He's already getting on with the players and being the father figure to them. Pressing and aggression is so desperately needed in the side. Not the limp standing off the opposition allowing them to do what they want. Contrast with Brentford.
Feel like I've seen more defensive and tactical instruction in that few dozen seconds than in all video of Xisco combined over the course of his reign of terror. A comforting piece of media.
If somebody had told us back on Saturday night that QSF was on the verge of managing a former club for the 3rd time, we might have worried! But luckily it’s Getafe.
Claudio looks so happy he actually found one of our players to talk to. All the others on international duty, and Ben was trying out his new Go Pro on a bike somewhere.
Poor Ranieri gets less and less credit for the Leicester title win ! First Pearson won the title and now it’s Shakespeare and the goal keeping coach. Next it will be the tea lady and cook. https://sport.optus.com.au/articles...anieri-watford-analysis-jersey-swap-schwarzer Interesting point later in the article from Michael Bridges about the lack of communication between 1st team and youth set up at the club albeit it is a 2nd hand account. Can well believe that is right - even now. Mind you was Harry Kewell in change - doubt losing badly most weeks helped his cause . And the Pozzos will say there is a long term plan - they have been here almost 10 years !
I'm sorry, what? Why have they asked some random old bloke who used to play for Leeds and I've never even heard of to give his expert opinion on the setup at and prognosis for Watford? Am I missing something? As it is, he could barely write/talk coherently, so I think I'll make the choice to continue to be utterly unaware of his existence, personally. Also comparing us to Leicester as promoted teams is absolutely phucking laughable, genuinely sub-70-IQ level fuuckwittery of the most embarrassing order: Apart from the vast differences in demographics and financial situation between the two clubs, I guess the major improvements including a new stand that we made to our own stadium as well as the upgraded facilities at London Colney just never happened. Nor the five straight years as a Premier League club. What an absolute fuucking chief. Despicably stupid - some kind of punishment is in order, like a slap from a giant man-sized hand on a spring, a la 'Jackass'.
While footballers in general aren't renowned for being articulate, knowledgable or insightful, the other big problem is the writer's poor literacy (could also not be quoting them accurately) - this sentence doesn't make sense: "However, former Leeds striker Michael Bridges is not convinced, citing the instability that defines Watford as they lurch between managers and Schwarzer’s firsthand account of Ranieri as ‘a recipe for disaster’." There doesn't seem to be a link on that website to the writer's profile, but from the mugshot worryingly he looks much older than the 18-year-old trying to get something on his CV that the quality of that article suggests.
I'm glad Michael Bridges has let Harry Kewell shape his opinion of us. Of course Harry Kewell did such a bad job with the U23s that no head coach in their right mind would want them near the first team. Imagine how bad you must be to be sacked as an U23 manager. You're literally managing kids at a level where nobody gives a **** about results and Kewell still managed to get himself sacked! https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/15224453.harry-kewell-sacked-as-head-of-watford-under-23s/
Fair points (he would have played with Kewell at Leeds in the late 90s/early 00s) and it is a 2nd hand account but I can see there being a disconnect to some extent between the 1st team and youth players but then that might happen at all clubs now where there is pressure for 1st team managers to get results rather than bring through a few kids. Particularity with us! As R2 says wasn’t like we were really seeing performances worthy of noting ! And either is his management record since.
The more you read about it, the more it seems Ranieri was actually holding Leicester back the year they won it. He single handedly prevented them winning every game and having the title wrapped up in March.
Fully understand that it was a freaky event that won't get repeated any time soon (Leicester have a far better team now but haven't even made it back to the Champions League), but come on, everyone involved in that effort (including Pearson) deserves huge credit! Sorensen comes across well pointing out his time at Sampdoria, but Schwarzer seems the same kind of lazy clichéd pundit we've been dealing with for 10 years! As for the link between the U23s and the first team, well, that's not ideal, but if the kids aren't good enough, they're not good enough, though I think that situation has improved slightly in the last few seasons
Have to say, his opinions on the u-23s and their pathway is the part of his comments I am interested in the least; it's hard to argue our youth thinking has been incredibly not-joined-up under the Pozzo - it's the rest that's particularly egregious - mindless rambling based on having no understanding of the club or our situation (even, frankly, by his own admission).
Has anyone else noticed that in that article, Schwarzer first claims that Ranieri did nothing and deserves no credit whatsoever for the title Leicester won under his auspices, then by the exact same token and using the same methods immediately goes on to claim that he deserves all the blame for the situation at Fulham which eventually saw them relegated? So, which is it Mark?
Do these people think our entire budget went on Ismaila Sarr and paying off managers lol, I mean, we've paid a lot of money on shady business, but our infrastructure is also so much better than before they came in!
I remember he didn’t think much of Pearson either at Leicester. Yes - again looking in from outside not knowing the full situation.
Good first interview. No BS, and you can tell he's a serious, professional guy. I can see that spikey edge to him, so he'll easily be able to keep the players in their toes. I hope the players respond to him, and give it everything. He is able to keep us up, but everyone has to be on the same page, all pulling in the same direction or else he'll just be another coach quickly out of a job.
It was a tough listen. The bloke sounded like he has a cold and couldn't be arsed with the interview. I demand that Ranieri is treated with more respect.
Yes true. Surprisingly tidy-looking handwriting though (unless someone else also wrote the questions down for him).
I felt sorry for him. Every question was almost the same just said with a different coat of paint. He did well to keep his cool But I was a little upset we never heard "dilly dee dilly dong"
Too effing right RC!!! He's interviewing someone whose first language isn't English and asking multiple questions at the same time, along the lines of "So Claudio, you're back in England, at Watford. What do you think about the set-up at Watford, what do you know about their history, when did Trewins close and what impact do you think this had on the fans at the time, and how do you think those same fans feel now, post-Covid and with you and your coaching staff in charge of the club, given that you've managed more than 20 clubs?"
I've only just watched (the first 30 seconds or so before turning it off thanks to the sheer pointlessness of it and its various questions) and therefore realised he's wearing a herringbone blazer and what appears to be a wool tie - @Relegation Certs you must be at least partially spurting, surely?
