i think many posters on here totally underestimate the extremely high standards that Gino Pozzo has. my guess is that unless we go up the manager will be replaced.
I disagree, even if we miss out we would benefit from keeping Joka for a full pre-season and build on what we have provided we don't lose too many important players.
I agree. I think next season could potentially be a very good one if we do find ourselves still in the Championship. There were plenty of hints from Pozzo when he appointed Joka that he saw it as a 'long-term' move, to end all the flux and change that came to a head when McKinlay was let go.
Indeed, it may be a hoary old cliche of a statistic, but look at the clubs we are competing against in the top 6: the only one not to have started this season with the manager they have now is the one team below us, the team that has literally just moved up into the playoff places, and with some mitigating circumstances in having been relegated from the Prem at the end of last season. This is against the backdrop of a record (I am led to believe...) 17 managerial sackings in the Championship so far this season. Stability is hugely important; especially if you aren't the richest club in the league, and/or benefiting from wildly inordinate parachute payments, therefore able to throw silly money at the best players from the teams challenging around you and buy your way up/back up, i.e. West Ham, QPR et al.
I totally agree about stability, though playing devil's advocate slightly two of the last 4 play-off finalists (Palace and Derby) changed managers during that season. We'll have to wait to see if changing four times in a season reaps rewards come May. If we go up, we may set a new trend for other clubs to follow in the future!!!!
You're both right of course so accept my apologies. I get wound up by people who call for managers to go after 5 minutes, I shouldn't. Players like Briggs however are fair game.
I'm definitely being won round..there's a lot I like about him..it seems he was just what our club needed. He's a good tactician and appears to be a firm but fair man manager. I like how he doesn't hide behind excuses. And I like that he's a winner, having won 3 league titles at different clubs in the past. Hopefully that'll transmit to our players come squeaky bum run-in time. But what I'd also say is Joka was appointed to win us promotion. If we do, he's a success. And the exciting thing is we all have that to find out in time. People quite rightly say 'don't judge too soon, don't judge until the end of the season etc' but in truth they've already done just that, in a positive way and feel indignant if anybody has done the same in a negative way!! Joka is definitely winning me over..how could he not after 3 wins in a week! I believe we certainly CAN win promotion with him in charge and am excitedly looking forward to the next few weeks.
No need to apologise at all. I like and admire your stance. I wish I were the same. Funny thing is, under Zola I always argued for him to be given more time, especially at the start of his reign, and during the terrible run just before he quit. I think it was the arrival of madcap Beppe that affected me and I turned into a 'fire them, fire them' sort of poster! So many rumours about Joka facing the boot had we lost at Fulham..it'd be great (though impossible) if Pozzo came out one day and confirmed or denied this!!!
i know someone, who knows someone and uwe rosler was at the very least being approached the week of the fulham game. to be fair, if we had lost 5 on the spin then you expect the owner to at least window shop! i also loved zolas possession approach and then loathed how bepe dismantled it within a matter of weeks. i thought he was an italian gary megson. slav has grown on me and the results are very good since he has weeded out the dissenting characters. wouldnt say im totally sold as i still think we need to find a consistent formation etc. but agree we need a decent centre half and without one we arent quite good enough to go up.
Whilst I agree with the sentiment, could it not just be that the best managers are the most successful and are the least likely to be sacked? If you used a statistic like first ten games of a new season vs first ten games with a different manager of the same team midway through the season, the results might be different.
Our current Manager has the highest win ratio of any Watfird Manager ever at 52.38%, to consider changing him is stupid, if we were not to go up,this season he should be given next season to complete the mission!
Just remember it's the players that win games not managers and we have lots of good ones. However what Dyche did last season on a shoestring was really impressive (and no I didn't want him to stay). If we beat Norwich on saturday I might just start believing in our Serbian but he's done nothing I wouldn't expect of him yet.
Why? Our new-found fexibility & adaptability is a strength not a weakness. Finally we have a Plan B. And a Plan C & a Plan D. Our ability to change tactics between games & even during games has won us quite a few points recently. The players seem comfortable with it & it gets results.
Agreed. I suspect Joka was already on the Pozzo's wish list & when he became available, sadly for McKinley, they weren't going to pass on the opportunity. I'd be amazed if they ditch him at the end of the season if we don't go up. The guy has ability & the progress is there for all to see.
He has high expectations and is not afraid to change things both of which I like but I still have some minor doubts.
My doubts were less about Joka himself but rather would the Pozzos support him if he ran into conflicts with some players (I suspect they did NOT support Sannino)? So far, so good. He appears to have deal with with troublesome players and no sign of Pozzos overruling him.
And we've made 4 changes to ensure we aren't out changed and therefore have the best chance of going up if it goes down to it.
If it's the players that win games and our players are so very good, why even bother with a Head Coach? Just send 'em out there every week, they can deal with formations, tactics, subs etc. Have to say I didn't expect to hit 7 past Blackpool, or to beat Brentford away.
Looking back at the last week, what I've most enjoyed is the fact we've started doing things we rarely seemed to do last season. We won a game having actually not played very well. We ground out a win. We then won two matches having come from behind. We won two matches with injury-time goals, rather than us conceeding once the 4th official's board was raised. We won consecutive matches on the road. In summary, if the last week is anything to go by, we now have a team who can still triumph on an off-day, who fight to the very end, whose fitness levels are no longer in question and who no longer fill us with dread if they're not playing at home! The last box I need to see ticked is 'good level of consistency'. Joka's longest unbeaten run with us is 4 games (his first four in charge). Our unbeaten run currently stands at 3..let's hope we can remain unbeaten now for a long time to come. Something akin to his season in charge in Thailand wouldn't be amiss!!!!
In my humble opinion, I think Joka has done more than was expected. We had a squad who were most comfortable playing a certain formation (3-5-2) however when previous managers including Joka tried to change formations it took them out of their comfort zone and they struggled. It takes time and commitment to change those mindsets and I believe we're seeing the fruits of that labour. This is down to coaching...you work on it in training and you persevere if you believe in the philosophy. We know Joka is a strong minded so it's taken some time to filter through to the players that there are more aspects to the game. The team are now understanding and seeing rewards for adapting to different situations and the team is now more than the sum of its parts. They get that the team comes first, seeing Munari and Angella celebrating Troy's goal shows there is much more unity, and that unity takes time to develop. I believe now there were festering sores in the club that Joka has weeded out. Look at Ekstrand's joy when he scored and his performance...he was labelled a trouble maker...the players realise now that the team comes first. Joka is not there to be their friend and to be liked...that's Dean Austin's job, he's the link between the Head Coach and the players, Joka is there to make the TEAM successful, hence his disappointment at not strengthening in the areas he identified. So I think he's done alot, but there's still along way to go and I think it will only get better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOi3FYAQLk8&feature=youtu.be Extended highlights. Apologies if already posted
Watch Ekstrand's pathetic attempts to block the last minute equaliser in this. Might be naive but I think we'd see a little more commitment now... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF9hqSqpK-g
Obviously its important to have good talented players, however it doesn't matter how good they are if you don't have a manager who manages to blend them together, this I believe Joka has now done. having sussed out what works and what doesn't. Our bench against Bolton was extremely strong, all of our players who are first choice are available, everyone is raring to go, Roll on Saturday a win would be fantastic for many reasons but if it was not to happen it wouldn't be the end of the world. There is still a long way to go and we have the winning momentum.
Just a small point. Why do the highlights on Watford Player (even on "high") always seem like you are watching through a frosted window when compared with the same highlights that come from our opponents. Am I missing something? Anybody know?
I thought at the time to use 3 subs with 25 min left + injury time was a bit of a gamble. Must've had full confidence in Ekstrands injury recovery and fitness to think he would last the 90. Or was he really injured?
Fantastic result, along with many others in the last few weeks, but the only thing that worries me is I don't feel like I am watch a great team. We rarely seem to control a game, or in my opinion have clear tactics. I'm a tad worried we are winning of individual brilliance at the moment, and I'm not sure wether that will last long term. Over the moon with the togetherness and morale that joka seems to have built however!
It's because the production company that handles League sites are still stuck in the noughties. It's pretty obvious that they're just skimping on bandwidth.
