http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/oct/01/gianfranco-zola-interview-exhausted-passion-watford A very interesting interview with Zola in the Guardian today. The interviewer, Donald McRae, can't help but have little digs at the club with comments like "crumbling old Vicarage Road" and "walking down the dingy tunnel where a Mind Your Head sign is tacked up". You just have to get used to how the media view us, but apart from that, it's a good read.
A good article, not trying to be judge and jury on how the club operates - more a look at Zola's persona. I think the comments regarding the ground are trying to indicate that it's a case of get the product right first, then consider the surroundings...
For one of (probably) the greatest players English football has ever seen he comes across as so humble and down to earth. Can't help but like him.
Stop being so touchy. It's written by a journalist. Besides, we ourselves think that the state of the ground is embarrassing.
One side is embarrassing, there's nothing wrong with the rest. It's more crap from a journo trying to paint the impression of desperate little Watford.
I don't think the ground comments are inaccurate; the ground *is* crumbling, and I doubt you'd find many grounds in the football league that are in worse condition than ours. How many others only have three stands? There's no malice in it, it's just an unfortunate fact.
We have three stands that are less than twenty years old and a brand new pitch. The East Stand may be crumbling, but it is a bit disingenuous to say the ground is crumbling. Aside from the East Stand our ground is in great nick.
It's not really all crumbling though is it? Three stands are fine and as good as most in our division, one quarter just looks mid-way through being rebuilt and ONE stand (half a stand even) is derelict and needs to go.
If you have an apple which is one quarter rotten and three quarters ok, you describe it as a rotten apple. I understand the need to stick up for the ground, but the fact that a good portion of the ground is ok doesn't mean it isn't in poor condition overall. Housing assessments for mortgages, for example, mark you down for something as simple as peeling paint. What do you all think a condemned stand would do to the freehold's valuation? For a Championship level club our stadium is well below par at present.
fml - There's something about Spongebob tampons that is far more disturbing than simple branding should ever be. bunch of tarts Upda Charlton charts 6 wfc 0
The piece was about Zola, but the derogatory comments are designed to set the scene and remind people how far Zola has apparently fallen. It seems no one can write a piece on Watford without throwing a few insults in the mix for good measure, even if it had nothing to do with the story. Why even mention the ground? I don't see interviews with Brendan Rodgers, which diversifies on the state of the surrounding buildings on the approach to Anfield, which looks like they've been through the blitz.
If someone had told us 2 years ago that Zola would be our manager this season, we would have laughed at them just as hard as everyone else. Zola at Watford is definitely unexpected and somewhat out of the norm. You'd expect to see him at a Premier League or Serie A side before us. The man is one of the most skillful players English/International football ever saw: he won a Football Writers' player of the year, Chelsea voted him their best ever player, and on top of that, he is an OBE. If the author wanted to point out that Zola is a bit out of place at the Vic, I'd be hard pushed to say he doesn't have a point!
that is how you perceeive it HB1 - i perceive it differently - i thought the whole article was quite charming and reflected more on the history of lil old wfc stating john barnes and loofer as to where they would talk and zola chosing JB as he was an excelelnt skillful player - and the ground crumbling and the 'mind your head ' is funny.. last time i was in the rookers the roof weas fecking leaking. it aint that serious its only football.
Crumbling old vicarage road - I take in the spirit of parochial, well-loved, tumbledown, local, friendly, familiar. Don't see it as much of a dig. Guardian have always been good to us press wise too.
I don't necessarily disagree with you and I did say it was a good read and an interesting piece. The Guardian may have been trying to be charming, but it still has condescending tones towards the club. This in isolation this would not even be considered for comment, but on the back of the hatchet job from the Daily Mail, the Hammersfan blog and the BBC, there does seem to be a bit of an agenda against the club right now.
I really enjoyed the article (thanks for alerting us to it, HB1)...it's always interesting to see how the outside world is viewing us and this was the perfect antidote to the Samuel's piece..it's good the press office is allowing the national media access to Zola as he is such a big asset and always comes across well..he will get doubters onside with his affable personality. I don't know about anybody else but when I read it I felt excited once more about what is happening at the club and it's good to read quotes about our targets, our timescale and the progress we are making.
Yes, far more balanced with reporting how the club is run and the Pozzo's plans. It's show's Zola in a good light as well.
Excellent article tbh. Balanced, shows Zola in a good light and unlike that article in the daily fail not full of misconceptions or the usual lazy journalism
I can't defend the ground. The corners are horrific and one side looks like a Old butlins. It's not safe for the players to use the player entrance they have to walk around the ground. Hard to argue and I won't. The roof does leak at the rookers not bad but it does. But I'd rather have a premiership team than a premiership ground. Ask Coventry
Well there aren't many clubs with a condemned stand, especially this high up the league. The Rookery roof leaks, the Rous is getting on to be 30 years old soon, a building site in the corner that looks like a Mumbai shanty house and we are surrounded by a crumbling hospital, allotments and crappy terraced housing. I can see what he meant, and as others have said, it's a decent article as a whole. The only issue being it's 10 years late, we have already had the big name player come and manage us, and he was Italian, a better player and manager, Vialli, who will also be our next manager once Zola gets the bullet.
