Why won't the Pozzo's sign talented British youngsters?

With the news that Wolves have had a bid accepted for Benik Afobe, I ask why are the Pozzo's not looking at players like him for Watford? Does their scouting network not cover the British Isles?

Players like Dele Alli, Benik Afobe, and previously Nakhi Wells and Patrick Bamford were highly rated and highly talented young players who we should be looking at. I use the 2 MK Dons players as an example as we hear a lot about them on 3CR and in the local press in MK, but I am sure there are many others that you could name. It bothers me that we won't take a punt on a good young British player / player from the leagues below us. Afobe will do well for Wolves, and could help them into the play offs possibly at our expense.

 

We signed Ikpeazu. Plus we bid for Brady and Hendrick. British players = silly money.

 

Cost. The rumours in the summer when Liverpool etc were supposed to be signing Alli were putting him around the £5m-8m mark.

 

We signed Ikpeazu. I rate Afobe but it's still 500k for a player with 9 goals in about 70 games at Championship level. Dele Alli will cost more than we've spent on transfers in the past 15 years and will likely go to a club like Liverpool. I wanted Wells at the time but £2m for a player with 14 goals in 43 games? I'm alright with the options we have tbh. Chelsea wouldn't be sold by Chelsea cheap and maybe he'd be here on loan if Boro didn't have Karanka.

As Hornet23 says, British players are heavily overpriced. It's a big risk that for me, just isn't worth it while we're just about breaking even(?). If/when we get promoted, I can see the Pozzos starting to invest in British talent using the TV money.

 

Chelsea out r reach 2 b honest

 

We all know how the Pozzo model works - to buy an English player of a decent standard you have to pay the £££, however, as we've seen many English players they never reach their transfer potential and very rarely get sold for a profit, i.e. working against the Pozzo model.

I suspect Harry Kane will fall victim of this when someone offers silly money for him - don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic talent and will score but when he gets sold for 35 million it's difficult for a player to live up to the hype.

 

english players are just difficult to find cheap. we don't have deep pockets unfortunately, whereas foreign players are less likely to command a high fee plus the lure of playing in england overcomes the fact its at a lower level. mcgugan, dyer, ikpeazu, mcheachran, thorne are all english players signed by the pozzos and not many have set the world alight in terms of performances and attitude. Im sure there are efforts to improve the standard of our youth team. The U21's won 6-1 against a highly rated leeds team last week but no one seems to be giving much thought to it

 

Thornes a really good player

 

Seeing the likes of Lansbury, Cleverley, Eagles, Webber, Foster & Chalobah develop at Watford was surprisingly one of my favourite things. That's slowed down now.

Our best players were always sold so that's not a problem but let's say we got £10 million for Deeney, we won't see that outright on a proven transfer. Yes okay Pozzo's spend money on wages and stuff, I'm not denying that.

But, seeing your team up there looking to spend some proper money on a player you knew about was exciting. There are the odd Nathan Ellington's yes but I miss us buying players who I knew something about. Buying players like Graham & Deeney from the lower leagues. I don't really feel any great attachment to this Watford team for some reason.

Acuna turned out poo and Ighalo's turned out good but there was no prior buzz, no previous history in England, Sky Sports News coverage etc. Sounds really sad and petty but I just miss this.

 

Developing the UK scouting network was the reason Luke Dowling was brought in to replace Nani in the summer. I don't expect to see many fruits of his labour until the summer as that seems to be when the Pozzos like to do the bulk of thier business. Plus as others have touched on British players cost more and they cost more again in January.

 

Yes, but if players comfortable with the culture of the Champ help get us promoted, wouldn't that pay for itself regardless of sell-on value?

And in any case, if Watford have to pay a premium to sign a British player, why shouldn't a club signing a British player from Watford?

 

Yes, let's treat this as another transitional season. After all, that approach has worked for Arsenal.

 

This is the same for me a lot of the time - but then, the 4-2 Huddersfield game earlier in the season, under Sannino, was absolutely fantastic and one of the best I've been to. These players clearly have it in them to show the spirit and fight which represents the Watford many of us began supporting, but even in victory recently this hasn't been evident. That's what's disappointing for me, rather than where the players come from.

 

I'm not proposing that's what we do but yeah that's essentially what's probably going end up happening transfers wise. That said isn't it stating the obvious a little? There was always going to be a transition from Nani to Dowling. That was likely to take a few months. Obviously Plan A was for Nani to stay until the summer 2014 window closed and then leave us with the players needed for promotion. That may still happen.

 

he was for derby but for us he wasn't setting the world on fire

 

Only time I saw him, admittedly, but I thought he was the best played on Boxing Day v Millwall. Showed much more than many of our other loanees have.

 

Sorry but your wrong , he is a good player , and every time i saw him , he looked composed and comfortable on the ball , and has a bright future , i dont think you can lump him in with the others as you did

 

I'm more bothered that we don't buy one or two experienced and unfashionable Championship players without any view to doing anything with them apart from winning games. There are a few mainstays like this in any successful Champ team, with John Eustace being the obvious example. Derby won't care whether or not they can flog him later if they get promoted this season.

 

Just saw a great example of some of the business we need to be doing.

Derby sign Stephen Warnock on a 18 month contract. Not the best player technically but Championship experience, and know how. No risk on a contract that short. Useful squad member, will probably be backup/competition for Forsyth.

Layun may be worth 10 million £ in 4 years and is undoubtedly a better player technically but who is more likely to add something useful on AND off the pitch?

 

British players cost money and we don't have any. There isn't really much more to say.

Attempts have been made to bring in free agents such as McGugan and Dyer, but how well has that worked out for us so far?

The biggest problem we have right now is we lost Hogg and Eustace at the same time and haven't replaced either of them. Tozser isn't really a defensive midfielder and is being used as more of a deep playmaker than a ball winner.

If we had a proper crunching anchorman type to complement the other two in the midfield trio, I think we'd do a lot better. Guedioura was playing very much in that role and we looked a lot more coherent and secure on the pitch. Even without his two goal contribution he looked extremely useful and he was doing exactly what was needed.

Shame Warnock had to go and get himself fired really.

 

Can't we get Batto back?

 

Mcgugan, Dyer, Tamas, Mceachran, Andrews all came with prior buzz and history in England; I'll stick with the Abdi's and Toszers please. But no, I actually do know what you mean.

 

Why would he come to us, a club in 6th and that plays with wing-backs, over a club in 2nd who play a formation that suits him?

 

I'd like that as I rate him, but since he is on a season loan I suspect they paid us a fee for him and thus we can't bring him back.

Having said that, I don't think he's what we need anyway. He's more of a Munari than a Guedioura and doesn't really have the physical presence we're lacking.

 

Hmm decent point.

McGugan - Good signing

Dyer - 32

Tamas - 31 and actually a decent player

McChearan - Pile of shi*e

Andrews - 34

I don't see us bringing in too many 32 year-old journeymen from abroad? Hardly a fair comparison.

I want to see us going for the likes of Alan Judge, Calum Wilson, Shotton, Jordan Ibe (loan), Mark Hudson, Antonio?

We need the Abdi's and Toszers too but some know how and experience to compliment it would only strengthen our promotion chances.

 

Munari?

 

Iriney.

My point should of been that he named 6 bad British players but I could name more foreign flops.

 

Cassetti, Neill, Iriney, Geijo, Ranegie, Riera.

 

Neill and Riera quite easily fall into the British category.

Ranegie was 29 when he was signed.

Geijo was 29 too I believe.

Cassetti was a brilliant player in his prime unlike Andrews.

Keep em coming.

 

I actually agree, a hybrid team of the good from what we've signed from abroad, and championship proven British players would **** this league, pretty much what we had in 12-13, someone tell the Pozzo's.

 

We have spent enormous amounts on wages and loans. I don't believe we couldn't have replaced the likes of Hoggy.

 

I don't have a side in this argument mate. I just saw an opportunity to exercise my Watford trivia knowledge.

 

Yes, on the likes of Andrews, McEachran, etc.

None of them worked out but I don't believe for a moment that the total spent has come close to what we'd have to spend on a permanent signing who was virtually certain not to flop. Fact is we've signed over half a dozen players for that defensive midfield role and none of them have worked out as expected (Iriney, McEachran, Thorne, Andrews, Diakite, Tozser) except for the one we now have no chance of getting back (Guedioura). Of that list, we could easily have gone out and bought any of them and been stuck with a player who wasn't doing what was needed.

Could we have taken that money and put all of it into buying one player? Sure...but who knows how that purchase would have worked out? Under previous owners if a signed player didn't work out we were stuck with him, the poster boy being Ellington. At least the current approach doesn't leave us with an Ellington-esque albatross around our necks.

 

We've largely shaken off the tag of being a team full of divers - sign Dele Alli and it'll be worse than ever. If anyone sneezes near him then he throws himself on the floor.