I go back to my point of which young player have we not played that we probably should have in the last 5 years. Is there anybody? Maybe this kid from City is good enough and if he is then I would hope we play him as there is nothing to say we won't
My joy in participating in and watching competitive sport is by winning and seeing the teams I follow win. As such, that is my ambition in playing and watching. Sitting mid table when 7th place is achievable is not success. Losing a cup final 6-0 is not success. But again, whilst we have supporters that think that is fine, that Watford is the ornament on the PL mantlepiece, that seeing the stars of the PL is all that's necessary for a 'fun time' to be had, that 'little old Watford' is fine, then that's all we will be.
Doucoure had been on Liverpool's radar for a while before we signed him. Richarlison was scouted but Silva had known of him for a while.
I strongly disagree with this. It's not just about marquee signings, it's about signing people who actually improve your team, in the weakest areas. Sure, striker and attackers are more exciting but also more expensive and I'm sure we'd all love to see us sign someone who can score or create goals, but I think it's understandable that we're unlikely to outbid most of our competitors who all want those players too and are prepared to often pay £30m plus for them. However, look elsewhere. Replace an ageing Gomes with a slightly less ageing Foster. Upgrade our criminally and repeatedly neglected centre backs, finally, but with a cheap, 29 year old option. Strengthen at full back with cheap, unproven foreigners who can't displace the incumbents. We waited 4 windows for the glaring gap at centre half to be addressed and yet, when it finally was, it was done in the most patchy, cheap, underwhelming way possible. I understand we are not going to compete with the big spenders, but we're spending money, just not on improving our first team. this window, our biggest transaction bas been for a player who has played 15 minutes for us. Previous to that, it was purchasing a teenager who it's possible, even likely, will be sold on before he plays for us. Sure it's good to see us wheeling and dealing out there, but when it's at the expense of neglecting our first team, it gets very boring and frustrating. I think it would be easy to improve certain areas of our team within our budget and I have to say, that if we fail to bring in 2 or 3 players who are actually directly intended for the first team within the next week or so, this will have been the most disappointing transfer window since the summer we only signed Alec Chamberlain for £40k.
Richarlison was well know, but we were the ones prepared to take the risk. Good decision making, not good scouting.
I don't know! We'll know by about February. I'm talking in general. What a team needs to do to avoid relegation from the PL is no where near the hype people give it. Yet it's common, normally around this exact time, for people to pretend staying up is some sort of tortuous ordeal which only the very strongest, most consistent and highest spending sides can achieve.
I would add to that... Of course it’s good if we end the window without losing any of our big players. But if Gino cannot compete in the market, then perhaps selling Doucoure for £50m, playing Quina and adding that money to what we have and buying 3 players worth £20m is a way of improving the first team overall. The fear is that we would sell Doucoure, pocket the money and spend £3m on someone we hope one day is good enough to replace him.
In general, there are about 8-10 teams that could go down and we are one of them. In general teams that spend significant sums strengthening the weakest parts of their squad reduce their risk of relegation. Rightly or wrongly, we will almost certainly spend less strengthening our squad than our peers.
We would win more games in the Championship. So you'd be far happier now had we been knocked out of the cup at NUFC and finished 12th after a mini surge in the last month, up from a steady 14th ?
While it is widely believed we don’t have much money to compete, what is mildly annoying to me is that even if we sign Sarr for £20m - we have sold Lukebakio for a very similar amount first. It would have been interesting to see if we could have spent that amount without having to sell first.
It could change. But the black and white (as it stands) is that if we don’t do any more business this summer, it’s an extremely poor effort from the club.
Maybe we had to sell Lukebio to balance the books ? Maybe to spend further we'd have to sell Doucs or Deulofeu and the club decided it wasn't worth the risk ? We don't know the current financial position other than we made a loss last set of accounts, we had significant loans, and player costs have gone through the roof.
How does that have any relevance to what I said? By definition, losing a game doesn't fit my ambition so of course not. The cup semi final will live long in the memory but being embarrassed in the final is not something to celebrate or be happy about. As is the way our league season finished. But it gave fans like you some meaty excuses because in your mind we can only play one competition a season. It's the taking part, not the winning.
It's relevant because you were unhappy that we lost the final 6-0 and finished 11th when we had 7th in our sights. So I was asking how you'd have felt if 7th had never been in our reach and we hadn't made it to the final. We can't win every match and while in this league we will lose more than we win and get thrashed by the biggest clubs every now and then. It will be a miserable experience most of the time. Unless you genuinely believe we should be a top 7 club and are underperforming ? Not trying to wind you up, just genuinely interested in what you are really wanting/expecting and how realistic that is.
Last season, 7th was a reasonable and achievable target, even with the final. We had it in our hands and threw it away because, according to those on here, we were saving ourselves for the final we had no chance of winning. I'm pretty sure we were 7th or equal on points with 7th at the time of the semi final. I'm sure we were 7th and had two games in hand on 8th at one point too. The cup run didn't cost us 7th, the final did and I blame Gracia's inability to manage the team during that period for us not finishing 7th. And yes, I'd have taken 7th over losing 6-0 in a cup final any day of the week. It sums up the defeatist attitude of the fans. I see some idiots attempting to mock Wolves playing some part time team in Europe yesterday on Twitter. Watford fans should feel jealous and angry that we aren't in their place. Instead, we are discussing that a good season is avoiding relegation.
Surely we threw 7th away because of the well-known phenomenon of 'distracted by massive cup tie on the horizon', which has been seen time and time again at all levels of football? You're not wrong for blaming Gracia for not being able to deal with it. The end of the season was dire. But he's not the first or even the most high profile manager to see it happen and not be able to stop it. I was more pissed off at the way West Ham and Mark Noble took us to the cleaners than the cup final defeat.
Surely half the reason we need to balance he books is absolute dud players who don’t contribute. Prodl/Okaka/Zeegelaar cost £5 million a year between them in wages alone. If we could shift these deadbeats plus a few more then maybe we would not have to sell a great propect.
Actually, what cost us 7th place was the Arsenal game. Troy's red card meant that we chased shadows with 10 men for 80 mins one week after a mentally and physically draining semi final. I don't think the players ever really recovered from that game - as was evidenced in the performances that followed (Huddersfield away being the exception). Throw in the destraction of an FA Cup final, a shallow squad nearing the end of a season and the curse of removing Z-Cars and you've got your reasons right there.
I would suggest that Dawson does improve us and I would also say that Foster did the same. The difference is they didn't cost much but we knew what we were getting so it's not too much of a risk. The problem being is that if we had gone for Webster at Bristol City then that would be a huge gamble for us. Maybe he will be top class but he also maybe rubbish and that's a lot of money. If we were to spend that kind of money I would want a proven player from a top division but they are not easy to come by. You mention that Sarr isn't a game changer but I think he actually is. Like Delefeou, he has, apparently as I've not seen him play, bundles of ability and can change the game on his own. I would love to see another top quality centre back come in and maybe one other signing, probably Sarr but his rumour sounds very much like Alcaer from last year
It was a really really disappointing end to the season, no denying that. To get THAT squad up to 7th and to a cup final I thought was seriously over-achieving with what Gracia had to play with but having got them there, both campaigns ended with a damp squib. I don't expect we will be in the position to achive 7th or a cup win again for some time.
Our accounts suggest we can't. All of the money we make from being in the premier league is spunked on wages, leaving nothing available for player sales unless we sell. Obviously plenty of funds are found to swell the pozzos coffers too.
Gracia has the players to rotate if they were physically and mentally exhausted and chose not to use them. Unless of course he knows the quality outside his regular XI is complete cack? And Z-Cars is a song. I very much doubt 90% of the squad have even noticed or given it a second thought. If for one minute the players knew that it contributed to positive performances, they would have got the club to reinstate it.
The Arsenal game that we should have won even with 10 men but didn't have anyone to finish? I remember it. No shadows, no idiotic so called curses, no cup final cost us. Gracia and our squad deficiencies did. The latter we have not resolved.
Yep. Remove the last paragraph and I really struggle to see what’s in it for the owner... That’s not to say I want him to sell up. But if you can’t spend the money that is increasingly needed to compete and break even, what other thing is there to suggest? Some fans seem to think last season is what we should expect every season, even without spending. That just isn’t going to happen.
The kudos of running a prem league club, the growth in their asset value, but not profits or net cash inflow for sure.
Could be worse. Bolton have 7 contracted players for their game tomorrow and have until 5pm to pay 3 of them or they can walk...
I reckon Gino has had enough already. Made a few quid from the PL cash and can sell the club for a huge profit. He has no love for us, he dumped off Granada once he had no more use for them and will do the same with us. Wasn't it rumoured he was trying last summer? The lack of spending is of no real surprise.
Cant we lend them some of our youngsters and dead weights? Pay their wages and travel, gives them game time. Bolton owe us one, if ever we wan that favour back, cant think how? Maybe they become Watford B
