Accounts say otherwise unless we want to risk undoing the balance sheet repair job we’ve done over the least 2 seasons. I’d be surprised if they went down that route given we are likely to go down.
It's fine, we're going to sell Sarr for £70m in January then go on a spending spree and only finish 10 points from safety rather than 20.
I would expect the replacement is for Foster, who will leave after this season. Elliot will more than likely be sold or released, that would leave us with the new bloke, Bachmann and Dhalberg (if he ever plays or us). Personally I see Bachmann as a solid back-up keeper. Dhalberg we almost certainly be third choice (cup games). Still, it's nice to see an area of defense being addressed.
Hilarious. He was going to be out of contract next summer so we could've signed him on a pre-contract in January to join us for free next summer. But instead he extended his contract for four years in August and three months later we pay £5m for him, to loan him back to them so he can join us in the summer. Sparta must think all their Christmases have come at once.
Exactly as I called it previously about what who we will sign in January. Now for a past it winger and 0 consideration given to our defence and that's a job we'll done. This is a prime example of all that is wrong with our recruitment during the Pozzo era. We have signed yet another player that we don't need right now. Its all about money and return on investment. There's no link between what the team needs, who the manager wants, does he fit the team... nothing. We already have a highly rated young goalkeeper on the books that is being wasted elsewhere when we have 'wot a legend' in goal Signings like this make the academy redundant. They might as well close it down and use the money to trade young talent around the world. More money thrown at 'the future' that never actually happens.
To be fair the only reason Baachman got the Austrian number one shirt was from his performances in the Championship. I expect that he will be looking to get away considering the minutes he has had.
When I say money to spend, I don’t mean £30m, £40m. But if we want to spend £20m we definitely can depending on payment structure etc
‘Linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs’ according to Watford… **Checks notes** AZ Alkmaar and OFC Nice. And Ajax made one phone call and didn’t follow it up. Do Watford’s communication team think fans don’t have Google?
Speaking of former Dutch-based Nigerians, WTE is a bit of a beefcake too! We might have Zinckernagel back by then as well!
Of course, when it comes to proven Premier League talent, Joshua King on a free is as good as it gets for a team like us (and as encouraging as his performances have been for us, it's telling that he only came here now he's 29 and coming off the back of 2 poor seasons). I feel we're actually picking up some talented young players from the UK and from Europe, much more encouraging on that front, although I won't deny that there are aspects of the Louza and Okoye deals which are simply baffling
It's definitely baffling. Ok Ben will be leaving once his contract is up but I still wouldn't say a goalkeeper is the main priority right now. All I can see is that there will be a few departures coming January that's going to be covering Okoye and any others coming in and we need a few.
OKoye the noo keeper. "....looking forward to playing in the Premier League next season...." - I can see an issue here. https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/s...okoye-proud-joining-watford-sparta-rotterdam/
I know Foster played well at the weekend, but let’s not kid ourselves that we don’t have one of the worst set of keeper options in the league. I also don’t believe we payed all that money for him, unless it was riddled with Pozzo clauses or we are doing something improper. We’re far too cheap for that.
He is looking forward to playing in the Premier league. He must be a dreamer or has signed for someone else. We will not in the Premier league by the time he gets a chance.
We may still have Bachmann, Howes, Marriott, Angelini and Baptiste. That's Nine. Our defence is weak and awful,so we may need all nine.
My prediction 2022 joins Udinese on loan as he doesn’t want to play in championship. This will be declared all good as we keep it in the family. 2023 joins for a second loan when we fail to get promotion. 2024 undisclosed transfer to Udinese. Critics will point to a lack of originality in the plot line as it follows a similar storyline to the 2019 hit “The Pussetto Connection”.
PR guff of course. He’ll either be first choice regardless of what league we are in it if he doesn’t fancy the Championship sent out on loan .
I've got a good feeling about this guy. Only 22, years off his peak as a goalkeeper, seems to be performing well in a decent league and he's absolutely massive. I think going down would benefit a lot of players on our books and Okoye could be one of them, a season as number one in the Championship could be great for his development. I don't think relegation would make him want to leave, we kept Sarr so there's no reason we couldn't keep this guy.