So Flores has gone for a formation in which fails to score at home to Sheff Utd, Bournemouth and Burnley. How wonderful it is to have him at the club. At least I felt like we’d score with Gracia.
I’d add Cathcart and Richarlison. Generally I agree though we regress players unless we loan them out and then sell them (Lukebakio).
Had to leave on 75 minutes due to family commitments so left and was walking up Vicarage Road as Burnley fans chanted VAR and cheered again assuming it was either a red or pen... by the time I got the commentary on we were 2-0 down. The walk to Watford met even having left was just so flat and dissapointing. Even if the performance wasn’t 3-0 loss bad, that result will be utterly devastating to the club going into next week now. Quique out.
Agreed. I’ve never understood why crossing the ball, especially a dead ball, is seemingly so difficult for a professional footballer. This is surely one area where they can definitely improve with practice. It doesn’t depend on some innate talent.
Three fouls, actually. A Watford defender has a double handful of Barnes' shirt, pulling it up to his neck.
Based on the last set of accounts i think it will hurt us more than them. And as others have pointed out the resale value of our players would surely drop as we head out of this league. Remember we owed £94m in outstanding transfer fees and £55m in third party debt plus £25m to the Pozzos. The real value is in GD and RP with someone probably gambling on Doucs as well. After that where is the resale value on the rest including the many aged 30+
This is so true. Also free kicks (after seeing the Capoue effort yesterday) -i am told the last time we scored from one was 130 league games ago v Villa in QSF first season by.......Almen Abdi !
Thank you everyone for your best wishes over my families current situation. Means a lot. Again this will likely be my only post on things for a while (god knows how many managers we will have gone through by the time I feel comfortable posting regularly again!) - but anyway, football..... Yesterday was of course my game for quite some time and the first of the QSF reign. And I hope it will be the last. Thoroughly nice man but it just has not worked as I'm sure Gino and the board would have hoped. I don't blame them for rolling the dice given how it was going under Gracia - but they backed the wrong horse. I think Flores has to go today IMO - and give ourselves 6 days to gt the right man in. I fear it would be another unattached manager from Spain or Italy who took their club to a respectable finish in Serie A or La Liga and then was sacked.... but it shouldn't be. The Pozzo's philosophy of coaches is failing. We need to look more long term - as many have said, I think Lee Johnson would be an astute appointment. I just hope we haven't burnt our bridges with many coaches over the hire/fire 'short-termism' we have worked under. We have to hope the lure of the PL is still a draw for us. We looked abject yesterday and all the fight went from the team after Wood opened the scoring. Deulofeu was the only one trying to make things happen. I think its obvious now that the board have been so focussed on commercial endeavours off the pitch believing we are established as a PL team and wouldn't be in trouble. Charlton made a similar mistake in the PL and did exactly what we are doing now. They've not returned yet.... Purchasing a winger for £40m (who contrary to some opinion on here) that I think has obvious talent - and giving him to an uber-defensive Head Coach who won't play wingers is the strangest move the club have made in a long, long time. The money clearly should have gone on defenders but that argument is well-worn by now. However, this super-defensive mindset from QSF isn't working. I noticed as usual, certain sections of fans celebrating Deeney's return as if he'll be some sort of saviour. It's crazy. I spent the game praying for December to disappear so we can get Joao Pedro through the door - but then I realised at present he will have QSF as his coach - he will get swamped in these current tactics. I don't like criticising QSF too much - he's a decent guy who clearly has an affinity with the club. But fans are abject to him now. Tears won't be shed when the inevitable happens - be it now, or at the end of the season. But I think we only survive if we hire a progressive coach who can balance defence and attack in equal measure, who isn't afraid to play younger players (Wilmot, Joao Pedro, Chalobah, Hughes, Quina, either of the young GK's) and is given a sensible amount to buy in defenders in January. I think the failure to do that will see us relegated. QSF simply cannot be left in charge to oversee the windfall of games December brings.
Great post Burnsy and nice to read your thoughts. I have been in the same mindset about the youth. We clearly have a very good coach and U23 side who are progressing well. They are top of their respective league. Some of these so called "always starts" players need a challenge to make them want to keep their place. Cassidy looks decent for one.
Dont see the point in getting rid of QSF right now.We need a new recruitment team, we haven’t improved the team despite being in the Prem for 4 years, and our defence has gone backwards. We can keep sacking managers but it is not addressing the route cause.
Things weren’t looking good under Javi but it never had that Sunderland/Derby season style feeling. Quique has been an absolute disaster.
I think any new manager will be between a rock and a hard place with this team. We are having to play 5 at the back because our defence is not good enough, and that reduces our attacking threat. If we play more attacking then we will get picked off. That said I would rather we went for it, and went down with a fight. My concern with keep changing the manager is that it’s not a good look and it’s trying to paper over the cracks. What do we do if the new manager loses four on the bounce? That said if we lose against Southampton we are basically down, so we may as well start planning for next year. I don’t think QSF will be sacked yet, but he’s probably one game away
QSF was the first Pozzo head coach to be allowed influence on recruitment. The players he urged to sign were a disaster (Jurado, Suarez come to mind) He wouldn't play certain Pozzo hopefuls (Doucoure was sent out on loan, Miguel Layun sold) He didn't improve a single Pozzo player. He devalued and deskilled lots more. And if you don't add value to the Pozzo stable you go against their ethos. Which is why I thought he got sacked the first time round. I don't want him anywhere near out club from now on and certainly I don't want him to have him having any say in the upcoming transfer window, even if Watford should be recruiting with an eye on the Championship, of which QSF has no knowledge or, IMO, the bottle for.
Something strangely nostalgic about an inexplicably bad defeat at home to a team of neanderthal northern thugs. Felt like I was reliving my childhood again.
Layun was rubbish and not cut out for the prem. Doucoure was signed halfway through his first tenure and loaned straight out, hardly likely to be his decision. I think you’re confusing him with Mazzari who was the one that didn’t fancy Docuore. He’s not perfect but those are not valid points.
Layun being “rubbish” is subjective given he was a League and Gold Cup winning captain for Mexico and played in the Champions League for Porto after he left us. And led his country in two World Cups, one of which went through the play offs proving he was a big match temperament. Bottle which is In short supply at Watford.He seemed more effective at scoring goals and free kicks than say, Jurado that followed him. But my main point was about QSF being a poor judge of players, in or out, and too safe. Can you jog my memory then with naming a player QSF improved?
Of course none of our players, for many years, have actually been ‘rubbish’. They might be off form, lacking in confidence, not fulfilling their potential or just not up to the standard the team is competing at, but not ‘rubbish’. That’s just Forum hyperbole.
I hadn't spotted this but it's not a surprise. The marketing people have strong opinions and a very fixed agenda. They are viewed with suspicion by many even within the club.
Nathan Ake improved as the season went on under QSF but he doesn’t count as he was on loan Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Frustrated to read the comments from QSF in the MoS. "It is difficult to explain the result" . Well, if you have a Championship defence at best and no strike force, you are not going to win. I have mentioned many times on this forum that Cathcart and Marriapa are out of their depth at this level. Next week at Southampton will be a defining moment for both sides. One manager will be sacked if their side should lose the game. For us to lose, it will suck all the confidence of the players, fans and the club itself. It has been an awful season so far and one which was forecasted by many on this site. Complacency of the highest order by the players and club management has led us to this point. You reap what you sow.
Layun wasn’t cut out for the prem. He didn’t have the big match temperament with us that’s for sure, he was feeble in the tackle, neat and tidy yes, but ultimately not suited to our league. I think you’d struggle to find people who would say he was actually a brilliant player ruined by QSF. It’s difficult to say which players QSF improved as he only managed us for one season. You could say he improved every single one of them immeasurably up to Xmas, especially Deeney and Igahlo, but then we had our end of season slump which every other PL Watford manager has also had. His second stint is way too short to be able to comment, however off the top of my head I’d argue he’s improved Dawson a fair bit. I don’t really think it’s relevant though, it’s not the issue. The issue is a lack of investment in defence and only have Andre Gray as a striker.
I’m not sure what else he can say, or what you’d expect him to say though? It didn’t do Jose much good at Man Utd to slag his players off. We all know the problem, I’m sure QSF knows the problem, but sitting rock bottom of the league calling two thirds of your team substandard isn’t going to help.
When you look at the Sheffield United team Great performance today, but there is no way that their players are technically better, man for man, than ours are. It is all about their mindset. McGoldrick was in an out of the Forest team in the Championship, and has had more clubs than Tiger Woods. Mouset failed at Muff, and most of the others in the team have very chequered histories outside the prem - all playing like world beaters. They have a Championship standard defence (literally) if you look where the players were last season (with the exception of Jagielka, age 37), yet now one of the best defences in the Prem. It is so damn frustrating.
They have a bunch of players and a manager who genuinely care about being in the PL rather than most of our lot who appear happy just to turn up and take their wages irrespective of the performance they put in. Fancy scouting networks don’t get you team spirit.
Any bloke who'd pay £46 for a haircut should consider a sex change. I never pay more than £12 and the 'barnet' looks perfectly reasonable.
Rubbish. The Palarse v Pool thing was clear. Their first goal yesterday was more a bit of routine 'argy-bargy'. It's a 'contact sport'. But don't let me stop you further adding to your various 'conspiracy theories' based on nil evidence.
If that was the away game at Huddersfield, it was cold, rainy and windy, and was stuck out on the right wing and, if anything, was one of our better players. Then he was dropped, I think. I agree with you, he was never given a chance.
