Tom Cleverley is a weird looking bloke. He looks like a CG character with his featureless rubbery face. And yeah whats the story with "Toegate" ? Was that just Deeney trolling the TV interviewer ?
And Gerry D next to him by the look of it (with the massive hand scratching his head) Were watford on the subs bench on Saturday night? Ricky Gervais behind him
Y You have a point, despite being in the background of the shot, his head is still bigger than anybody’s in the foreground! I mean it’s even bigger than Brendan Rogerses is! Mind you, Gervais, right at the back gives Deeney’s a run for its money.
It's a genuine screen grab from the footage, no Photoshop here! Here's a few seconds later, talking to each other:
Can’t believe I’m saying this compared to last season, but I’d be very worried if Fat Boy got injured. Absolutely intrinsic to this new system
He has shown it doesn't matter if he gets injured, he will still play. I expect he'd play after a cruciate as long as he could have a jab.
When Gracia said he wanted players to start scoring away from home, I'm not sure he quite had this in mind. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...eney-leaves-wife-29-model-new-girlfriend.html
If FIFA 19 is to be believed then it appears he missed the Wolves game with "zombitus". With our medical team I'm not sure we can expect to see him back any time this season, or in fact ever, in part due to their incompetence but also due to the fact that Troy allegedly keeps trying to eat their brains (as well as everything else containing calories that he lays his eyes on).
So, at what point exactly is it that it becomes widely accepted, as clear as it already is, that he is nowhere near enough at this level anymore? He has scored 7 goals in 43 games (2 or 3 of which were penalties), turns like a tank, sprints like a snail, more often than not gets dominated by centre backs despite how much he'd like everyone to believe he can't be matched physically, and generally spends the vast majority of his time on the pitch giving the opposition very little to worry about in terms of being a direct threat. There are still those desperate to praise him and chant his name any time he does something that falls within the basic requirements of his role - like winning a header or barging a player off the ball - but the reality is he offers nothing of any real substance 90% of the time and hasn't done for almost two years. I'm just bored of it, I'm bored of him. He was great for us years ago and gave us some great moments, but his time is up.
Trouble is nor to any of our other strikers really deliver what they are able to do on a regular basis.
No, but at least the potential is there in Deulofeu and Success (who already does most things Deeney is good at better than him, and has a top speed of over 3mph) and there's every chance that they can still both improve considerably. Deeney however is on a downward spiral and has been for a long time.
So I actually thought Deeney had a good game today...he gave the Cardiff defenders lots to think about and came deep to help make space. Shows some nice touches when the ball is played to his feet. I also don't think you can underestimate his role as a leader in this group. For me he still offers enough to be starting games.
Totally agree, however he's just not a goal threat. Still has a lot to offer, but we seriously have to rely on others to score the goals which is not ideal. When you have your left back outscoring your main striker, it's a bit of a problem.
For the first goal, Deeney had two Cardiff defenders marshalling him in the 18-yard box which allowed Pereyra to run in unmarked AND allowed Delofeu to continue his run and finish. In this moment he didn’t actually do anything else apart from occupy the two defenders, and he didn’t need to! I thought he played the role as a foil well today but also remembering that also Cardiff weren’t very good. When he brings the ball down, he is strong and has the intelligence to look at playing in another player. Unfortunately he has slowed down and isn’t always afforded the time. I hate to say that he doesn’t look like scoring. Queuing up a shot takes him too long. He has his qualities and today Javi used him well.
Without him would the others score as many goals? I think his positioning and physicality give teams something to think about. As a target man it is all about bringing others into the game and creating time and space.
Deeney had a good game, although it must be said the game suited him. Cardiff were defending deep and much of the game (until they came out after 3-0) was played in front of them, there was little need for a striker with pace in behind.
We wouldn’t go into the market & buy Troy. We have him & make the best use we can of him. He has done a phenomenal job at improving & making himself an option within progressively more skilful teams over 8 years. But plainly his skills aren’t suited to the style of play we saw today. I’m not convinced that Isaac is much more than a younger version. Gino’s dilemma is whether splashing out on an Alcacer has any financial logic. If it’s the difference between 6-7 & 10-13, probably not.
Pretty much agree with that, but I do think that the difference between 6-7 and 10-13 is quite big in terms of how we are thought of by potential new players. It moves us from being closer to Europe, than it does to relegation, with ambition rather than a perennial fight against the drop and generally means that we the fans are looking ahead with excitement, than dread. It is more than just the £8m to £12m in prize-money.
I would say the difference between 6-7 and 10-13 is huge, for all the reasons you give. The prize money is insignificant compared to the intangibles.
How much value does Gino place on the intangibles? I would love us to buy an Alcacer (who would be both the final piece in the jigsaw & a fox in the box) but how monumental would the cost for a ‘finished product’ striker be? A Giroud would be hugely expensive. An Origi expensive but a possible Pozzo reboot option. Which leaves a Cucho or what we have. (I think the Mackail-Smith ship has sailed.)
So basically he helped Deulofeu to score his first goal purely by existing and giving the defenders the job of marking one of our other players? Great... I don't buy this "he's a foil for others" lark at all. It's rare that he intelligently drags people around, he is often extremely static in attacking positions and anyone can "create space for others" purely just by being there. He's a striker that doesn't score goals, doesn't create goals and doesn't offer a direct attacking threat to the opposition the vast majority of the time. It's not good enough. 7 goals and 3 assists in 43 games is terrible.
It is difficult to say, as he doesn't actually say very much and I personally struggle at understanding whether we are financially secure, or insecure. But I remember an interview the Pozzo's gave several years ago when they said that they get their biggest kicks from competing with the big clubs as a smaller club, referring to Udinese's success in the upper echelons of the Italian league a few years ago, and they wanted to do that again with Watford. If that was true, then I think intangibles may be important to him.
