Our transfer policy reminds a bit of "Homes Under The Hammer" as like many investors on there we seem to prefer a "Buy to Let Policy"
This is pure player trading. They aren't developed with us in mind. They're developed to sell and make money. If any ever play for us it would just be the pragmatic adaptation for a specific individual. God knows why Success or Penaranda (like a new signing) were ever sent to us. They should have been sold when demand for them peaked 3 years ago.
Why are people rolling out all this miserable Pozzo-model bashing stuff again over this? We knew that Cucho wouldn't get Spanish citizenship until at least Jan, so of course he's going to go on loan again.
What are you talking about ? Pozzo model-bashing ?? I think it's a great model to make the group cash but the whole idea is not to develop players for us, it's to generate funds generally. Otherwise we would be constantly trying to squeeze players who weren't quite what we needed into WFC instead of players who are a better fit. Eg Penaranda, what was the point in bringing him over ? They should be selling those players and using the funds to buy players who fit what we need. If Cucho happens to be perfect for us and the championship/prem, then great, bring him over. But if not, and he's better suited to or wants to stay in Spain, plan A has to be develop him, get him to peak value, sell him to a La Liga club and use the funds to buy players who are a better fit for what we need here. No point in trying to fit square plugs into round holes.
Aaaaand this is exactly why we got relegated. Because millions of pounds of our limited transfer budget is spent on these investments, who are completely separate from our team requirements. We have strikers and a left back tearing up Spain, but our first 11 has gaping holes in both those areas. Success did look like he would suit us, to be fair. He looked the part, but his absolutely **** character has seen him ruin his own career prospects. Peneranda, however, never looked like a player suited to the English league. He is a classic example of the way being treated like chattel ruins young footballers. Success too perhaps. Being completely unattached to a team or club, how can we expect them to 'fight for the shirt' or actually give a damn, when it's just another staging post on a career which sees them fly all over Europe.
Why are people bashing the Pozzos for using our club to fund their player speculation, whilst seeing our completely unfit for purpose team relegated? Why indeed?
Yeh Pozzos what a joke- never bought a decent player too tight as well . Overspent on toxic rubbish gonna bankroll the club we love
While I agree with the broader point, we didn’t know that. We’ve been told previously that he was expected to join us this summer by Leventhal and the club put out media about him going through physical tests at the training ground last season - if he wasn’t going to be eligible, why do that for him but not Suarez, Estupinan? There were comments from the player himself saying it was ‘time’ to pull on the Watford shirt and I could be wrong, but I swear the club even put a video out of him saying he couldn’t wait to see us (fans)?
I agree that was confusing and somewhat contradictory, but for whatever reason it seems there were unexpected passport issues. Unless the passport is just an excuse for why we're keeping him out on loan? I doubt it though, given that actually Pervis and Suarez took 3.5 years to get theirs, while Cucho has just been in Spain for 3 years so far (meaning the Jan expected timeline makes sense). Maybe the club had just been too optimistic on Cucho's timeline?
The two things don't have to be mutually exclusive. Cucho, a player who would have cost us basically nothing, still being 6 months away from a Spanish passport has nothing to do with us not having spent a bit more on CBs for Watford.
The physical tests were part of his rehab to get fit for whatever loan he was going to start at the time. Was it before his Marbella move? I can't honestly remember which but I'm 99.99% sure it was the club checking on his condition while, seemingly, doing a bit of PR at the same time for one of the few young loan players who had a ready made reputation. His comments re. wanting to put on the shirt were withdrawn by the player himself relatively quickly and I wonder if it was then it became apparent to everyone involved his passport/work permit situation would take longer than first thought. The fact he is season by season getting loans with more established sides seems to suggest he's progressing as a player too so if he does ever play here we'll have a half decent forward or we'll get a good fee for him. I'm also pretty sure Estupinan has appeared in pre-season videos so has trained with the club but no, nothing was made of it because up until the season just gone he wasn't considered a major player. Nor did he have any great appeal to the supporters as it's only in the last 6 months or so has his stock risen to such a degree he is now seen as one of the best left backs in Europe! Maybe he's now outgrown Watford and the club will benefit financially or perhaps he'll be happy to sign a new contract, have another loan move or actually come and play here. Whatever happens the club will gain either money or a player. And Suarez is the same. Until last season he was another jobbing South American on the books who wasn't available to us but who was making steady progress through a series of loans. Like Estupinan he may now see himself as bigger than Watford due to all the good press he's gotten in Spain so it's now sell while his reputation is hot or have a centre forward who, before lockdown, looked like he could actually hit that infamous barn door.
The physical tests were made during his loan at Mallorca, not before. Regardless, the clubs promotion of him last season was odd if they didn’t feel he was coming. As said above, I suspect the reason is an unexpected visa issue probably because of Covid.
Well, they don't have to be, but whilst our on the pitch situation is failing, it's natural to look at the distractions and diversion of our resources
It wouldn't be a diversion of our resources given that he won't be costing us much, if anything. As for distraction, I doubt the Pozzos looked at our defence at thought: "yeah our defence is crap and Championship standard, but it will turn out to be fine because we've got a 20 year-old Colombian striker who can slot in to the back four in a year's time". Again, it's highly unlikely our failing to address the defence has anything to do with Cucho.
It's a shame he can't join up with us but as has been mentioned - was going to have work permit issues until January. I still expect Cucho to play for us in the future - unless he's unreal for Getafe and we get offered a substantial deal for him. Will be interested to see if he has extended his contract before agreeing this loan.
Yep. As for his contract, he already signed a new one only last summer. There's still plenty of time to see if he has a future with us.
He's only going to play for us if: a) we get back into the Premier League b) he treads that line between not being so good big teams want him but not being so bad we don't want to bring him over So basically, he'll never play for us.
Yep, you're correct they were during his stay at Mallorca. He joined in August and the piece about him was in November. But as I said, they were to do with his rehab from injury. I just think it was a PR opportunity on one of our known 'talents' who the supporters were/are very aware of.
'A' isn't impossible. 'B' isn't either - it's perfectly feasible for a player to be good enough for a mid/lower-mid level La Liga team and mid/lower-mid level Premier League team, but not good enough that Real/Barca/Atleti won't be desperate to spend say £30mil on them. Just look at Pablo Fornals for example.
Whilst it might be a natural response it's also short-sighted. The approach has helped build equity in the squad over the long haul. When the Pozzos took over our squad was probably worth £3-£5m, whereas now it's looking like about £180m even after relegation. In the course of building that they've taken us from mid-table in the Championship and lucky to be there to 5 years straight in the Premier League. Carry on being shrewd with how we invest over the long-term rather than throwing money at the squad to fix short term problems has served us well to this point and we shouldn't ditch it with a knee-jerk reaction to an admittedly bad single season.
Getafe have confirmed his loan signing. Unless I'm missing something in the translation, it doesn't say for how long though. https://www.getafecf.com/Noticia/tabid/137/Article/6990/Cucho-Hernandez-cedido.aspx
Player trading is an important, and perhaps vital, part of the way our club should be run. It provides useful future income to enable us to compete with clubs with far greater financial muscle. However, there is no point picking up bargain picks who will never play for us, if we refuse to upgrade our defence for the fourth consecutive year. In one fell swoop, we lost what, 50 million pounds? 100 million? How many bargain players do you need to sell to make up that loss? The balance obviously swung far away from the primary aim, to make our club a viable PL club.
Absolutely agreed. Even after a horrendous start to the season, by the January transfer window, we'd battled our way into a good position to stay up. But the only incoming senior signing was Pussetto, who made pretty much zero impact other than that goal line clearance. If they'd been prepared to bring in a loan player or pay a little over the odds for a defender, we may well have not gone down and faced this massive loss in revenue. Totally baffling to bring in a 6th/7th choice winger in the midst of a relegation battle.
There were a lot of brain fart thinking last season. Very little of it can be justified, whether it's in hindsight or at the time. Pussetto wasn't needed, but it was an opportunity to move him to another club owned by the Pozzo's. Personally I like his characteristics, although he doesn't look like a Premier League player. Neither did Sema, but I think both will do well in the Championship. So, in retrospect he could be a good signing because we're now in a lower league. But chasing Sarr all transfer window, ignoring defensive issues and only signing a Championship defender, along with a Championship winger in both windows cost us a place in the top league. To justify it, they have to keep Sarr, in order to make a lot of money on him if we go back up. If sell Sarr now, with say only a £10m profit, then their thinking last season would have turned into a complete disaster. We could say we made £10m on Sarr, but lost £50m on relegation, which could turn into a lot more if we don't bounce straight back. We have to get the basics right, like the defense. This is a concept lost on Watford's hierarchy. They've never seen the value in having good defensive players. Maybe that's down to arrogance or complacency created from decades without a relegation to their name, giving them a belief they know better than everyone else......who knows, but if anything positive is to come out of this relegation, I hope they realise the defense is a vital part of the team and they learn something from it.
Wasn't he the back-up for Sarr? I think there was a place in the squad for Pussetto or a player like him but ultimately he wasn't needed on the pitch due to Sarr staying fit. It could be argued Hughes could have played wide again but him, Capoue and Doucoure seemed to be the trusted midfield 3 with Cleverley & Chalobah in reserve. Welbeck & Pereyra were the players to fill in for GD on the left with Joao Pedro getting some minutes near the end. There really wasn't anyone else other than Pussetto to fill in for Sarr had he been out for any length of time which, thankfully, didn't happen.
Club in open communication shock! Cucho is on a year long loan with a view to a permanent transfer. News of other loans also in the article below. https://www.watfordfc.com/news/official-seven-departures-confirmed
Confirmed of the official site. Has joined Getafe on loan with a view to a permanent transfer. The loan is no surprise but the view to a permanent deal is. I guess those who said he will never play for us were correct! What a load of ********.
Be interesting to know whether there’s a pre-agreed fee or whether they would still have to agree that... I think the club will really be under pressure to keep Suarez now and give Joao Pedro a fair chance.
Lol will never ******* play for us. Probably doesn't want to play in the Championship and not really a difficult choice in wanting to live in Madrid over Watford. Pozzo hoping he has a good season in La Liga and then selling him for a big fee to a top European side if we don't get promoted.
Wonder if Cucho has said he doesn't want to play in the Championship hence the "with the view to a permanent transfer" meaning we're reluctant to sell but will if we aren't promoted back at first time of asking.
