Zola must go for Watford to progress

Do you realistically think we'll finish Top 2 though?

I don't recall Zola saying that to be fair but play-offs is definitely the aim now, I think we can finish 5th or 6th.

 

this is spot on , like it or not we need GFZ however wouldnt say no to a burkinshaw type no 2!

 

An enjoyable thread to read, and although I've always been in the pro Zola camp, Stewart must be commended for making some good points. It's been a depressing few weeks for sure.

I've always tried to see both sides of this debate, and to generally be somewhere in the middle. So for me, Zola wasn't the greatest manager we could have attracted, but as HB1 says he fitted what the Pozzos wanted. (I know we all hated the word PROJECT when they took us over, but it doesn't half feel like that at times when you read explanations of why Zola was brought in).

Yes, the Pozzos have been and will continue to be great owners..but the way they do their business will also mean restrictions..so when Vydra left, we don't go out and spend the play-off money on a big name striker, we recruit an unproven one from one of their other teams. So it's great we have stability..but maybe a little too restrictive too. But that said, we all know their modus operandi..and we are getting used to it. I like their stability..it's great not having to worry about the future and I think had we had Forest's or Blackburn's owners, Zola would have departed after the Yeovil game.

Last season's a strange one to analyse..yes Zola did great to get us ALMOST up..but it's also fair to criticise him a bit for failing (twice) at the final hurdle. But had he not done so well to almost get us there, nobody would be carping at him for blowing it. So, in a way, he's a victim of his own success. Ditto this season.

 

BECAUSE WE WERE UNDER A****ING TRANSFER EMBARGO.....GOD ALMIGHTY!!!!

And you're one of the better ones here

 

Agree with the rest but would give him till mid February personally to see if he can improve form with the new additions.

 

I'd give him the remainder of the contract. If things haven't improved by xmas then the season is down the pan anyway, and the Pozzo's should take their time to find the right person.

 

Which still allowed us to sign players, with permission!!!

So are you, btw

 

This is exactly right!!!

 

Massive Sunday hugz xx

 

I agree with this too. Plenty of time to reassess in the summer with a much better chance of finding a decent replacement for Zola should he be on his way. Any change mid season usually means making compromises and bringing in someone who has failed elsewhere.

I tend to think had Andi and Anya been fit over the last few weeks we wouldn't be having this type of discussion right now.

 

Yes there is.

That's kind of the whole point of it.

 

Who knows.

14 points isn't a lot in this league, especially when we're now seeing the teams at the top struggling to get results.

Remember Reading a few seasons ago?

 

True true.

Didn't someone say the loss of Hoban was coincidental with a bit of a defensive collapse? Was he that good?

J.B - Yeah I did mention that on a similar thread actually but I don't think we're stronger than QPR or Lestaaaaaaa but hey who knows, would be happy finishing 6th no reason why we can't! Let's see what January brings us in terms of late Christmas presents.

 

Seems to me that Forest chose Davies because he has a track record of promotions from the Championship (like Warnock and Holloway), Derby chose McClaren because of their links to him, Burnley went for Dyche as he'd established a good reputation with us, QPR picked Harry because he was a proven trophy-winning manager etc etc

And we chose Zola because he was Italian, a big name as a player and because he was friends with and had worked with Duxbury and Nani. We didn't chose him because he was a proven winner as a manager or somebody with experience of our level. We then put him alongside a Director of Football, which always seems a good idea on paper but in reality rarely seems to work brilliantly in England..oh and supply most of the many new players he receives from the B sides of our Italian and Spanish cousins.

Point being..bearing in mind all that, is it realistic to expect miracles from Zola? He's still learning his trade as a manager and in our division, with a huge flux on the playing front..since he arrived we've had TWENTY-SIX new signings (27 if you count Hall twice) while TWENTY-EIGHT first team players have left (29 if you include Hall).

Surely patience is needed....

 

getting to the EPL is the be all and end all. prices are too cheap and we don't lose enough games. we must remedy this!

 

All together now, to the tune of Big Ben rining:

"Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong....Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong,"

 

"Ya Wrong...Ya Wrong...Ya Wrong"

 

Twice last season we were one victory away from promotion so cant really how they dont know anything about the championship?

 

We would not have been allowed to sign a player for anything other than the most nominal of nominal fees - 100% incontrovertible FACT - do not force me add you to page 1,014 of the www.wfcmongforums.com ****** list please - you're better than that

Thank you

 

Interesting to see if any spent in January window. To be honest though I would have thought our so called 'free' transfers from Udinese would have come under greater scrutiny.

 

Yes, indeed it will and I'm sure we will within reason

The precedent for these kind of embargoes is quite clear - teams can sign sufficient free agents to put a competitive side out for the level at which they're playing, but moves involving meaningful transfer fees won't be authorised. We were just lucky to have a greater pool of.....ahem....free transfer options to select from than most clubs in the same position

The salient point here is that anyone bemoaning the fact that we didn't pay out for replacements for Vydra, etc or trying to heap blame on Nani for only bringing in people from Udinese/Granada is a ****ing idiot - end of

 

Surely we could have bartered for players? A pub and a big screen for Billy Sharp.

 

a week ago i wanted Zola out because I said 3 at the back is rubbish, leaking too many goals, and unless its 4 get him out. Since then he's woken up and gone 4 at the back and the results havent been too bad. Draw against Burnley and Leeds. Now he's changed it the players will need to adjust to it after having 3-5-2 drummed into them for so long. So I will say now to give Zola some more time to get the team used to the formation and then moving up the table. Probably until the end of the season (when his contract is up I believe), or unless the side starts slipping down the table again some more in which case he will be gone anyway.

 

Makes no sense, if you want us to win games then we're going to get promoted eventually?..

 

Before I go on, let me state I am in the 'Zola In' camp - but if we are to make a change mid-season we need to do it before the end of the year, with a replacement lined up. they need to be able to operate within the transfer window, fully aware of what personnel they need to move on and who to bring in.

I would be a tad disappointed to see GFZ go, as some of the football we've played from front to back has been fantastic. Yes some **** ups have occurred but, aside from Leicester, we've yet to be dubbed. A couple of breaks and before you know it we'll be right back in the mix.

 

Completely agree. The uncertainty over Zola's position is only going to increase as the season goes on and his contract runs out - likely causing disruption to the team. If he's not the man for the job, the sooner he goes the better.

That said, I hope he stays. He's undoubtedly been a positive influence on the team, and when things were good last season they were very,very good.