I very much doubt we sold him the dream of trading-in Ligue 1 football for Toulouse, where he was adored, to come and sit on the bench in the Championship. He'll be expecting to compete to be starting most weeks I reckon. The reality of that depends on if we play 1 or 2 up top I suppose.
You’d think so but Bayo has been first choice in the friendlies so far I think ? Suggestions he might be off though.
I think this is an example of why we can't read too much into the teams that have played in the friendlies. Some of the players will have been given a chance to impress by VI, but will have failed their auditions, like Bayo.
What a position to be in just a week before the season starts. Bayo couldn't get a game ahead of Davis and Araujo last season but looks to be our starting striker. Plus he might not even be here this time next week!
When we lined up against Middlesbrough in Ivic's first game (we won 1-0), the team sheet looked like a jumbled mess. I think all we can do right now is hope that what we have is good enough to sustain us in a reasonable position until the window closes. If Manga/Costa have some surprises lined up, they better reveal them sooner rather than later.
Post relegation after many years in top flight I understand it. Being a complete mess moving from one championship season to another I have less sympathy. If they want to just go at it with the dreadful squad we have then fair enough, but otherwise the lack of bringing players in is poor.
I think the issue is/was that we needed to get players out of the door before bringing them in. This seems to have happened now so hopefully we will see movement on incoming transfers
It doesn’t sound as if it’s for the lack of trying. I’m sure a lot of work and negotiating is going on behind the scenes, although it’s disappointing I agree that so far we’ve only been able to announce three proper signings with the season just 9 days away. But there are two deadlines in effect. The more ‘artificial’ one of the first match which is more a desirable one as we want to start with a settled side, and the actual one when the window shuts. Cliche I know but it’s a long old season and a good player joining us in late August is probably better than a panicky signing just to get bodied in for QPR.
The trouble is, there are 4 matches to be played before the window shuts, and three of those are at home. We run the real risk of a slow start for not having the correct players lined up. Once you have a slow start, then you're playing catch up and the manager is instantly under pressure. It starts a negative cycle that is difficult to break out from. Players lose belief in the system, fans very quickly lose any positivity a new season may bring and it all tends to nosedive from there. I've seen it many times before. A slow start is not always fatal though, as Coventry proved last season, but we know how trigger happy our owner is. If we're struggling after 10 games Ismael will be history, so in Watford's case, a slow start could well be fatal to the team this season. Also, if we have targets lined up for the end of the window, if these players are decent and Watford are languishing near the bottom, they could well think, nah, this is not for me and look elsewhere. Already I think it's probably too late for any signings we bring in now, as Ismael's style needs a lot of coaching and very high fitness levels. Whoever we bring in now, will probably need a few weeks to get up to speed. Lewis could be an exception to the rule if we get him soon, but I don't think the rest would certainly start against QPR, even if we bring in a busload of players today.
Hardly any supporter goes to the first match of the season and exclaimed ‘wow I’m really happy with our summer dealings’ It’s the lot of us all to fret and worry and predict Armageddon. We all did so during the July of Ivic’s season, when frankly we looked a mess come the big kick-off. And what happened? 4 wins and a draw in the first 6. Ditto last season. Nobody was happy with the squad. What happened? Unbeaten in the first 5 matches. I myself aren’t impressed with the window so far but I’m sure more arrivals will be on the way. Yea it’s annoying they won’t all be up to speed to start the seasons but so be it. Yes we might make a slow start but equally the evidence of our last two Championship season suggests maybe we won’t. Maybe focussing only on new arrivals neglects to mention the hard work VI will have been doing with the players he does have. If he’s as good a coach as our club obviously think he is, then that’s got to worth something during pre-season. Even with a fairly weak squad, we’ve been competitive in all our pre-season matches. It’s not as if we’ve been losing 0-5 every game. I can see a reason for not being happy with our window so far but I can’t quite yet see the need for total hysterical panic.
We just do not have the necessary quality in the middle and at the top end to win matches consistently. I certainly expect us to be competitive, we may even control games and be the better side. But I know with the players we have, we'll make big errors when we're being pressed which will lead to soft goals, we wont be taking good chances often enough at the other end either, so even though we'll look decent in games, I do not expect results to be all that good. Plus, with the high intensity we'll be putting into games, we're bound to pick up injuries. Even 2 or 3 injuries will severely harm the side, as we've lost 16 first team players so far, and only brought in 3. We're 13 players down on last season's squad, so even numerically, we're down to the bare bones.
@Knight GT Let’s hope so too eh. It’s certainly been too quiet of late, although not for rumours and counter rumours @Jumbolina Yes that’s certainly the impression the club are giving isn’t it. Makes you wonder how unattractive we’ve become to potential signings, either for the wages we are prepared to pay or the constant instability of coaches. Plus we do seem to quibble over minor details about fees and add-ons etc.
Well you’d think so but never know with us . Bayo is probably seen as a big strong physical striker ..
Sadly, this is highly likely to happen that our results and season will suffer. Was hoping that losing Sarr would fire the starting gun on a few deals. Still waiting, but as you say we're already late to getting any kind of team together.
All this is why I maintain it's a terrible idea for the window to close (sorry, "slam shut") nearly a month after the season starts. Many deals are finalised in a domino effect close to the end of August.
Totally agree with that, but it aligns with the rest of Europe. I would much prefer the season starts on 2nd Feb, or for the window to shut 4th Aug.
Ha ha. Yes, even then it would be too soon for our squad to be ready. Should have read 2nd Sept of course.
In principle I would agree. I would also say though that it comes down to the preparation of the squad before the Season starts in earnest. Compared to previous years, we look far fitter in these Pre-Season games. We've looked under baked in previous Seasons which no doubt lead to unnecessary injuries with last year being almost a parody with 16 concurrent injuries to the senior side at one point. We need starting quality players for rotation, as you rightly point out. Some of this though can be supplemented with our more promising youth players. Amass could have been an option for our CB pool, but Man U has pilfered that option. Jack Grieves is one I would expect will be on the bench more often than not as well because of how thin we are there. Given the competition for his signature, I have to assume we've promised him some men's game time here and there. Shaq Forde has been afforded a lot of senior men's game time so far which may mean he could be considered a regular bench option by VI, but his question mark is what his position is as he's been placed been all over the pitch in games. The lack of Ademayo to me indicates he will be loaned out this Season because he looked too raw in most games he's played. I would still want a senior CB, a senior CDM (Not called Livermore) and another senior ST whilst the rest I'm comfortable using youth players to fill the remaining gaps in the squad.
Good points. No problem with youth players on the beach or even starting as long as they're good enough. I've not seen enough of them so can't comment on them. But agreed we do need more through the spine of the team. Really hoping for Kieffer Moore as the striker and would even accept that Bayo then stays. Wouldn't say no to Choudhury coming back. CB is one injury away from looking paper thin. Who that is or would be I don't know.
@Carpster I’d prefer them on the bench! Too many of our players been on the beach at times in recent seasons!
