Filippo Giraldi - Head Of Player Recruitment

Interesting read Steve, and it has made me think more about what Giraldi is all about.

Reading that article I think that most importantly it sounds like he does indeed try to interfere with the coaching staff too much?

Furthermore are his recruitment choices too focused on buying young & cheap players and stacking them high, at the expense of bringing in experienced players of reasonable quality when we so obviously need them. It might of course be a case of him having to cut his cloth accordingly to what we can afford, but is it totally that, or is his judgement questionable?

In that article it does sound like he is committed to the club and he is really trying to do the best he can, but lets not forget that article was written a few years ago, so has he perhaps become too big for his boots and has he been given too much power by Gino. Maybe he has become a type of SVENGALI figure to Gino and therefore has him under his spell? Therefore if this is so maybe it is time for Gino to try and break that spell and get this man out of our club?

Use SLB's link and read the WHOLE article guys then see what you think, but don't forget it was written a few years ago.

 

Don't tell me what to do.

 

You won't be so bold when the subliminal message in the random capitalisation kicks in and you find yourself clicking on the link. SVENGALI!

 

I thought he was from Italy but now the pursuit of Sarr makes sense.

 

Ulrika was the only Svengali I'd ever heard of.

 

For whatever reason, Gino trusts this guy implicitly. He's now the technical director, so it's a position of real authority and you would expect someone of that seniority to be part of things.

Ok, he's not going to be part of the coaching set-up, but you would expect him to oversee training and would be a constant presence. Whether it's good or not is another question. Personally I see that as divisive. Instead of breaking down barriers it can lead to paranoia within the coaching staff. "he's watching me, he's taking notes" and all that type of thing. It's not nice as the coach will have his own team and could see Giraldi as an outsider who is telling tales to the boss.

I don't think there is a problem if he's an occasional presence, takes in the odd training session here and there. But being in the changing room and on the bench, in and around the players, is probably a step too far.

Should he be sacked? Well no, but I think he should modify his visibility. It's seems to be a problem for coaches, so if coaches are not comfortable with him around, that should be respected. There appears to be a massive lack of trust towards whoever we appoint as head coach. There should not be a need for this constant monitoring. Maybe it's a reason why things go wrong? Maybe coaches act a bit differently knowing "the bosses informant" is watching.

I'd personally like to see him as less of a presence for the coaching team and less of a presence on matchday. He should be sitting next to Scott and Gino...and not wander on to the pitch after the final whistle.

But like I say.....Gino seems to be very happy with it. If he says it's ok, then it's ok and nothing will change.

 

My understanding is that Giraldi came in at HT and tried to alter the tactics.

Pearson reacted. "You know, Filippo, I only got back into the football business because I thought it would be a bit of a fanny magnet.... wasn't expecting a c**t like that!"

 

What is SVENGALI up to these days? We’ve had worse managerial appointments.

 

Sven Gali Eriksson?

 

That old chestnut. The facts are that for every 'cherry picked' talent like Sancho there are many more who are not. Even at mega rich Man City.

And if we had the level/quality/focus of academy that could entice the likes of Sancho to stay to make it through to the first team like Southampton do, what then?

I stand by the assertion, actually made by another poster, that we have a poor record of bringing youth through during Gino Pozzo's era. Blaming the actions of other clubs rather than focusing on what we could do better ourselves will not improve matters.

Combing that with the buy low, sell high, make a fast buck, strategy with our first team squad does not make for a strong football club.

Investing in youth and investing in the right individuals to play their part in our first team are fundamental changes in strategy required if the on-field performance of Watford FC is to be given greater importance than the financial gains made in player transactions. Sadly, I have no doubt that things will continue the way they are.

 

Who knows? Few have ever seen him play.

 

We're so bad at giving young players a chance that we had to give the Young Player of the Year award to Dion Pereira a couple of seasons ago because not a single first team squad member that played any games was under 23!

 

Quique Sanchez Flores on Fillipo Giraldi:

Neither is the environment in which he was working this time around. Including the close proximity of Giraldi, the technical director. On match days, Giraldi was on the touchline and in the dressing room — but Sanchez Flores says this was not an issue.

“To be honest, I don’t mind. They feel completely involved and they need to go to the dressing room, to know what happened. You need to be close, you need to feel empathy, so this is not a problem. With Filippo, I was alright,” he says. “I understand if you want to push like a coach, with the same passion, the same idea, the same attitude it’s not too bad. Even though I am completely sure about what I am doing, I prefer they come and see how I explain things at half-time.”

Another level of scrutiny was too much, though.

“They have some attitude right now that is about control of medical staff, about control of training, how the coach trains and they have a person taking notes,” he says. “I don’t believe in that. I’m so sorry, but I don’t believe in that. You sign a coach, you believe in the coach. It’s not normal to have someone taking notes while the coach is in training. I have more than 500 matches as a coach, so how can he analyse me?

“He’s writing, ‘He’s training well. He’s not training well.’ When you win he’d meet with you, ‘OK, we’ve got a lot of confidence in you,’; but when you lose, the notes become investigative and the same guy is telling you, ‘OK, I realised this week that…’ So it’s hard for a coach to work. But with experience you can separate that, with experience you can say, ‘OK. It happens…’”

 

In this moment, the notes become bad and then in this moment the notes are good.

 

Giraldi is just your typical chubby teachers pet grassing up everyone.

 

Wasn’t one of the big things about the way the Pozzos run their clubs is that training, fitness, diet etc is standardised across the clubs?

 

With a rich dad, so the kids hang round with him to get sweets and money off him, even though no one likes him.

 

Well Giraldi ... put this in your bloody notes .... The players aren't fit enough, pre-season was a disgrace with too few matches, we have too many old players who are not athletic enough for the demands of the premier league. Our defense is a an absolute shambles..... We need a center forward with power and pace... ideally 2. I thought we wanted to be an established top 10 premier league side ?

My notes on you Mr Giraldi .....

Ability to recruit a coach - Pathetic .... you hire them and fire them - they don't hang around because you hire the wrong people time and time again. We want an expansive coach that plays youth .... well hire one then and leave them alone. Trust them and let them do their job, Let them tell you what players they want for their system..... let them tell you the character they want ... some leaders would be good perhaps ? You should be working to help the coach and the team not hinder it. Stay out their way stop looking over their bloody shoulder - with your football qualifications what do you bring to the table ? .... nothing just an opinion.... it may as well be me doing it.

Transfer Policy - What is it ? I tell you what it is its neglectful, arrogant, lazy, poorly planned and not what is needed at a premier league football club... or any club - How on earth you can keep buying unsuitable players is beyond me.... We need players in at the start of the transfer window so they have time to adapt and integrate - not 5 mins before the end of deadline day.

So tell me what have you achieved ? how over the past 3 or 4 years have you added anything positive ...... who is taking notes on you ? Because if you were judged by the same rule book as you judge our coaches you would be long gone. You just hire and fire, create instability, drive our players out of the club and make others not want to come and play for Watford - unless I dare say, we pay over the odds in wages to compensate for this mad house you have created. I am sick of seeing you in the background like a bad smell.

Look in the mirror as you are the one to blame

 

This is spot on

 

These are all good points, but the final line is not quite correct. The one to blame for Giraldi's performance is the man at the top. He's the one who keeps faith in him. He gives him more and more responsibility. I'm sure Giraldi does what he thinks is best for the club. He doesn't deliberately sign crap players and crap managers. If there is someone to blame (or give credit to for past achievements) it's Gino.

 

Yeah but they built us a semi-permanent stand!

 

Fair point - it is also Gino and Duxburys responsibility too .... Im sure he isnt doing it on purpose, but he is hen clearly out of his depth and should surround himself with good knowledgeable football people to help him make better choices... perhaps this is where Eric Roy comes into it ? I mean our recruitment across the first team is rubbish ..... What is our interview process for a Head Coach.... Q1 Are you available to work Q2 Will you play attractive football Q3 will you do as your told ? Q4 can you make a silk purse out of a sows ear ?

Hypothetically speaking if we had Guardiola or Klopp as Head Coach would Giraldi be doing all this note taking crap and spying on them, being in the dressing room and on the bench ? Maybe his roles and responsibilities need to change ? Whatever it is he does or is told to do is massively screwing us up on every level

 

I would have thought Silva represented a more bold approach (as did Zola and Joka for that matter). The last two were too bold and didn't bother with defence. Slivva let us down badly and creepily. A bit harsh to say Watford have never been bold. Lately, however, we seem to have lost our way and panicked and you would have more of a point.

 

Arguably, youth development football is finished: If a player shows promise he will be poached by a bigger club and you cannot stop it if the law remains as it is. Reference Jadon Sancho. It is just not worth the effort. I suppose you could develop so-so players who you could sell on to Div 1 clubs and the like, but the costs of doing this would likely exceed the profits.

 

Yes.

 

This might have been said before but did whoever signed off the Gray deal think that
he had signed the new and much younger Jamie Vardy?

18 m down the drain not because of a bad attitude or anything else but purely
down to a lack of technical ability needed for the highest level .

What other business would tolerate such buffoonery ?

 

With apparently the best scouting network in the world ...... surely not us ... must be another reason ..... Pre Pozo I know but I still haven't got over Ellington

 

Didn't Zola resign?

 

Oh yes Ellington when Boothroyd lost his marbles period !!

 

Boothroyd never had marbles, they were Burkinshaw's and he took them with him when he left.

 

I suspect most of them lie about how they are willing to work within the club's structure in order to get in the door, then get pissed off when they aren't given carte blanche to do whatever they want.

I've worked with a fair number of people like that: they want the money so they say whatever they think will land them the job, and are then unhappy with the way the job works.

 

If you search Filippo Giraldi on Google, this thread is the 5th result.

The first post calls him a fat used car salesman.

No wonder he hates us.

 

Intu, British Leyland, Royal Mail (Consiglia!), GPO (System X), NHS, HS2, Debenhams, Any government civil service dept, any local council bureaucracy, the entire EU, etc, etc.

 

@AdamLeventhal


New for @TheAthleticUK

Note taking and a go-between travelling from Filippo Giraldi’s position in the stand down to the dug-out plus other observations of what went on in the background of #WatfordFC’s defeat to #MCFC.

Please tell me again how this guy is not the main issue.