Transfer List

Discussion in 'The Transfer List' started by hornmeister, Jan 31, 2017.

  1. No guts no glory

    No guts no glory Academy Graduate

    I’m with the Sarr ain’t that good group. Who would you rather have? Sarr? Or 2013 Abdi? Abdi in a heartbeat for me, let alone if I was to ask the same question about 2013 Vydra.
    Had Sarr cost us £5m then nobody would bat an eyelid, as he cost us £30m he has been consistently utter gash. A £30m player should tear the championship a new one! Mitrovic style
     
    Dorset-Orn likes this.
  2. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    £26m if the correct ex rate is used.
     
  3. folkestone orn

    folkestone orn Squad Player

    I disagree. If they aren't putting 100% effort in, they will be pretty useless.
     
  4. No guts no glory

    No guts no glory Academy Graduate

    You didn’t answer the question? ;)
     
  5. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    True ! Both great players at champ level. Different players so difficult to choose. Maybe Abdi was helped by playing with the quality of Deeney & Vydra in front of him whereas Sarr had very little quality upfront to play with at Champ level, as it seems may be the case again this season. As you say the fee, which isn't his fault, is rather a millstone round his neck from the fans point of view.
     
    Cassetti's Beard likes this.
  6. onion8837

    onion8837 Reservist

    Also a pointless question to ask
     
  7. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Everything on a football forum is pointless. As are the team most weeks :).
     
  8. No guts no glory

    No guts no glory Academy Graduate

    Who took the jam from your doughnut?
     
  9. No guts no glory

    No guts no glory Academy Graduate

    Exactly, it was a strange purchase even taking into account the exchange rate ;)
     
    The undeniable truth likes this.
  10. Bubble

    Bubble Wise Oracle

    'You took the f**king jam out of my doughnut, Tommy. You did!'
     
  11. onion8837

    onion8837 Reservist

    Am very concerned about whether we should buy Holton (good but dead) or Afobe (alive but ****)
     
  12. lowerrous

    lowerrous First Team

    One mitigating factor which has to be remembered in assessing Sarr's impact in the Championship is that he was often close to a one man attack for, starting from right-wing.

    His "support" in attack was mostly Ken Sema, Troy Deeney and an even more raw JP.

    Let that sink in for a bit.

    Fair enough that people could still have asked for more from him at times, but even then he did still drag us to promotion. The home game vs Reading in February is one of those which first springs to mind. He pretty much won us that game on his own inside the first 15 minutes.

    Here's the highlights again for those with short memories; two corkers:

     
  13. RS2

    RS2 Squad Player

    Sarr is gash and doesn't want to be here. Manaj will score 13 goals this season, we don't need Sarr.
     
  14. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    That was a very memorable display, yes. But in my opinion it was his best of the campaign, not representative of his general performance levels.
     
  15. davisp2

    davisp2 Reservist

    One thing less obvious thing Sarr was excellent at was tracking back. If you play with wingers, it’s not just about the goals and assists, it’s their overall game. He carried that forward line in the promotion year. Pedro couldn’t score for toffee, after a good start and Deeney was Deeney
     
  16. ITK platypus

    ITK platypus Squad Player

    Nope.

    He had poor form for the last couple of months last season, therefore he was DREADUL for his ENTIRE WATFORD CAREER.

    I have a short memory but I’m definitely right.
     
    Heidar likes this.
  17. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    I’m one of the more positive Sarr people - but it was more than a couple of months last season.

    If you’re sarcasm is meant to be a backwards way of supporting your stance on Sarr, probably best to come from a more accurate perspective on last season at least.
     
    PowerJugs, ITK platypus and Chumlax like this.
  18. onion8837

    onion8837 Reservist

    As you said, take a breath
     
  19. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Now we're right on top of the winter transfer window, it's time to review the current players we have.

    Who is performing on a regular basis and who is just a drain on a salary. Who is the solution and who is the problem.

    GK
    Bachmann - performing
    Hamer - N/A
    Okoye - drain

    LB
    Kamara - he's underperforming but I would class him as a drain on salary.....just yet.
    Morris - N/A

    RB
    Ngakia - drain
    Gaspar - drain

    CB
    Hause - drain
    Cathcart - performing
    Kabasele - drain
    Sierralta - N/A
    WTE - N/A however, I think he's a good squad player to keep.
    Pollock - N/A but not a first team ready player

    MF
    Cleverley - N/A but like with Troost, I think he's a good squad player to keep.
    Gosling - drain as a midfield option, but performing as a RB when he was fit.
    Choudhury - performing
    Louza - performing
    TDB - performing
    Bacuna - a bit early, but looks like a drain.
    Kayembe - drain

    FW
    Pedro - performing
    Sarr - drain (sorry to say)
    Davis - performing (just)
    Sema - performing
    Bayo - drain
    Manaj - drain
    Asprilla - performing
    Kalu - drain
    Hungbo - drain

    I think that's all of them. So for me the untouchables are Pedro and Louza. The players that offer something on a regular basis are - Bachmann, Cathcart, Choudhury, Louza, Davis, Sema and Asprilla. The players I'm happy to keep around are Cleverley, Sierralta, Kamara, WTE & TDB.

    A taxi for Okoye, Ngakia, Gaspar, Hause, Kabasele, Pollock (loan taxi), Gosling, Bacuna, Kayembe, Sarr, Bayo, Manaj, Kalu and Hungbo.

    There are one or two I'm a little undecided on and could be swayed either way, but with my ruthless hat on, that's how I currently see things. That's a lot of deadwood we've amassed and we're going to lose a lot of money on them. No way to we get back what we spend on Sarr, Bayo, Kalu and Okoye. A dreadful waste of money that a club like Watford can ill-afford. But it's time to cut our losses and revamp the squad massively.

    First choice right back (Drameh?), a tough Championship hardened central midfielder (Behrami, Kucka type), a midfield playmaker (Will Hughes type) and a smart forward finisher (Archer?) are top of the priority list. I would like a hard as nails CB coming in too (Nat Phillips on loan wouldn't be too bad though).
     
    PowerJugs and nfh like this.
  20. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    Can you really see us signing 5/6 players? Would smell of Aidy’s PL season where we just bought anyone with a pulse. Can’t imagine there will be many takers for that list of losers either so it’ll be a risk of signing more potential dross on top of dross that we can’t shift.

    I can see maybe a couple coming in but no more than that. Don’t know what our loan limit currently sits at, thought it was maxed out with the Kamara ‘loan’.
     
    RS2 likes this.
  21. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    Louza and Cleverley will be back in a month and Kayembe and Choudhury will be back sooner than that. Kone arriving too. I’d be very surprised if we sign another two CMs
     
  22. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    We will probably use Martins as Pedro’s replacement.
     
    RS2 likes this.
  23. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    Thats ambitious/generous given the rate at which we manage to get players back. 9 times out of 10, they are always behind schedule.
     
    Hairyfrog, Jumbolina and Chumlax like this.
  24. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    I'd be amazed if the Hause loan was not terminated, but it's possible Watford can't get out of that, so we could be a bit tied up on possible loans.

    But, Manga surely has a couple of clients we could use. (I'm hoping anyway). Major surgery is required on the squad and I'd ditch around 14 players. Clearly there wouldn't be too many takers on those 14 so we're lumbered to a degree but I'm sure we could find new clubs for players like Hungbo and Pollock on loan. Sarr we can easily sell, albeit probably not for the price we'd like, but then the owner has put us in this position. I think we'd get some money for Ngakia if we wanted to move him on, but the rest I can only see we'd get offers on loan only. I'm ok with that. Sell who we can and loan the rest. Clear out the squad. Bring in players with a bit of character, heart and desire. That ingredient is vital. Have Burnley got more quality than us? I'd say no, but they have players with fight in abundance. We've got very few with fight. Pedro is naturally this way. Choudhury shows commitment occasionally, Sema always tries hard, Bachmann shouts a bit, but that's about it. It's really damning and our squad is soft as marshmallow.
     
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  25. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Kayembe is part of the problem as far as I'm concerned. Woeful player. Clevs is a good pro, but is not a first team starter anymore. Good option from the bench only. Louza, Kone and Choudhury should be decent, but we need more than that. TDB has proved to be ok and I've liked his last two performances, but he's really only one we should be nursing into the side, not a starter. We do need some muscle and the middle and a bit of guile too. When Louza is out we have nothing. Can't have all our eggs in one basket. If Gino is serious about going up this season, then we have no choice. We have to make a couple of signings, IHMO, of course. An enforcer and a playmaker.
     
  26. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    I appreciate that but those are the timelines posted on the club website this morning. Whether or not they prove to be accurate they likely underpin the club’s transfer plans.
     
  27. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    In fairness Kayembe is at least capable of a good performance every once in a while, and is a step above Bacuna (certainly in his current condition)
     
  28. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    He has more disappointing performances than good ones. For me, he’s just not good enough. He’s taking a valuable squad place and we need better than the occasional acceptable performance from our players.
     
  29. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    Yes but Bacuna is only required until the transfer window according to most of our fans. When we will sign multiple first choice midfielders that are good enough to help us get promotion.

    Or something.
     
    Chumlax, Jumbolina and RS2 like this.
  30. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    So what do we need in this transfer window?

    In so far are :Martins (left winger), Kone (Central midfield), Ferreira (Right wingback)

    They will probably be first choice options, but are all very young. I think Martins could be an instant impact but I think we'll have to be patient with the other two, as they are very inexperienced in terms of where they are as players.

    I think Gino will look at the squad as if it was entirely fit, and will look to fill holes from that. I think you can forget Gosling and Hause as players for this season though. Bilic said he wants midfielders and flank players. So I think the flank players would mean wingbacks and/or wingers. He said we've got three but we need more if we are to achieve our goals (promotion). I agree with that.

    Midfield, if all fit, we have Louza, Choudhury, Kone.....who I believe are all capable of holding down a first team slot. The guys I think are better as backup options are Cleverley, TDB and Bacuna. Kayembe is a problem for me, as I don't rate him, but he will take a place and will be a first team consideration. There is still room for one more to come in though. In an ideal world I'd have two, but there's no way we do that unless we sell someone like Kayembe. I would like an enforcer and a playmaker coming in. We're being linked with Doucoure and Hughes, who would be amazing of course. That's the type we need. Strong Premier League players who are probably finding it tough at their respective clubs, for whatever reason.

    Dennis falls into that category too. We have a unique advantage here. Forest want him gone, but Watford is apparently the only club he can sign for in Europe, not just England. He will probably end up in Saudi or the States, as he is a maverick, but I think we are in a strong position here. The Davis issue may well force our hand somewhat.

    So, if Santa delivers all our presents, Doucoure, Hughes and Dennis all on loan. Hmm.....sounds great, but we are currently maxed out on our loan quota. Sure the Hause loan could hopefully be ended, but who else gets the chop? Kamara back to Udinese, but then we'd have to sign a left wingback to replace him with. Still one more to go. Martins? Do we make him a permanent signing? Although it's officially unclear if he's on loan or ours, I've read today that he is on loan from Udinese.

    So a squad containing Doucoure, Hughes, Dennis, Choudhury, Davis, Pedro, Sarr, Martins, Louza would be insane at Championship level. It would get us probably a top two place. Strong forward line and strong midfield. Defence would be adequate.

    I'm expecting one loan midfielder in and maybe now a forward. I don't see too much more than that, however, I wouldn't rule out another keeper if Okoye gets loaned out and another left back if Kamara returns to Udinese.
     
  31. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    We aren’t getting all three of Dennis, Hughes and Doucore. One of them would be a miracle in itself. You shouldn’t be love everything you read on the internet.
     
  32. WatfordTalk

    WatfordTalk First Team

    What part of "if Santa delivers all our presents, Doucoure, Hughes and Dennis all on loan" didn't you understand
     
  33. Hairyfrog

    Hairyfrog Squad Player

    Doucoure was pants before he left and has been equally pants at Everton.
    It's a big fat no from me.
     
    PowerJugs likes this.
  34. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    I know we love running down our ex players, particularly if they've moved onto bigger clubs but he really wasn't pants for us before he left. He wasn't at the level of some previous seasons but was still a vital player for us.

    And his time at Everton seems to have been a mixed bag, their fans didn't like him at the start, then considered him one of their most important players as he was carrying the rest of the midfield, then he's dropped off after repeated injuries.

    He's obviously not going to come anywhere near us again but at this level, he'd be a real asset.
     
  35. WatfordTalk

    WatfordTalk First Team

    For me was a ******* liability for us by the end, absolutely horrendous at everything other than running around a lot. Couldn't pass to a teammate, couldn't shoot, didn't even have great defensive stats from what I can remember.

    Great engine but once his body starts to break down which it looks to be doing now, he'll be mostly useless. But yeah he would still be a great signing at this level.
     
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