Gianfranco Zola - Ex Manager

I been to every home game, 4 away and all the English pre-season friendlies....

I don't care what anyone says... Faroni has been our most consistent player this season..
And I ll add to that Thorne brings us absolutely nothing... He fills a gap and passes sideways, he can't tackle, can't win a header and DEFO can't run... He's sat in the bottom half of the centre circle for
3 matches and has NO forward vision at all.... Bring back Ireney, quickly.

 

Bump.

Results are what matter but today's outcome was more down to bad luck than the dire performances of recent home games. If Anya's goal had stood, if Fessi had left it for Anya in the second half, if the ball had fallen better for Deeney and if Fessi had more composure in the dying minutes, then we would have been praising Zola for an inspired team selection and formation.

Sometimes it's a fine line between success and failure.

I stand by Zola.

 

If, if, if.

If Deeney hadn't been sent off against Leeds, if Bond didn't get injured, if Cassetti didn't foul Zaha, if Briggs wasn't ****, if Almunia didn't kick it against Chris Wood, if Almunia didn't drop the ball for Beckford, if Abdi was fit, if the ball fell to Deeney not Ekstrand... Etc.

Boring.

 

Thorne and certainly not Iriney were brought in for their forward vision ... you're confusing that for what Battochio, McGu and Murray are paid to do.

 

That's his job, he fills a gap which is important to break down tackles, he sticks to his position and he retains possession sideways and backwards, if he could ping defence splitting forward balls like Carrick then he wouldn't be here. You're asking for a complete midfielder and totally neglecting Thorne's defensive qualities, do you want another McGugan or?

 

Interesting that all your ifs refer to individual errors made by players.

 

IF Zola had got his tactics, team selection and substitutions right at wembley

 

Well two of them are up to Zola/back room - yes but who played Briggs? Who didn't sign a 3rd keeper?

Plus, Almunia being lazy and sloppy is an individual error yes but you can also look at it and say if the manager was prepared to b*llock him maybe he wouldn't be making individual errors as he'd be concentrating more? All if's and but's really but if individual errors are to blame for our 9 game winless run then that confirms even more Zola has to go.

 

We had no issues defensively today. That is a huge improvement.

 

Mainly because Sheff Wed are quite ****e and didn't really offer anything. But yes, a slight positive.

 

Forestieri wasn't fully fit at Wembley. That's why Geijo came on. Who actually played well that day.

 

So, if we play well defensively it's because the other team were ****?

Come on. Are you that ****ing against the current manager that you view any improvement as unrelated to their work?

That's also pretty disrespectful to the defensive players.

 

Geijo was ****.

 

Quality managers get the small details right, only a non defender would set up a wall with your two smallest players on the end of the wall and what a surprise Wickham smashes over their heads into the goal, every player should know exactly what is required and where they should be at set pieces. I have said for months that Zola isn't a good manager and his reign at Watford is a carbon copy of his time at West Ham, I am sorry but nice guys don't make good managers and also very rarely do ex forwards especially if they are legends of the games. How many world class forwards have ever been a success as a manager, you could probably count them on the fingers of one hand

 

As Steve Clarke has just been sacked by WBA, offer him a partnership to help GFZ.

They're mates. It'd work.

 

What are you on about?

I asked you a few simple questions FFS

 

Good call
#

 

tw

Sorry did I dream Lansbury and Hoyte?

 

Hoyte?

 

Much like your time on this planet.

 

We had Gavin Hoyte once upon a time.

 

I can confirm Angela Lansbury was very good.

 

Really doubt that's the case, people at our club would not be stupid enough to attempt to sign a player that was ineligible.

 

She was excellent in the role of Chalobah that she wrote.

 

Angella made one error which eventually led to a goal against Boro and you've slagged him off completely unfairly ever since.

Stop being a tw*t.

 

Come on now, I think even you know that all of the above is either inaccurate or complete nonsense.

 

What?

 

No i'm not at all, I haven't asked for a different type of player or a complete midfielder! I totally understand the role and strategy, what his job is and the expectation of it.... and I'm not neglecting his defensive qualities ! that's the whole POINT... He hasn't got any.... He doesn't make the tackles he should, he's not strong in the challenge, for someone 6 foot 4/5 he rarely wins balls in the air... Today he had a free header puts his head through.. went sideways... 4 passes to the wings... straight out. I ve watched him like a hawk for the last 5 matches hoping he was going to get match fit, thinking its his injury.. the man doesn't run, he s treading water !!!

Here's some stats for you...
Ireney--- Played 13 Won 6 Drew 4 Lost 3.. We've scored 25, conceded 17 Pts 22
Thorne --- Played 5 Won 0 Drew 2 Lost 3.. We've scored 3, conceded 8 Pts 2

Look im not saying he's the problem.. what im saying is in some instances I feel sorry for Zola.. He's lost NC, tried to replace him and brought in McEachen (Champions league experience) and Thorne twenty odd games in the Prem last year.. They should be more than adequate replacements. They are not. I really admire the fact that Zola has identified that the system was nt working with the current personnel and changed the system to try and take the team forward. That takes guts and hat is what the fans asked for... My problem is the simple things that you cant find answers for ... I ll give examples.
Wednesday haven't won away or kept a clean sheet all season... We play 1 up front at home.
We store all the players at the back post at corners, the keeper had 2 free catches today...
Faroni is (in my eyes) our most consistent player this season, So he goes out and brings in Bellerin as a direct replacement. Yet we have 1 out and out striker in the club !
Faroni injured with 20 to go v Norwich, signals to the bench... He uses his last sub on someone else and Faroni then has to play another 50 mins inc extra time hopping..
Today .. Our best player by a country mile was Fitz, our worst.... prob Cassetti (again) Nos was hobbling and looked drained with 20 to go... He takes off Fitz!!!!
We played the last 15 v Yeovil with 4 forwards and 2 Right backs on the pitch ! Absolutely no shape at all.

I don't want another McGugan... but what I do want is to stop starting matches with 7 defensive orientated players on the park. I want the players to acknowledge the fans after the game.. I want them to put a shift in (like Murray did today) and when its not going well they don't get people in the family stand shouting get him off !
I want the club to buy/loan at least 2 pacey forwards that will play on the last defender, I want my own parking space and one of the bl00dy 20 kids behind the tea bar to actually serve me and stop standing around with their thumb up their ar$e!

 

Faraoni and Angella - lol.

 

I think you're stretching your credibility a bit far to make your point GD. Football is about winning. You can try as hard as you like to convince everyone you're on some higher plain of existence where winning is a mere by-product of a nice day out and luck has deserted us but it's just a ludicrous position to take. How as a Watford fan could you enjoy that game yesterday? It's not even as if it was like the Leeds game which everyone could take something from.

23 years since we last turned in form like this at home. Four on the spin without even scoring. Two opponents who were bottom of the league came to the Vic and did things they hadn't done all season. 9 without a win. Confidence of the team is clearly shot. Zola himself saying he needs to think hard about if he's the man to turn this around. But you enjoyed the game so everything is hunky dory.

How about you give us some insight into what you would change?

 

I get a lot of what you're saying and perhaps I've got rise tinted specs on but my take on Zola is that he has believed that the quality of the players on the pitch are such that they should be able to cover for each other and/or play out of position during the course of a game if required and yet still emerge as winners. The extended slump must have shown him that the quality in the squad might be there but that their self-belief to execute it isn't.

He's therefore had to rethink his whole approach to our game and change formation (which i'm sure the Pozzo's would have resisted) and start to plug our leaky defence and hope that we might nick a goal down the other end. His switch from 352 to 451 yesterday was testimony to that, but when it became clear we were struggling to create sufficient goal scoring opportunities he switched back to 352 and then 343 ... but still without success. The opening tactic was correct, even at home against Wednesday, to try and instil some stability and to give the opposition something different to think about. Ok we lost but the fact Zola was open to changing formation was enough for me to want him to stay and build on it. The Jan window is nearly here and we need to go into that being very clear about how we're going to strengthen the team; not wasting the opportunity with a new manager who'll take valuable weeks identifying gaps that we already know about.

 

The men in white coats will be here to take you soon.

 

Amen

 

Quite frankly, I don't give a **** whether you agree with me or not. You telling me I'm wrong will not change the fact that I enjoyed the game and felt we played well.

People like you, who now demand victory at all costs, are not the only fans that we have. You want something different.

I've been to many a Watford game where we've own and it's actually been an entirely **** game. People said the same when Boothroyd was in charge, saying that it didn't matter whether we won, the football was crap.

I like the way we play football now, I'm also patient in regards to our place in the league and know that things take time, especially when you're team doesn't have three of the top five Championship players from last season. That's why I'm not willing to boo the team off, especially when just behind them lies the remnants of a stand that we all desperately wanted destroyed.

That doesn't mean you're wrong, you just desperately want to win and are willing for your club to become anything to facilitate that. And that's fine, we all just don't have to join you.

Sure you'll get get equally impatient people such as Squibba, who needs others to put the point across as he doesn't really have anything new or intelligent to add, but in sure there are plenty of Watford fans who don't want our club to become just like all the others and sack managers for fun.

I believe Zola deserves to stay until Abdi has returned and be given the support of the management at the club in terms of recruitment in January.

I'll stand by what I say and continue my belief that the baying mob calling for Zola's head have forgotten both where we've come from and what the club means. Which is probably the most ironic thing as it was the fans claiming that the club had sold its soul when the Pozzo's came in and sacked Dyche.

 

It's funny that you preach all about the don't get personal stuff yet do it yourself when you feel threatened, at least PhillipineOrn isn't a hypocrite. Moog also says Zola should go no abuse chucked at him? Any time anyone posts anything negative about Zola supported by facts you either make a joke or just start saying 'I dont care'. You're unbearable and a tw*t. Di*k.