2021/2022 Transfer Window Grade

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by Dr. Roland, Aug 2, 2021.

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How do you grade this transfer window

  1. A*

    2 vote(s)
    3.6%
  2. A

    7 vote(s)
    12.7%
  3. B

    22 vote(s)
    40.0%
  4. C

    10 vote(s)
    18.2%
  5. D

    4 vote(s)
    7.3%
  6. E

    2 vote(s)
    3.6%
  7. F

    2 vote(s)
    3.6%
  8. U

    6 vote(s)
    10.9%
  1. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    They have to sit the exam first. Going off what I have seen pre season, it's hard to really tell. I agree with most of the above that Pollock will probably never play (unless it's a cup game maybe). Fletcher and King either will
    play well, have purple patches or turn into duds. However, if we manage to survive this season, I cannot see Deeney and Gray being here, and pending where we finish we may be able to shell out on better strikers. I personally
    do see King and Fletcher as replacements for Batman and Robin, especially if we go down this season.

    Dennis despite a lot of criticism from post fans and press does look good. He is pacey and looks a real threat, I look forward to what he can do at England's top level. Cucho looks like a new signing and a breathe of fresh air. Why
    he hasn't been used before now is beyond me. Should of been playing last season at the very least. Although he is technically not a new transfer, out of all of the "new boys" he has Watford fans' the most hyped. Sarr combining well
    with Cucho could be a great combination. Not seen much of Bah to really comment but looks competent. Rose is an odd one. We were after him (or rumored to be) a few seasons ago but nothing materialized. Now he's here it could
    be two seasons to late as age and fitness may take their toll. He has Premier League experience which is a big plus, but will he fully commit to the cause?

    Louza is another exciting prospect. A bit on an unknown but from what I have seen he is full of energy and hunger. I can see him slotting into the first team quite well. Overall, I am quite concerned with our midfield as most seem to be,
    We really do need to sort of Hughes and Chalobah's contracts ASAP. They are either part of the squad or not. I would love them both to stay, both have done well for us and one more season at the top level for both would be a great
    send off especially if we stay up.

    Grade: C
     
    Dr. Roland likes this.
  2. Cassetti's Beard

    Cassetti's Beard First Team

    To keep us up in the PL - F
    To give us a chance of not going bankrupt and bouncing back after relegation - C
     
  3. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    Why are we grading this before the end of the window? Seems a bit counter-productive no?
     
    Doc0075, dynamo380 and TomWatfordFC like this.
  4. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    Mid term results.
    Finals will come after some last minute cramming.
    Final examination could result in better grades than currently expected results.
    Don’t lose hope.
     
    Burnsy likes this.
  5. Manatleisure

    Manatleisure Squad Player

    I can't possibly give a grade. I am looking for 17th or better and have no idea what will be achieved.
     
    WillisWasTheWorst likes this.
  6. BigRossLittleRoss

    BigRossLittleRoss First Team

    We need to resurrect this post on Aug 31 when it is relevant.
     
  7. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    I think Dr Roland was talking about football quality not shaggability!
     
  8. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    I'm in the impossible to tell camp. Most of the new signings are in the will they won't they category. We haven't signed a single player who is certain to be good. Cucho and Etebo look the most likely. Fingers crossed for King back in his favoured position as a number 9. Dennis is definitely the crypto currency investment. He is the new Holebas but times 10. He literally didnt give an F at Koln. He's a crazy mofo but he is the hungriest of all the supposedly hungry new players. If he gets the game time, I believe there's every chance he'll deliver. It's vital we keep Nate and Hughes. Given no one will offer much cash for Nate it makes sense to keep him even if he doesnt sign. As for Hughes, the gap between the 2 parties is a tiny % of our annual budget. Maybe we could offer him one extra season on his PL salary if we get relegated. I know Gino is thinking 'sell Hughes and use the money to pay for 2 midfielders and make their combined salary equal to or less than Hughes'. But Gino its Will F ing Hughes. You dont sell off the family silver!
     
    dynamo380 and SkylaRose like this.
  9. Hornpete

    Hornpete Squad Player

    Certainly an A+ Fletcher and Dennis sold in Jan for 300m to a desperate Man Utd after 25 goals each in 4 months. But the jokes on them as Hernandez then steps up and hits 45 goals Jan to May. He then goes to Man City for 250m but Pozzo still ends up getting us bankrupt.
     
  10. Klein Lust

    Klein Lust Uber Keine

    Wow! What are you on Pete?
     
  11. Dr. Roland

    Dr. Roland Academy Graduate

    Sorry for the confusion!

    I was just hoping that because the internet is free and humans have managed to put people on the moon, that maybe we might be able to start this conversation early with a grading relevant to the time of the original post and then one after the window is finished too.

    Kucka - Isn't actually a bad piece of business IMO but he doesn't really move the needle much. It's still a c- for me as it stands. The clock is ticking.
     
  12. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    I think it’s been a good window. Not great by any means but it’s been an interesting exercise in signing potentially good players for very little money.

    Most are either young players with potential or problem guys who need a bit of love.

    This team has potentially a high ceiling but it could also go very wrong.

    At this stage it’s quite hard to grade, without the benefit of hindsight, but gut instinct takes me in a more positive direction.
     
    BigRossLittleRoss likes this.
  13. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    A+ for me. Could go to a A+++ if we get another 30+ experienced midfielder in.

    Retained all the big names. Signed guaranteed goals in Fletch and that Scottish lad who's gone out on loan. Kept Deeney out of the clutches of the big boys and Lesta. Kept an international striker in Gray.

    Midfield looks strong. This is why we can afford to dump off the selfish ones like Hughes and Chalobah who have no interest in helping us. Lutka looks spicy. Every Louza wins. Etebo was an absolute star at Stoke and we should be proud of Gino and the team in splashing the cash on him.

    Best defence in the Champo needs no additions. Power in Sierralta, tempo and distribution in Ekong and international player backup in Cathcart and Mariappa. Lovely.

    COYH!
     
    NorwegianOrn likes this.
  14. Supertommymooney

    Supertommymooney Squad Player

    I'm giving it a wait and C.
     
  15. GarbeliaHornet

    GarbeliaHornet Academy Graduate

    In terms of loaning youth, A+. We've got players going to league 1 clubs where they get in the first team for the first time in the Pozzo era.
    In terms of senior players, B-. They are not all guaranteed to work, but if we keep Hughes &/or Chalobah, we'll have sufficient depth to cope. The only glaring absences for me are RB, as neither Ngakia nor Kiko look up to defensive work, and improved CB cover.
     
  16. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    I really like Kiko, but I think this could be his last hurrah with us. Is he good enough for the Championship? Yes. Premiership? Probably not - but will give it his all. He is very injury prone though and this will hinder his progress
    this season. However having said that, Kabasele is bound to give away more penalties than Kiko will overall. Our defense (going by preseason) looks very ropey so it's going to be interesting who Xisco trusts at the highest level.
     
  17. B.

    Finally a technical director who isn’t scattergun, but ho looks for players that fit a system.

    I like all of the signings, they each improve what we have.

    I don’t blame the club for being caught out by Hughes greed, I’m sure the plan was to keep him in the midfield anchor role.

    I would still like us to shake the penny jar one more time and see if we can scrape together the money for an exciting young centre mid.
     
    The Voice of Reason and Markoa$ like this.
  18. folkestone orn

    folkestone orn Squad Player

    The squad has definitely improved. No question. We now have approximately roughly 40-50% chance of survival. Our pre-window squad probably had about 10% chance!

    Hopefully the Hughes and Chalobah situations are resolved soon. We need some continuity that isn't Deeney. Hughes strikes me as more professional than Capoue if nothing materialises on that front.
     
  19. LouOrns

    LouOrns First Year Pro

    F. Deeney will start
     
  20. GarbeliaHornet

    GarbeliaHornet Academy Graduate

    Grade changed to A.
    A+ if Louza does well.

    Close thread.
     
  21. miked2006

    miked2006 Premiership Prediction League Proprietor

  22. Supertommymooney

    Supertommymooney Squad Player

    I'm still holding on to the end of the window before delivering my verdict.

    If Gino unlocks his wallet again perhaps I might feel more generous, although who doesn't love a Kucka-style bargain?
     
  23. BigRossLittleRoss

    BigRossLittleRoss First Team

    Since when did you turn BW Mike ?
     
  24. miked2006

    miked2006 Premiership Prediction League Proprietor

    I do like to switch sides now and again to keep things interesting. My hands are still recovering from all of my happy clapping last season.

    But I did deliver my grade on Sunday after our excellent win against Villa, so I wouldn't take my F- too seriously.
     
  25. Upgrading to an A-
     
  26. Heidar

    Heidar Squad Player

    CB and RB away from an inflated A*.
     
  27. BigRossLittleRoss

    BigRossLittleRoss First Team

    Ah understood. F stands for Fxcking awful/brilliant depending on circumstance .
     
  28. BigRossLittleRoss

    BigRossLittleRoss First Team

    Is that a modern day A- which is roughly equitable to an olden day C+ , or a genuine bonafide traditional A-.
     
  29. BigRossLittleRoss

    BigRossLittleRoss First Team

    If Kucka and Etebo carry on this form then B.

    If Dennis and Louza also do well then A-.

    If we sign a quality CB and get rid of dead wood A+.
     
  30. I'm an old skool old git, we didn't have any of these new fangled modern grades in my day, it was "here's a D and shut up or get the cane". Character building so it was.
     
    a19tgg likes this.
  31. Supertommymooney

    Supertommymooney Squad Player

    I would still like a new LB option please Mr. Pozzo, otherwise my final mark will be lower...
     
  32. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    With just 8 days of the window remaining, I just wanted to take a look at how the squad is shaping up and what areas we may need strengthening.

    Ok, our objective is clearly just to stay up, so the bar doesn't have to be as high as some other clubs, but what I feel we need are players who are of Premier League ability in EVERY starting position.

    We are not a big enough club to have TWO Premier League standard players for every position, but we do need to reach at least one. In brackets I've listed what I feel we have in terms of Premier League players (first number) and Championship players (second number).

    GK (2/1)
    So far Bachmann has only faced 5 shots on target but has conceded 4 goals! This is where stats can be really misleading. None of the goals conceded can be attributed to a goalkeeping error, and his overall game has been good. Foster is also an able deputy, so I would say we've actually got TWO EPL standard keepers at the club and are in good shape for this key position.

    LB (1/1)
    Masina
    has played the two games to date, and now we're seeing the flaws in his game cruelly exposed. He did well for the first 90 minutes against Villa, but then gave away a ridiculous penalty and almost did the same things just seconds later. His performance at Brighton was also poor. At fault for the opening goal and generally was off it. Of the 4 goals we've conceded, he's been calculable for 2 of them. For me, Masina is a Championship player, and should not be the first choice. We all know how good Rose was, and his career has been excellent, but is he at that level now? Only time will tell once we see him in a Watford shirt, but I'd have to go with he's probably not at the standard he was at Spurs/England but he's still a Premier League player.

    RB (1/1)
    Probably a little controversial, as I think Kiko has qualities which easily make him a Premier League player. His pace, technical ability and first touch etc, are all EPL level, but he's not a natural defender. This is what lets him down. However, his partnership with Sarr could prove to be a real asset, even at the top level. Ngakia has potential, but for now, has to be considered only as a Championship level player. But he has time of his side and can develop.

    CB (1/3)
    This for me is the one big area of concern. We've seen already, in just two games, the flaws in our defenders. Mistakes have led to all for goals we've conceded. Even the McGinn goal was preventable, as Gosling couldn't be bothered to track his run...but I'll get to that later. WTE will make mistakes with his distribution, and has done so already leading to a goal. Kabs will lunge in and give away silly, costly fouls and Cathcart (bless him) is just not good enough anymore. Only Sierralta I would see as a viable Premier League player, but admittedly we've not seen it yet as he's not played. I'm taking an educated guess he'll be good enough.

    MF (3/3)
    This has a been area of investment, but it's had to be. Have we've replaced Doucoure and Capoue with like for like quality? I'm not convinced we have, however, I've been impressed with some of the signings. Kucka is the pick for me. Admittedly we've only seen him for 70 minutes, but what a performance. He just bossed it against Villa. He's certainly of an EPL level, but my one concern with him is how many games will he be available for us? Already he's injured and at 34 I doubt that will a rarity. Also the way he plays will attract yellow/red cards so he will have suspensions too. Etebo I've also been impressed with, however, he was poor at Brighton. I still think he's of EPL level though. Clevs is a useful squad player, but shouldn't really be a first team starter. Tufan we don't know enough about, but I'm expecting good things from him, so for now I have to rate him as EPL. From what I saw of Louza, I've got to say he's not what we need right now, and cannot be considered, although I'm hoping he'll have a dramatic upturn in form further down the line. Can't count Hughes or Chalobah for obvious reasons. Gosling was a good signing last season, to help us over the line, but he's very much a Championship player.

    LW (1/2)
    Sema
    is a decent solid pro. I like him, but he's not a Prem player. He does a job, and you do get the odd good thing from him in an attacking sense, like the back heal that set-up Cleverley, but he doesn't do that type of thing often enough. Cucho, if we're saying he's going to be used wide left, is a Prem player. He excites fans and is very productive. Pedro is probably not quite there yet as an EPL level player, but will probably have a good career at this level eventually.

    RW (1/0)
    Clearly Sarr is our main man. No question he's a top Prem player. We have no obvious backup to him right now, but we could utilise left sided players or King/Dennis on the right to replace Sarr if needed.

    FW (2/2)
    This is an area I feel we've improved over the summer. Dennis, from what I've seen, is of Prem ability and so is King. Deeney is a very useful squad player, and Fletcher is only Championship but with time to improve.

    It's all too clear to me, we need to upgrade the central defence, maybe a right back and another midfielder. If we get Yokuslu and a player like Lyanco at the back, then it would have to be considered an excellent transfer window, but this needs to be done. We are lacking quality at the back and as we saw against Brighton, we are weak in the middle without Kucka, or a player like him.
     
  33. RMT79

    RMT79 First Year Pro

    If we sign 1 Starting CB its a C

    If we sign 2 Starting CB its a B+

    If we sign 2 Starting CBs a LB and RB its a A*

    Id be content with a C ...... failure to address the defense properly in this transfer window will lead to relegation and failure and all the other signings will be fairly irrelevant as our foundations are not set so it will be a U grade window as we have learnt nothing ...... All top sides are built on solid defenses (Man City, Liverpool, Leicester) .... Man Utd, Chelsea and Spurs have, or are trying to invest in defenders .... look what happened to Liverpool last year without their CBs .... then there are the likes of Burnley, Brighton, and last season even West Ham were fairly robust at the back....... But so far we think we can buck the trend and ignore the foundations of a successful team - its ridiculous so far
     
    SkylaRose likes this.
  34. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    Excellent run down HB1. Cannot disagree with any of that. I do however follow your worry about our defense. When we got promoted, we all knew what we had at Championship level was never going to cut it. So, what did
    we do? Brought in Rose (fair enough on paper looks a good signing but he needs to get fit) and Pollock. Nothing against the lad, but he's 4th choice backup/cup player at best. We still have Masina, Cathcart and Kabs, who have all been
    loyal and great servants to Watfod for a good few seasons now. However, age is not on their side, neither is their obvious lack of a presence at this level. All fine players for the level below - but we really do need an upgrade on all of them
    really.

    I am happy enough to suggest that Ngakia is a squad player, as is Kiko, although this could be his swan song season with us. We will probably be stuck with a limited back line until January at least, and depending on where we are in
    the table will dictate if Gino opens his wallet again. I am hopeful we can move on Gray/Deeney in the summer and use whatever we get to strengthen the back line, regardless of what league we are in.
     
  35. Dr. Roland

    Dr. Roland Academy Graduate

    I agree the impetus must be on defenders but I can't honestly sit here and say that an A* is possible this window any more. It's all a bit late for vital signings all over the field.

    Defenders and a midfielder at least obviously but imo we also needed another left forward.

    Now Cucho might eventually (given a chance) be able to fulfill that role on the left but the management obviously think he's not ready. For me they are doing the right thing by brining him on for minutes if only we had an actual, quality left forward instead of Sema.

    I'd like to have better cover for Sarr on the right too.

    X King Sarr
    Cucho Dennis X
    Pedro Deeney

    Sema was a slight legend last year but he should be making another Championship team very happy.

    Sema, Gray, Success, Troost and now Hughes out would also be good. (As a rational analyst, deep down, I'm also very tempted to put Fletcher straight on this list too but I am giving him a chance to prove me wrong like Dennis appears to be so far).
     

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