And, indeed, the Pereyra miss - which really was a bad one for someody supposedly of high levels of ability, - but not the coach's fault.
"Anything little known is assumed to be wonderful". Gracia has impressed me so far, but he's only been here for a very short time. As an aside, he is being criticised for giving boring interviews. I'm sure he's no fool and an interview in Spanish with a propper translator might well be interesting; I think his English is really quite limited and you can see him struggling to understand questions and struggling to express himself. As Troy found out this season, even telling the truth can be dangerous.
A q for the OP. Wouldn't it make more sense to have JG's name in brackets & the Head Coach bit without?
http://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbo...03385312/se-abre-la-veda-en-el-banquillo.html In today's Mundo deportivo there is a story basically saying Real Societal want Gracia as manager for next season and are prepared to pay for him to leave. It also says that Gracia has always wanted to go to RS.
Why has this thread been redirected to Team Bus? It says this part of the forum is specifically for discussion of current Watford players. Manager threads surely belong where this was on the Watford Chat part?
Personally I can't see anything about managing in San Sebastian that would make anyone wish to forsake WD19.
Not a chance he would turn down the relative job security and environment of WFC for some beautiful warm Spanish coastal city. Nothing to see here...
General consensus was that one thread for each person in a separate section was better than having threads just titled "name". couldn't really see why staff should be any different to players as they all travel on the bus together so as such I've updated the forum description to include staff to satisfy your OCD.
I liked discussing managers as part of the Watford Chat - but seldom visited team bus as it seems more about too much detailed knowledge of players. Whatever.
I get the reasoning behind putting this in the team bus, but it does get hidden a bit. We have some potentially very big news on the horizon (granted no other sources seem to be saying anything similar), it it certainly deserves to be talked about more
does it though? its one newspaper rumour? means absolutely zilch by itself. I personally don't believe a word of it.
Aren't we WD18? You may wish to reappraise your comparison with the sweeping Concha of San Sebastian. Incidentally, I played a gruelling & sweaty 1 v 1 with my mate Phil on this beach in 1986. Ended about 20-20. Locals bewildered but engrossed. Could a youthful Javi Gracia been in their midst?
There are whole acres of this site I have never visited. Maybe where the robots discuss the foibles of the humans.
Someone other than me should make a poll of the best Pozzo era goals.....I would wager the top five would be in the top 10 all time Watford goals.
On YouTube, there’s a Gueds top 5 goals vid. Curious, I checked. Aside from lower league games in France, he’s scored 12 goals for club & country. Why not a top 10? Tbf, they are 5 bangers & don’t even include The Emirates Moment.
Interview with Javi Gracia in the Spanish press today:- Your Watford are the sensation of the Premier League in this season start, with three wins in three games and level with Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea. How's life up there at the top? I've truly got no complaints. And less with this start to the season. Everything's looking better. Well only a few weeks ago, the English press had you as candidates for relegation They had me down as the first sacking amongst the 20 trainers in the Premier League, but now we've managed to change their statistics a little bit... What about missing some important players through injury? Okaka had an operation and continues his recuperation. He'll be good to play very soon. Gerard Deulofeu ended the season with a problem with his foot. He's followed various treatments, he came back and he was fine, but his foot still bothered him a little. He had a muscular problem, but he'll be back very soon. Tom Cleverley is out at the moment because of an operation on his Achilles tendon. You arrived in the middle of last season, following the sacking of Marco Silva and took over the team at short notice. This year you've been involved in the whole cycle of the team preparation. Having the preseason must have helped you. When we arrived in England last January, I had 13 players injured. It was crazy. This season we'd been together since last year and preseason has helped everyone to get to know one another and go into the season well prepared. Last year it was better to just go week to week and try to put a stop of the negative dynamic, because it was quite an unstable period with only a few players available. You lost six of the last nine matches. You stayed up. Did that make the team more relaxed? The reality is the many of the results were undeserved. I believe that there were plenty of matches in which we lost points because of long balls or second plays. In 4 of the last 6 matches we only had one shot on target at our goal. I don't think you can say the team downed tools. Watford are used to changing their coach within month, it's unusual they kept you on isn't it? When I came, the idea was first to stabilise the team, save us from relegation and then this year try to grow. I'd say that ever since I've been here I haven't felt that instability. But you lost your best player, Richarlison, who became leading Premier League goal scorer as soon as he arrived at Everton and who's been selected for the Brazilian national side. It was the club's most important transfer. Logically, as the head coach and the person responsible on a day to day basis, my job is to give my opinion and say what I think the team needs. But like all clubs, there comes a time when, whether you're the manager or whoever else you may be, that other considerations prevail from an economic point of view. What are your aims for this season? Have the club's expectations changed given the excellent start? The same as when I came. We have to get the team competing in the Premier League and have a consistency each year and each season and little by little go aspiring towards more. When you arrived I suppose you had your ideas about what the Premier League was like. After 8 months in England, what's surprised you most? Inside the game, there are lots of other different games. In other leagues you see more consistency in the behaviour of teams and there are more similarities in the systems used in the matches. Here you can see more changes in teams and in systems used. There are changes made to the style of play during a match which force you to defend a different way. The direct game, the second ball, the held up ball, a physical strength that doesn't exist in other leagues. I believe this is a wonderful league in all its different aspects. And do you have a solution to the mystery of why English teams don't triumph in European competition? I don't know, but I think it's a question of time. At some moment or other it'll happen because there's plenty of quality and possibilities. Not just with one team, but with various. to have success in the future. And what do you think of the life around London? Do you live near the training ground? Yes, eventually I found a gaff nearby, only ten or fifteen minutes from Watford's training ground. It's on the outskirts, very quiet and about 25km north from Central London. I'm very happy there, truthfully. It's a very nice 'drum' as they say here in England and the family all like it a lot. Have you sorted out a decent watering hole nearby or haven't you turned fully English yet? No, no. Not yet. (laughs). I'm usually in the office all hours. At the club, working.
"It's a very nice 'drum' as they say here in England and the family all like it a lot." - Not sure who he mixes with ??!! Great interview. Like the fact that he can see the tactical changes being made and the need to react to them.
Thanks for that Clive. Perhaps he is lodging with Sid James,Hattie Jaques and Bill Kerr and has Kenneth Williams next door? It sounds like he could be living in St Albans?
The translation was all my own work. No Google translate used here! He might not have said 'Gaff' or 'Drum'. Or 'watering hole' But the sentiment was properly conveyed.
