I think you have your distortion perspective a bit muddled up but I can appreciate I'm not going to convince you.
Can anyone remember a season when our defence wasn't amongst the weakest in whatever division we happened to be in?
I agree that alternative views should be debated in a respectful manner. I'm sorry that you consider some of my posts as unnecessary and that I deliver nonsense spin, repeatedly sensationalise, manipulate and distort the truth and have an agenda. Despite all that I’m genuinely grateful you consider me an ok poster as tbh i sound like a complete d1ck. I really don't see why there should be droves of people with a vendetta against you. It may be that it's simply people that disagree with what you have been saying about the team on the pitch and who have been attempting to debate this with you whilst occasionally getting a little frustrated and carried away which sometimes happens.
I appreciate your honesty and self-reflection, but I think you’ve been on this forum long enough to know there are many small-minded people who have yet to reach maturity and will gleefully wade in on any given opportunity. If you can read someone’s points, without taking it out of context or if you’re not quite sure the meaning, then to ask for clarification, then all will be good.
Some on here debate the ownership of our club endlessly in a way that optimistically assumes that we will avoid jumping out of frying pans into fires. That's fine but what I don't get is that the club has teetered on that particular precipice previously, looked over the edge, jumped and we all saw how this paragon of virtue ran WFC, thankfully for a very limited time before he could do real damage. A lucky, lucky escape that would probably have ended John Gurney-like as it did for them up the M1. We must not/cannot allow a re-run. It took a few £££s/Euros to lever our red Hatter out of position so the current owners gained my thanks for stabilising us and taking us on a 10 year rollercoaster which sadly (but probably inevitably) for a club of our size has slightly hit the buffers. Highly irritating but these things will always happen to clubs like ours. We have our days in the sun and need to enjoy them for what they are. I, for one, will be prepared to criticise our owners for crass decisions both off-field and on; like Mogi, Giaretta, Ben Manga and team, plus closer to the team Hodgson, Wilder, currently Hamer v Bachmann, Rajovic v Bayo v Healey, Tom Dele-B, Tom Ince, our defence generally, VI's subs etc etc. But in truth, like most fed on a heady diet of rumour and intrigue, my direct knowledge in terms of ownership is scant and I have to trust real Hornet voices - GT and subsequently the Taylor family, EJ, Luther - who have an inside track and tactfully/diplomatically instil in the owners their responsibility to the town and the fans which remains a key point to me. Our current owners appear to listen and have acted on lots of things, look at the stadium. We aren't yet in any danger of turning up to our equivalent of the Select Car Leasing Stadium in Berks with pockets stuffed with tennis balls to lob onto the Vic pitch. I'm sure Madejski - for all his faults - didn't quite envisage his legacy going that way either. I've no doubt at some point Gino will look to sell and I would hope and expect that he will exercise his judgement to protect the legacy. No-one can be sure but even though I'm exiled quite a way from SW Herts and have been for several decades now, WD18 issues matter to me as much as ever. Felt privileged to enjoy a few verses of 'Super Ben Hamer in goal' at Deepdale the other day. This isn't a defence of team Pozzo but rather, I would suggest, the reality of our situation and a plea to temper current moans about Bristol City etc with some longer term thinking. Final thought from my pulpit holding my rather cloudy crystal ball; be careful what you wish for!
He must have put in about 5 crosses during the match, he worked hard including one lung busting run to get back and defend in the second half and was easily our biggest threat. Not consistent but he was decent in this game
I will say 4.5 years ago, I doubt you’d have found a single person who was against Gino Pozzo. However, right from the off there was a trade off. We all knew Watford would be a servant to Udinese, but we were in such a mess after BBB, anything would seem worth it at the point in time. Although I would prefer an owner who was fully into the club, I was ok with knowing we’d have to be successful in order to feed Udinese. That’s basically how it worked up until 2019. Gino wasn’t ideal, but we were successful so the bad stuff could be parked. However, role on 4.5 years and it’s a very different story. Gino has destroyed his empire. I put this down to nothing more than arrogance and incompetence. The wheels came off a while ago, but since then virtually every decision he has made has backfired. Is he unlucky or just incompetent? It’s gone in too long to be labelled unlucky imo. I just see the direction of travel being downward at the club. Every season the squad is worse than the previous one. If that continues we’d be in League One before you know it. Gino is still here, so wishing him gone doesn’t really make any difference. But, for me, he has to prove himself all over again. Are we on the right tracks now? Many think we are, but I need to see real evidence of it. It’s not just Watford who are struggling. Take a look at Udinese. Only 1 win all season and they sit one place above relegation with a strong possibility of going down. So, my own opinion is, Gino Pozzo is not cut out for running a football club. I believe all the success we had was heavily influenced by his father. Certainly the fortunes of Udinese were. So, for me, we thank them for saving us from administration, thank them for stadium improvements and thank them for some good memories along the way. But their time is up. Their ideas do not work, they are no longer ahead of the curve and do not have the finances to support two high level football clubs. The “careful what you wish for” tag at the end does make me cringe every time I see someone post that in all sincerity. Sorry but it does. We could get another Baz, but we may get a Tony Bloom. We’d probably get something in between, but it’s time for someone else to have a go, and thinking the next guy might be worse, should be no reason to keep us rooted with a struggling, stagnating owner.
‘Be careful what you wish for’ klaxon - x4 Forum member detailing their fake alcoholism to try and impress strangers on the internet - x2 Criticism of team described as ‘doomsters/gloomsters’ - x10 References to fans clapping off the team after losing 4-1 at home to a crap team - x0 Closet Arsenal fans - xPlenty The above are guesses as I’ve not read the thread so might have +\- x2
It's all opinions of course. Your expectations, in my view, border on an entitlement to success. And, in that vein, it seems you would spin the roulette wheel and risk an owner like Dai Yongge as you consider the Pozzos' time is up, end of story. I don't and I wouldn't run that risk. But I also guess if another wrong'un took control you would also be the first one up to call for a further spin of the wheel until it delivers your preferred candidate. I trust my response passes your personal cringe test this time.
It’s not entitlement to want for an owner who is totally into the club, is prepared to invest in it and to care for it. Sure, if we got another joker like Baz in, I would be the first to demand he goes, just as I was the lone voice on the subject way back then, when others were vouching for him. Is Gino evil? No, but is he right for Watford? No, imo. So it’s time for a change. But I do respect your view, of sticking and hoping it all works out. I just think the direction of travel we’ve been heading in over the past 4.5 years is proof things are unlikely to improve. Like I said, Gino is going nowhere, no matter what anyone says, but I think people have to be aware that things could get a lot worse under him.
Well that’s been an interesting read!! On a side note. I’m not sure if there is a minimum age to be on the forum but always presumed it was all adults. Yet there is an ignore button that people actually use?! Really? It’s like being in the playground again
No. I did have an OBE but WFC felt the need to strip me of it. It was an Oddly Ballsy Expectation. Now I’m going to refuse any further OBEs of that kind. And I urge my fellow hornets to do the same.
Ah, everyone's favourite spin doctor. Saying, we're going down/relegation scrap/getting relegated (or worse)is a definition of doom mongering. Criticising the owners, players etc is fine by me but don't add rhetoric.
I had to pop into my town centre this afternoon but I’m happy to report I avoided bumping into any Bristol City fans. I’m hoping by Monday they will all be hungover and will have forgotten about Boxing Day, so I can resume a normal lifestyle again. Mind you, I’m hoping I will have forgotten about it too by then. Looking forward to going to Plymouth that day. Anybody else on here planning that trip?
Nine hour round trip, god speed to the brave hornets who travel. Last time we played at Home Park we drew 3-3 I think under Boothroyd. Wow it's been that long already? Being New Year's day I hope everyone who does travel can get there safely without too many issues.
I certainly am. Mrs Ilkley and I are catching the train on Saturday and making a weekend of it. It’s a bit of a trek from Yorkshire, but it’s got to be done as I haven’t seen WFC play at Plymouth. It takes me to 69 current league clubs out of 92.
Yes we did. It was a beautiful hot August evening. In fact if I recall correctly, the setting sun behind the goal we were attacking in the second half made it very difficult to see properly. That was the match Ashley Young really came of age, and from 1-3 down after defeat in our opening match our season lifted off! If we lose on Monday, living midway between Bristol and Plymouth will make life very tough for a while!
