Southampton 2-1 Watford FC - 30/11/2019

Why would a bookie have a loss leader on one of the most liquid markets on the planet?

They can charge modest margin and make massive profits due to volume.

 

corrected for you

 

Oi !!!
My lawyers will be all over you.
And we’ll lose 3-0 not 1-0 !!

 

HB1, I love your contribution to this forum and share your sense of pessimism. But you need to stop this “zero chance, we are already down” nonsense. It’s patently not true. Maybe you believe it’s less than 10%, maybe less than 5% but it’s not zero. A win tomorrow isn’t impossible. A point at Leicester isn’t impossible. Both are bloody unlikely but 4 points and we’d still be favourites for the drop but that % would be creeping up. I think we’ll go down, I’m pretty sure we will, but it’s not certain. Not yet. Not even if we lose tomorrow.

 

Let’s revisit this in a week and a day and see how you feel.

 

What I'm most petrified by is the prospect that we might get something from the match that could be in any way construed as 'positive'; probably given how pathetic we are it will be a score draw, and then Quique will merrily carry on, his stay of execution granted once again ready to get impressively relegated by Feb. The fact that the Pozzos haven't already taken action is an indictment of their current attitude towards the club, and not something easily explained. We're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't come this weekend. This is absolutely ****, and it didn't need to be at all. I suppose at least it could be considered a quasi-scientific experiment in how long you can survive at a top level with the explicit approach of bodging and allowing a very poor atmosphere and ethos at a club to fester.

 

Daily Mail reporting that QSF will be gone if we lose. Report states Gino has been ‘scouring Europe’ for a potential replacement this week.

Wouldn’t be surprising if he already has one or two gentleman’s agreements IMO, ready to go come Sunday.

 

Where's Beppe Sannino these days?

 

I'm surprised he's lasted this long actually. I do have a degree of sympathy for Flores as he inherited a turd of a team, but he's come in and acted like a Football Manager game player in novice mode. Seriously......5 at the back for all games, with an "lets try to stop teams from scoring goals" mantra.....and that's it. It's pretty basic. You could have had anyone come in and do that. I get he's a nice guy, players like him, but then so was Gracia....and it all fell apart.

I think the players have had the carrot, arm around the shoulder approach for too long. They need a b'stard who with give them a kick up the arse. Someone similar to Nuno in personality. Someone who you do not cross and will demand that respect and extra graft. I think Gracia and Flores are far too nice and the players are far too comfortable. They need a bit of bullying.

The problem over quality of the squad is still there though. There's only so much even the most talented of coaches can do. Although we are better than bottom three in terms of playing personnel. We need a top quality coach, someone at a higher level than we have ever had in the past. I think not only do the players need a bit of a shock, we do need someone who is very smart tactically.

Could we attract a coach like that, who is out of work? I don't think so. For me, Benitez would be ideal, but even if Gino told him, here's a £5m salary for the rest of the season....keep us up....I doubt he'd take the job.

There are plenty of coaches out of work though and we're still technically a Premier League club. We are still attractive, but we do need this next appointment to be top drawer or else I cannot see anyone having the impact to get the players to a level needed to win the required amount of games. For me, it's 100% certain we'd go down with Flores. We have no chance of winning at home under his methods, as has been proved.

 

but you said that about 3 seasons ago under Walt. The problem is that you just keep throwing **** at the wall - eventually some of it will stick, but you have blown any credibility in the meantime

 

Silly comments copy and pasted and I've read a million times. I can't lose what I never had in the first place can I?

The thing is, unless it's sugar-coated and positive, some people just can't stand hearing brutal honesty. Well, if you're that sensitive and want a sanitised version it's best if you place me on your ignore list.

 

I expect I will feel it’s even more likely we will go down but not certain. Remember when you and I were the only 2 who said we could still go down under Mazz? Others said we had enough points and it was certain we’d stay up ? This is the reverse of that. It’s very very likely and getting more likely with every defeat but not certain in November.

 

Fair enough.
Insensitive, unsanitised, brutal honesty is good.

But peoples reaction may not be because they "can't handle, or stand it." It may be because they think you are just wrong.

 

Good grief!
My Mother's cremation and service were more fun than this!
I feel for Quique,he's inherited a unbalanced squad that fell apart last season and with weaknesses that have been exposed brutally.
Could someone else do better?
Certainly but who and why would they take the job at present.
Sometimes you have to find your level.
The problem is that level may not be very palatable!

 

I agree with most of your text.
The squad is very poor. I am not sure if another manager can do better.
QSF problem is he is ultra cautious and no flair for attack . He is a nice guy but not the tight guy.
Lose tonight and he will be sacked.

 

But they don't think I'm wrong. Virtually everyone is saying we're going down, but it's just the level of certainty that people cannot accept. Even I've said you can never say never in football about us going down, but that gets conveniently overlooked. Until it's mathematical then it's not certain, but my opinion is that I've not seen any evidence to suggest we'll turn this around. None. Without that evidence we will become a side capable of winning 10 of the last 25 matches, then I believe we'll go down. There's no other logical conclusion, other than wishing for something else to happen. People want hope, and this is why they are objecting to what I'm saying, because I'm taking that hope away, even though deep down they know I'm probably right.

If nothing changes, i.e a new coach, new players, a glut of wins from nowhere, then we will be going down.

 

"You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"
You do verge on the ridiculous sometimes.

 

Can anyone tell me when a Pozzo team last got relegated?

 

14th March 2020.

 

Open plagiarism. Rob Reiner will getting in touch soon no doubt.

People on here do not like home truths. It's obvious this is why they get so very defensive. For me, I'm in the perfect position. If by "Leicester winning the league type football miracle" we stay up, then I'll be delighted. Watford will not be relegated. You'll get the satisfaction of telling me how wrong I was and everyone's a winner.

But if we do go down then I'll be well adjusted to the concept and will be excited for the come back season in the Championship, whereas others will still be crying in their cornflakes. For me, it's win, win.

 

You entertain me so much!

I’m not sure why you think anyone that entertains the possibility we might survive will be crying so much, and if they do that somehow makes you a winner. I’m pretty confident in my ability as a grown man to be able to handle our potential relegation without breaking down. I’m confident I can handle two potential outcomes at the same time, we may go down, we may stay up. Life is not all about certainties. I know you like things black and white but some of us like to live in world where we don’t always know what will happen. Isn’t that what make life so interesting?

However, it is good to see you are softening your stance on the fact we have 0% of staying up in your previous post

 

I agree. If we go down, say in bottom place then we will have a massive fight to get back up. There will be two other other teams better than us going down. Assuming one of them is Norwich, their squad will be relatively intact and ready for the season. And we will be shorn of some of our better players, as others have said.

Nonetheless if the Pozzo’s stick around I think they can get us back up, just maybe not straight away.

 

So, once you’ve said for the first time we’re going down in brutal, clear terms so everyone is aware, what’s the point of saying it over and again? What are you achieving by doing that? Genuinely curious.

History and statistics are well, well stacked against us but until it’s mathematically impossible to stay up what is the point of following the team, watching the games and expressing any opinion if there’s no semblance of hope what is the point? Even in a terrible relegation season there’ll be the odd flash, the odd incident, the odd game that brightens the mood. (Winning at Norwich and going for a curry with friends afterwards was great, for example). Otherwise we’re just signing up to the pointless conveyor belt of football, hoping that tomorrow is better than today.

After all, nothing we think or say as supporters has any bearing whatsoever on the outcome so I’m struggling to see any fundamental point to doing the equivalent of standing outside the ground wearing a sandwich board that reads “WE’RE DOWN”.

 

Can’t see the point in replacing QSF too late to do anything this season we would just be throwing cash down the drain

if it does happen , imagine we will probably be getting either

Poch or Silva

 

What are our problem areas?

Our defence has had little investment and is performing slightly below average compared to other non top 6 sides.
Our attacking areas have had record breaking investment and are performing the worst in the league.

I would say they have invested in the problem area, it just has not worked yet.

 

My stance is exactly the same, but maybe the misquotes from those debating with me may soften? But who knows. The easiest thing to do is to misquote someone, or over exaggerate the tone of what someone is saying, then it becomes a forum fact.

The thing that is clear, if someone has an opinion that is not shared by others, it's declared as "wrong" and is hounded or ridiculed, especially if there are one or two others of a similar mindset around.

Read what I say, you may not agree, which is fine, but it always makes sense. There is a distinct lack of tolerance on this forum for an apparent minority view......always has been and always will.

 

You are being ridiculous. Most people think we will likely go down. People are simply pointing out that when you say Watford and Norwich going down and Liverpool winning the lead are certainties that is simply nonsense. Is each individual outcome likely? Yes. Are they certainties? No.

People can handle the threat of relegation. They are simply pointing out that your posts are incorrect.

 

It's not incorrect though......this is what people like you do not understand. It's an opinion. I could say you are incorrect for saying I'm incorrect, but I wouldn't be quite so rude.

 

We are truly in a parallel universe now. HB1 thinks predicting we will go down is a “minority view”. . Debate is pointless!

 

Once more, twisting, inaccuracies and ridicule because you cannot debate. The final nail in any conversation.

 

Bonkers. I’ll leave you to it.