Squad 2023 - 2024

I don't think anyone mentioned his transfer fee, did they?

You said 'in and out of the team' so yes I'd be fairly pleased if our rotation striker hit double figures in the Championship.

We've gotten too used to having the likes of Deeney/Vydra, Deeney/Ighalo, and to a lesser extent JP/Sarr in the same team, looking too good for this level.

It's time to adjust to the new normal. Drop the entitlement, and realise that a limited striker hitting 10 Championship goals is something to be embraced now, not seen as a burden. Yippee!

Again, no one suggested Bayo was a great deal, or a sound investment, you're inventing that person as a means to get annoyed. It's just a discussion about him as a player.

 

Superb mental gymnastics.

 

Would put money on Healey scoring significantly more goals than Davis if he can stay fit. Healey is a natural goalscorer, who has scored freely wherever he's gone, even if he hasn't yet shown it at this level. Davis lumbers about upfront doing "stuff" but there's nothing in his career so far that suggests he'll ever score lots of goals.

Even though it's in Ligue 2, you can see that Healey scores all sorts of goals - both feet, headers, scruffy goals, 'make a yard of space and get the shot off' goals, clever improvised finishes, one on ones. Davis got a free pass for most of the season from a lot of the fans as he'd been anointed as a special talent by a few key "influencers" but he was, for the most part, utterly dogshit.

 

That...doesn't make sense. But cracking argument, as per.

I'll try to keep it as simple as possible; would you be fairly happy with our rotation striker, whether that be Bayo or someone else, scoring 10 goals this season?

 

Nothing screams 'Championship' more than "Preston take the lead through D1ckson Etuhu".

 

Was never expecting Davis to be prolific, even in his spell at Forest he only scored 5 in half a season, but he contributed so much more there than here. Maybe we did misuse him, he was certainly no lone striker given how often he'd drop deep, but there's no excuse for how unfit he looked game after game. He got 7 didn't he? Healey should smash that, even if he does have some injury issues, and Bayo off limited minutes in the first half of the season would have been on course to match that too. People complain about the striking options, and they're certainly not what they used to be, but I definitely don't think they are the main issue with this squad, especially if the likes of Louza, Asprilla (if they stay!) and Ince chip in with what they are capable of

 

Why has the udinese loan option been so limited lately? There must be a couple of fringe players that could improve our squad and significantly improve their asset value in the process.

 

Yes this is what I'm waiting for. They came back later for preseason so I expect the new coach is assessing the players first. Plus they've definitely seemed to of added some decent options so far to their squad.

 

Gutted about Fletcher. What could have been

 

Shocking stupidity from Pozzo which most people on here called at the time. Our owner is a moron.

 

Lone feez m8 innit.

 

At least it seems to confirm we're actively looking for a move for Okoye, that he is open to. Unless of course that is irrelevant to our current goalie setup, and we are content to stumble panicked into the season with Flapmann and his geriatric understudy, in which case it's maybe even more annoying.

Pound for pound, Okoye must be up there in the discussion with biggest failure of a signing ever. He wasn't as devastating to our very fabric as a club as Sarr, so he can't really win on emotional and fundamental grounds, but he must be right up there in the chasing pack. Many millions we could in no way afford at a time we desperately needed improvements in other areas of the pitch, and a subsequent return of almost literally nothing whatsoever, even at a time those ahead of him desperately needed both a challenge coming from below them, and possibly taking out of the firing line/replacing - something we could not do thanks to the seeming rank incompetence of the man occupying that position. A real sickener.

 

Apologies for laziness and not looking it up but was he a Bayat deal?

 

Not quite sure I'd go as far as to say the article seems to confirm anything really. It's just speculation, albeit I appreciate AF probably has more basis for his speculation than most.

 

Out of curiosity, are any of our young goalies considered promising? It's a long time since David James came through the ranks.

 

Well, he does literally 'report' that both player and club are open to a move, and as you say, French has publicly laid out before (including just the other day) the approach he takes to rumours, and how he will essentially only write something that he believes has at least some factual underpinning.

 

No. If they were, they would have been stolen by now.

 

I'm actually not entirely sure on that front - his current listed agency is Prime11, based in the Netherlands, but whether Mogi had a hand is a more complex question I'm not at liberty to pronounce on, as it stands

 

Think Macaulay is meant to be quite good. But wouldn’t get our hopes up on that. Pontus Jansson was going to be our future and so was Okoye, must have less than 5 appearances between them

 

Dahlberg

 

Barnsley recently signed a new goalkeeper, Ben Killip, who joined the club on a free transfer after rejecting a new contract at Hartlepool United at the end of last season. Some Barnsley supporters (on one of their forums) were suggesting that their first choice goalkeeper, Bradley Collins, (who has only one year left on his contract) might be about to leave the club and to join Watford because Collins was very effective at playing in the way that Valérien Ismaël wants his goalkeepers to play (from the time when Ismaël was the Barnsley manager). Probably nothing more than conjecture.

 

That’s the one

 

Arlauskis,
Karnesis remember him?

 

Tony Meola

 

I was thinking about recent Ponzo owned goalies, we could probably name dozens if we put our minds to it, without cheating

 

As nobody else has answered, here's my limited knowledge aided by a quick google & twitter search.

Jonathan Macauley (18)
In August 2022 he attended a week at St George’s Park on an England Men’s Goalkeeper Development Camp.
In January 2023 he attended a week at St George’s Park on an England Men’s Goalkeeper Development Camp.
In March 2023 he attended a Sweden International Camp. I don't know if this was age group related or consisted of all age groups including the full national side.
In June 2023 Jonathan Macauley made his debut for the England u18 side during an international tournament in Portugal.
First professional contract signed June 2023, 2 years + 1 year option.

I'd say at 18 years of age Macauley is highly thought of both at Watford and by both England & Sweden international set ups.

Alfie Marriott (19)
Aged 18 years of age he was voted Kings Langley Player of the Season after spending the 2021/22 season there on loan.
In August 2022 he attended a week at St George’s Park on an England Men’s Goalkeeper Development Camp. (The same camp Macauley attended).
First professional contract signed June 2023. 2 years + 1 year option.

Myles Roberts (21)
Signed from Reading in January 2020. I'm 99% sure he signed on a professional contract.
Has had quite a few short term loans from both Reading and Watford, progressing up the leagues most of the time.
Loaned to Concord Rangers for the 2021/22 season.
Loaned to Welling United for the 2022/23 season.
Voted Manager’s Player of the Year for Welling & runner-up in their Player of the Season vote.
A new professional contract signed June 2023. 2 years.

That all three young keepers have signed new contracts this season is quite something, especially Myles Roberts as quite a few League 1 & Championship teams were reported to be looking to tempt him away last season.

Not inconceivable one of Marriott or Roberts could be third choice keeper this season and it was telling the latter has been named in both pre-season friendlies so far, albeit not making it onto the pitch.

It's also worth noting Gabriel Ortelli (17) is already being touted/scouted as a potential keeper for the Cypriot national side. Okay, they're not one of the major international sides but it's better to be being looked at and spoken about than not.

Another academy keeper, Roraigh Browne (17), was scouted by Premiership sides before joining Watford in 2019 and he had loan spell with Chertsey Town last season.

 

Here's my take on the squad and my opinion on their current level and potential.

GK Bachmann - Championship
GK Hamer - League One
GK Okoye - Non-League

RB Ngakia - Championship
RB Ferreira - Championship but with Premier League potential
RB Andrews - Championship currently

LB Morris - League One currently

CB Porteous - Championship
CB Hoedt - Championship/League One
CB Kabasele - Championship/League One
CB Sierralta - Championship
CB Pollock - League One

CM Louza - Premier League
CM Kone - Championship but with Premier League potential
CM Kayembe - League One
CM Dele-Bashiru - Championship/League One

RM Sarr - Premier League
RM Kalu - Championship
RM Baah - League One
RM Pussetto - Championship

LM Sema - Championship
LM Hungbo - Championship/League One

AM Asprilla - Championship but with Premier League potential
AM Ince - Championship
AM Martins - Championship

ST Healey - League One, but with Championship potential
ST Bayo - Championship
ST Adeyemo - League Two
ST Fletcher - League One
ST Hurtado - Not sure, but probably League Two/One

I think I've been fair. From the current squad there are only 4 players who are Premier League/potential Premier League. 16 who are only Championship in standard and 10 who I think are are a lower than Championship level.

So it's going to be tough to be anything more than mid-table next season. Personally I think the current squad will struggle to score goals, therefore will be fighting relegation.

I think the plan is to get the foot soldiers to a certain level. I consider the majority of the squad as foot soldiers. Basically the primer before the top coat. If we can get the squad playing in a certain way, with intensity, that will give us a strong base to work from. You can get a limited squad playing to a higher level because they run harder than the opposition. For me, I've not seen this characteristic in too many of our players, so it will be a big challenge for Ismael to force these players away from their comfort zone of just turning up is enough.

But if he can get the worker bees working, then we have a foundation for the quality to stand out. Trouble is we're missing that vital ingredient.....quality. We need players to score the goals. Where are these coming from? Healey, Bayo, Ince, Martins, Sema, Louza...maybe Porteous and Hoet will chip in with a handful. But none of these players will get close to double figures, IMO. We need a lot more quality in the midfield and up front if we are to compete next season. If we sign those vital players, then I can see a good season for us potentially, but if we don't then I can't see too much hope other than a relegation fight.

 

A lot of people seem to rate Ferreira quite highly but other than his goal, not entirely sure why. From the very small sample size of last season, I thought he looked very suspect defensively but pretty good going forward. Maybe a RWB role will suit him better though.

 

So, in the last hour or so the player profile pictures have been updated on the official site for the first team squad, except not all have been changed.
I watched as the players were updated and they seemed to change in the order they are placed on the page.

Dan Gosling, Ismaila Sarr & Maduka Okoye remain in last seasons kit while the hyperlink for Joseph Hungbo doesn't work.

To me it's a little surprising if Gosling is staying that his profile hasn't been updated seeing as he's been pictured in the new training gear at London Colney. Although it's equally surprising he remains on the page at all if he's leaving. What may be happening is a new role with the u21 squad, whose profiles have yet to be amended.

Now, in the past few seasons clubs have used older professionals as over-age players to help guide u21 sides on the pitch. Watford have generally looked to develop the u18s in the older age group in the last couple of seasons and have very few 20-21 year olds as part of the academy. Those that are still here generally get loaned out. This could mean Gosling plays with the u21s, maybe joining the coaching staff too.

With Okoye, he's with the squad so if he's staying why not update it.

No surprise Sarr remains kitted out in the old gear as he hasn't returned yet.

Hungbo's link not working despite the picture being new is usually a sign the player won't be with the squad and has been loaned out. For some reason players without a big club profile or never having been a regular player for the first team often disappear completely from the squad page.

Or maybe the media team have knocked off for the day and will finish updating everything tomorrow.

 

The big worry is why do only 3 players look happy.