Whilst I'm delighted we swapped Walt with Silva, I really don't get this criticism against him. Gilmartin had been a loyal servant to the club, and a well liked player in the changing room. It was the final game of the season with nothing to play for. Walt put Gilmartin in an empty bench spot, so he could get a decent goodbye. If Zola did that, we'd be applauding him for being such a nice guy.
Depends how you look at it, some would see it as what you claim, whilst others would see putting two keepers on a bench as wasteful
In the specific context of that particular match, nope. Not even remotely. I thought it was a decent gesture and probably as much as Gilmartin could have hoped for.
Whilst I agree with the sentiments of both your posts, surely if it was being taken as a nothing game, and Gilmartin was being included for being well-liked and loyal, they should have played him instead of Gomes? I’m not saying I’d have done that and ultimately what he did was one of the very few things Walter did here where he showed a sense of understanding. Still doesn’t stop it being a bizarre thing to have happened.
Why? He wasn't going to be played was he... Surely if that was the intention, he would have started him and put another player on the bench instead of either Pantilimon or Gomes.
He scored 2 in our friendly last week vs Millwall (our two other currently most reliable goalscorers, Okaka and Capoue got the other 2 goals (while Deeney didn't get any)) - though it was against lowly opposition, surely given that we've also let Amrabat go, he must have done enough to show that he's worthy of a squad place for this season.
We were still trying to win. Playing Gilmartin would have been akin to throwing the match. However, due to a last minute injury Walt had to chose between two players who he deemed not good enough to be on the pitch. He wasn't going to bring on either of them. Why not select the one who has obviously trained hard and had been a good professional, so that his name could be read out a final time on the Watford tannoy? Walt probably expected a large cheer for the bloke, but instead our fans were too busy booing and mouthing off about the decision, without considering the reasons behind it.
And I don't disregard that idea. It only proves that my original point of squad depth is very important. If we had the depth we have this year back last season, Gilmartin would have never been in that starting lineup. I think you read into my Gilmartin section of the comment a bit too much
Off to Villa permanently according to this. That'll be a bit sad if so. Always had high hopes for him, even after the Baileys 'n' Brasses episode:- https://www.teamtalk.com/news/exclusive-aston-villa-closing-in-on-signing-of-watford-star
Good news. Hopefully we still manage to sell Pereyra as well and really destroy our already poor attacking options.
The most exciting player we've had in ages. I know he turned out to be total droppings, but for a short while I really dared to dream this big galoot would propel us into orbit. And now off to villa. What a truly miserable end.
Surely if Team Talk are the ones breaking a story it's most likely to be nonsense?? Anyone else reporting it is just copying and pasting.
In my opinion - and I quite readily admit I'm clueless about building a professional football squad - I don't see the point in having both Success and Penaranda in the squad. They are the same type of player and there's not enough room to have two emerging players in the same position. There's a good argument for not having either but it'd be nice to see a young player around the squad developing into decent player. Once news (real or fake, who knows!) broke that Penaranda looks likely to get his Spanish passport it seemed likely to me he would stay. Otherwise just loan him to anyone in Europe and keep Success. The want for Penaranda to get Spanish citizenship tells me the club want the player here.
On loan with a view to a permanent. You mean he's most likely a replacement for Grealish. I very much doubt we'll stump up the significant extra cash Villa would be wanting to part with him. He's so overrated though, I don't understand at all why Spurs are so keen on signing him.
