the Brexit climate? What are the new rools to get players and where from? They have to be on they toes and in front of other clubs.

    Maeby it is just so, that you have to use your good years, when they come and get ready for those lean ones, when things are going against you. That is something we will find out in the coming years; are we ready to bounce back or are we falling apart? I believe that these guys are here not to lose money, but also, they are here in good mind and good purposes for the actual football club. I can be proven being wrong also...

    My answer for the original question is; they have failed in keeping in contact with the fans and local society. I would like to think, that being more open and supporting local media, they would have been better of in total. More people would be supporting, going to games, buing and making this club greater. They would have a chance to compete with Mr Taylor: this club was spesial in his time.
     
    luke_golden likes this.

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