Rotten Club

here's hoping...not sure whether the flight ban applies to private jets out of Northolt, but I'm happy to drive them there if required....

 

Oh he's gone the full Clinton Morrison at Palace!
Fantastic.
Just when you think it could not get any worse we have our very own "Third Person Plonker".

 

Can’t wait till he finally ****s off and retires.

 

So what actually is the answer then? The players had a history of not responding well to discipline, Ivic tries to reverse that, fails, now what? Are we just bringing in an arm round the shoulder manager and hope that letting the players just do what they want means that we start getting results?

 

The tactic simply seems to be lurch to the almost exact opposite of what we thought we needed previously, but that actually failed. God knows where that takes us after Munoz... Mourinho? A hugely experienced defensive coach.

 

Answer is to concentrate more on players characters before purchase re recruitment and gradually weed out the bad apples. This not a quick fix.

 

We've had all styles of manager and none have really worked. Tends to suggest that the issue lies elsewhere.

 

And get a new captain who shows proper leadership skills, technical ability and a proper fitness levels. And one that doesn't keep opening his gob off the pitch.

 

Hughes seems a likely candidate if he stays. Possibly Trost-Ekong

 

I am not suggesting anything, as I don't know the bloke, but if the reports that he is a positive coach, and firm but supportive to the players, then he seems to have some of what I think are the right qualities. I honestly can't think of any other available coaches that are likely suiters that fill me full of excitement or hope. The fact that I don't know much about Paul Cook either probably doesn't help. So, it is a genuine question, if GD thinks that we should give up on this Xisco before he's even started, I would have thought he had some better ideas.

But, as you know that Cook he is a "far better" candidate, maybe you can explain your certainty. I don't think he has finished in the top half of the Chamionship as coach, has he? Has he successfully managed strong bully-boy players? Has he played or served his time under other when well known or successful coaches? We have seen that winning other leagues doen't guarantee any success, by appointing Ivic. What is Cook's style? Attacking, defending? Quick build-up or slow, pretty or ugly (football-wise)?

 

Unless it’s coming back to training before the resumption of a relegation battle of course......

 

Cook plays attacking football and it’s won plaudits - certainly wasn’t seen as boring. Former players and fans loved him as shown by the messages when he’s left his previous clubs. I think he just isn’t seen as a ‘sexy’ name. And has a higher than average win-ratio wherever he’s been. Can’t do more than win the title at every English club and division you’ve been in - bar Wigan. But 3 league titles with 3 clubs and keeping Wigan up in the Championship comfortably (dodgy points penalty relegation notwithstanding!) is very very good. He’s earned his stripes very much in the same way as a good manager should and many are criticised for not doing. Actually his pathway is not too dissimilar to GT/Lincoln/Watford etc.

Personality wise, from what I’ve seen and heard, he’s a typical scouser. Seems the type to treat players like adults and back them when right and call them out at the right times to. Seems the type players respond to.

Just seems a far far better candidate. And he’s been vocal about wanting to manager a side going for promotion. I really don’t think he would have turned us down.

But we will never know. I just despair that it’s likely we don’t consider such appointments and feel this other guy is a better fit.

 

Fair enough, I wonder why he hasn't been snapped up by now?

 

Was close to getting the Bristol City job I think. But they went in-house as did Bournemouth.
Not sure there’s been many other opportunities that fit what he said he’s looking for as yet.

 

I honestly can’t remember, was it Cook who took Wigan on that crazy run at the end of the season? Didn’t they win a silly amount of games in a row? Or am I thinking of another club/manager?

 

Yep. Not last season...they were 13th and well clear of relegation before the mad owner put them into administration and they were relegated. Season before that, they were in trouble (and one of the favourites to go down having been a newly promoted side) - won 5, drew 4 and lost 1 of their last 10 games to pull clear and finish 18th.

What’s more...

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/...-was-after-portsmouth-tweet-morecambe-3071412

There’s bits of this article that make him exactly the type of manager that I think this squad needed.

 

The problem is that he likely would have expected to be paid in more than unlimited tapas and post training siestas on one of the treatment beds.

No good for moth wallet Gino.

 

There's probably a limit to that tapas

 

On a serious note, Deeney is absolutely one of the consistent elements of toxicity within the club and a cancer that desperately needs cutting out. Removing him is the fastest, easiest way that we can begin to change direction. Getting rid of Pozzo is clearly a much bigger ask.

Far too much influence at the club, far too little input on the pitch, unbearably self centred and arrogant, and a terrible ambassador for the club with his desperation to make a name for himself in the media. His comments today about the managers job highlight what a complete and utter toss pot he truly is.

 

So, do you like him or not?

 

Any "normal" owner would be having a word after that-if not taking disciplinary action.

 

Last chance saloon for Gino? He owns the gaff, the customers can’t ban him. He has turned a £1 million asset into a £200 + million asset. He makes a good living out of it. The only problem is h3 has not enough money to build a club capable of permanent Premier League status. Before he turned up we were looking a very sorry state. Our flair midfielder was Prince Buaben and enter forward Chris Iwelumo.

 

£200m asset? Have you read the 2019 accounts? Do you realise they are before splurging on Sarr and relegation? Cloud cuckoo land.

 

What I’d give to see the passion of all the Udinese hopefuls that turned up in 2012.

Vydra and Abdi, Battochios beaming little face , Forestieri the little scamp . Deeney fresh and keen as he was just out the slammer . The lovingly useless Neuton , gorgeous Cassetti, bubbly little Kechi. Brings a tear to my eye when I think of those simpler times.

Summers were definitely longer back then .

 

How much respect is this new coach going to command, based on the amount of respect the players showed to vastly more experienced previous managers? He’s got a shelf life of 10 games.

 

The answer is sadly none. The first time he makes an unpopular selection decision or asks a player to do something they don’t agree with then it will be curtains for him.

Can you imagine if this poor bloke actually dares to drop Deeney? He’ll be bitching to the rest of the squad and turning them all against him.

But that probably won’t happen, Gino has realised he can’t dare upset the players, they need their phones, their music and their own beds. Their manager just needs to be a cheeky chap, who will be their mate, start Deeney and just let them attack and not worry about defending.

 

Loving the sarcasm a19tgg

 

He needs to walk in and deck Deeney. Establish dominance.

 

Masina has only just recovered from being hit by Pearson at half time against West Ham last season.

He could do us all a favour here

 

Great post. They were certainly different times and much more fun. Arguably the current squad has more talent than those you mention, but that team would pi5s all over the current one. One of the oldest sayings in sport still rings true - hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.

I will admit I'd forgotten about Neuton though. He was just plain crap. If I recall correctly he had a strop when his beemer got pinched and he decided to bin off England and go home instead.

 

Xisco is about 4ft3”...only thing he’s decking is a happy meal.

 

This is the part that really pissed me off. They are all just so precious and privileged but manage to moan about the tiniest things - no phones around training or matches, how on earth will you survive Troy - while the country is dealing with a crisis and people are going through far worse things than having to stay in a plush hotel. Then because of said minor inconveniences to any normal people (but major to a footballer I suppose as they've got nothing better to moan about) they decide to get a man at the start of his coaching career sacked.

Someone once said to me that babies cry at the smallest things because they've literally never experienced a worse situation than whatever they're crying at before. Remind me of a certain group of overpaid, overprivileged and not-arsed footballers.

I'm sure nobody cares but this is in all likelihood my last post in a while. It's not that I've fallen out of love with the club (not sure I've ever been able to "love" Watford), I genuinely just don't care what happens. I've moved fairly recently and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if I start attending games of another club and decide to support them instead, I am honestly that far removed from Watford and whatever is going on at the club. I suppose in a few years once Deeney leaves maybe I'll give it another go, but I no longer have any current interest.

 

Would the hotel thing have been at Ivic’s request? Must’ve cost a pretty penny to put the whole team up at the Grove after every game, so if the club didn’t like that aspect and thought the players wouldn’t like it I’m sure they would’ve denied Ivic that request quickly enough. Can that really be blamed on Ivic?

I know the hotel thing was linked to recovery, but when you’ve got Andre throwing poker parties there could well have been an element of trying to control the Covid element as well by getting them to stay in hotels an extra night.

Gary Neville made some very good points on MNF a month or so back about Klopp’s complaints about having the regular 12:30 kick off on the Saturday. He showed in many of Utds title winning seasons then had to play just as many or more games in the same slot than Liverpool have had to.

Klopp has obviously been gobbing off about it so much recently, but the reason Liverpool and Utd get shown so much in that slot is to make it a prime time game in Asia, where these teams obviously have significant current and future fan bases.

So being shown at 12:30 on a Saturday directly generates cash for Liverpool, which helps pay his salary and his players, gives him extra money for transfers etc. So if you don’t want to play on Saturday at 12:30, are you and your players happy to take a pay cut J*rgen? Are you happy to have less money for transfers? It’s your club that wants to be shown at that time so it can make the money it pays you, you complete idiot.

Footballers might be being asked to do a little bit more than normal at the moment, but they have very secure very highly paid jobs. It shows a horrific lack of self awareness to be complaining about some of the things they complained about under Ivic when you consider some of the sacrifices the general public are having to make at the moment. Ultimately if they don’t like it they don’t have to do it, if they don’t like their job they can quit like the rest of us.

 

Is that true about kick off times? I thought it was all Sky and BT, who have bought the slots and get to choose which game goes in which one. So they're doing it for their markets rather than overseas interest.