Do you not think that voicing strong opinions about his continued employment when you don't even know what he does is a bit much? It's easy to pass comments on e.g. Holebas because we get to see what he produces on the pitch. It's a different matter when you're talking about a behind the scenes role we have zero visibility into outside of a few soundbites. It's possible Giraldi might be completely useless. It's equally possible he's making the right recommendations and someone else isn't listening to him. Or perhaps he's making the right recommendations but the players don't want to come here because we don't pay enough, so we end up with a plan Z signing. Maybe he's not as involved in transfers as people think and his role is to coordinate the other scouts, with each scout's reports carrying most of the weight when it comes recommendations for signings. There are a lot of possibilities and I don't think any of us knows what the truth of the situation is. The reality is that none of us has a Scooby. First the ire was directed at Gracia. Now he's gone so people are looking for another target. For me, if we start calling for the head of someone who we have no real visibility into we're coming rather close to the mindset of grabbing torches and pitchforks.
Maybe he is actually tasked 'from on high' with concentrating his efforts on attackers and midfielders. That's where the money is. Apparently.
Some valid points. But... https://www.watfordfc.com/club/colney-chat-filippo-giraldi This article tells us what he does for the main part. And I’d say given the content within, it’s my opinion that he’s no longer doing that role well, has too much influence and given successive coaches have been sacked, maybe it’s time to look at him closer.
That's a fluff article, though. You'd get more info about what someone does from a LinkedIn profile. It doesn't tell you anything about who makes decisions, which transfer targets turned us down, etc. The detail about what he actually does is vague and might not even be accurate given we've switched head coaches three times since then (insert Watford placing head coach joke here). For all we know, Giraldi might have been transitioned into another set of responsibilities and the wheels fell off after he was no longer doing his old duties. I feel like we're dangerously close to scapegoating here. There are a lot of possibilities with regard to how effective he is in his role, and they range from "useless" to "excellent". I find it unsettling that we're so eager to assume he's the problem when we barely even know what he does. Next we'll be weighing Giraldi against a duck.
Sorry but that just feels like ‘deflection’ a bit. You criticised me for saying we have no idea what he does but when I’ve linked an article (from official club channels no less) that states what he does, it’s passed off as ‘fluff’. You have a differing opinion to me and I respect that. But you suggested I was being unfair in my comments so I’ve provided some background to why I don’t think I am. The least you could do is recognise that, rather than trying to pass it off.
Gino just been speaking about Watford on Italian TV. https://twitter.com/i/status/1178017805872062469
Not sure where to post this but interesting if true. Could affect us. http://sportwitness.co.uk/italy-pozzo-trembles-ahead-brexit-watford-owner-bigger-worries-form/
That is why all the Premier league clubs didn't want Brexit to happen... Well probably apart from those owned by British chairman like Stoke.
I struggle to associate Brexit with football. For me, I want to leave consideration of Brexit behind at 15.00 on a Saturday (or any other, TV driven, weekend time). If our owners, and maybe others, are so exclusively driven by 'business opportunity' as opposed to a bit of 'sporting fun of a weekend' then maybe they should simply 'f.ck off to another planet'.
Well the FA hope it means more chances for British players. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...feb/14/how-might-brexit-affect-premier-league
The FA are foolish. How can they square the misguided notion that the increasing internationalisation of the Premier League is supposedly holding back English players, with England's recent best performance at the World Cup in two decades?! And that alongside English clubs also currently doing incredibly well in European tournaments. There is all the evidence one needs that the English players good enough will get their chance in the Premier League; all heavy restrictions on international players will do is weaken the quality and attractiveness of the league, which won't benefit anyone involved.
It isn't entirely illogical to point the finger at Giraldi. He's the common denominator. What's his title? Director of Football/ Chief Scout? Basically the guy in charge of recruitment. If he was all that he would have surely identified someone capable of replacing our (if we're being kind) mediocre defence. The Pozzo's are clearly willing to spend a few million on the right player. I bet there are several lower league players who are capable of hitting the heady heights of Craig Cathcart. By the same logic, Gino needs to share the blame. They clearly overestimated the quality of the current defenders and how much of a difference Dawson would make. If there was any possibility in Gino's mind that we would be this disastrous defensively, he would have spent money there instead.
It's not illogical to ask questions or suggest he may be culpable. That's a far cry from stating he is obviously the person to blame. We simply don't know that. Perhaps he made the right calls but was outvoted. Perhaps the scouts under him filed bad reports. Perhaps everyone made the right decisions on who to sign but the players didn't want to come due to our lower wage packets, so we had to go to plan Z. There are so many possible factors are work and we have virtually no facts to work with. We have a rather vague understanding of whose job touches on which areas. Beyond that, we can see the results on the pitch. That's info leaves us a long way from understanding where blame lies. Giraldi might be the entire problem, he might be a part of the problem... or he might not be the problem at all. It's fair to ask questions (not that we'd get useful answers), but that's a different matter from wanting to tar and feather him.
Duxbury has said in the past that decisions on transfers are dealt with by a group. Presumably including Pozzo, Girardi, Duxbury, and, for this summer at least, Gracia. I would say they all share blame for collectively drawing the conclusion that the aging defence finishing last season would be ok with the addition of Dawson. They have made a huge mistake and possibly undone the work of the past 4 years trying to consolidate our position as a prem side. A harsh realisation of the fine margins at the top level. As for being called a happy clapper or calling for a boycott, I continued going in our previous two relegation seasons and I would back Pozzo to get us back up if we went down. Mistakes have been made in the past under him and he has demonstrated, in my eyes, an ability to learn from these.
If Gino Pozzo indicated to all the others that he was only really interested in attacking and midfield players due to their relatively 'easy to make a profit on' retail value then he alone would be to blame. Maybe we were in the frame for Maguire two years ago. He'd just been relegated with Hull and their previous manager/head coach had just come to us. So maybe we might have had first 'dibs' on him then. Maybe not. Maybe he just wanted to go to the team that had just won the league. Maybe he didn't get on with Silva anyway so that might have been a hindrance rather than an advantage. But maybe Gino simply said 'no way we're hiring a defender for £17m'. He certainly had an excellent pedigree further enhanced in the last World Cup. Whatever, if we had have signed him we'd just have made in the order of 73m quid. Still, no money in defenders eh?
While recognising what they have done for us that doesn't mean they are beyond reproach. For instance: The club seems to have accepted seventeenth is good enough and anything more is a bonus. The danger of course is if you aim low and miss you are in trouble. We are now in trouble. The team has been allowed to get away with coasting through the end of a season. No real investment in defence, our defenders are bought in cheap, most are not of a high standard and often are in the latter stages of an average career. There are good defenders out there but we don’t seek to truly upgrade ours What the thinking was in giving Gomes another year I don't know but it was not a good signal , he would be retired if we hadn’t given a him a new deal, what message does that give the younger goalkeepers (and indeed younger players in general) who should be on the bench for the league games and starting in the League Cup. The club under the Pozzo’s has achieved a lot but they have also failed on many of the big occasions. A Cup final, Cup Semi Final, automatic promotion under Zola, Play Off final and a Title winning game have all resulted in failure, this attitude has stayed with the club through changes in manager and players. The irony is we were promoted while not playing after winning at lunch time and watching the other teams losing in the 3pm games. Don't what them out though, no guarantee that a new owner would be the answer. They have been good for the club and taken us forwards, but I think they have stood still somewhat this summer and have been caught out. That brings some of their flaws into sharper focus. They are not the messiah, but they aren't very naughty boys either.
With every post they reinforce my views of them as “fans” The side salads are up in arms about me questioning the direction the club is currently taking. More so than caring about the club they claim to support. Disgraceful individuals - Watford FC do not need fans like them.
The premier league was built on an influx of some of the best most exciting foreign players. If this is their strategy the PL will go off the rails faster than some Watford fans clapping after an 8-0 reverse!
> "I try to help the coach," said Giraldi, who is very hands on. He regularly runs the rule over training, attends team meetings and is a presence in the dressing room. "I'm close with the Head Coach as that is what I love to do. I will do my best to help them in every aspect. We will have confrontation but we want to have one voice from the club to the coach. This paragraph from the Colney Chat article Burnsy linked is, in all honesty, slightly odd, and could be seen to reinforce questions about what he's actually doing and how much influence he has.
Yes, but sometimes you can make a judgement based on what you’re seeing and hearing. Read the articles from The Athletic over the past couple of weeks. On a few occasions it’s been mentioned that he is in a strange position of power and previous managers, including QSF in his first stint found he got in the way. The official title is he is Technical Director which means he oversees recruitment of both players and coaches. I think given he is on the pitch every home game and watches over the warm-ups means he has a lot of input. So given all the above, and coupled with the recent form, defensive issues and muddled recruitment - I think it’s entirely fair that fans call for him to go. How many managers need to be sacked before you question the man above them?
Isn't the Continental philosophy for managers to have less power and control than we are used to? If so then changing the manager is never going to have as much effect if someone else who continues in post is pulling some of the strings and influencing decisions.
The Pozzo's haven't got everything right but not sure you can blame them for the results of these matches. You can blame them for lack of defensive recruits but not this. I also don't think they've accepted 17th is good enough as that would be a huge gamble. This season has by no means finished yet and we are not relegated as of yet
Not much point in engaging with them really although I know it's not easy to resist. They're imbecilic. Or simply 'travelling incognito'. Ignore them and they might just go away.
