Outstanding again tonight. From the simple lay off to Troy that he played behind him to the shot from 12 yards out that just needed to be on target. You've earned that 70k this week Andre.
Absolutely awful tonight. If we had the cashflow id just pay him off in full. Absolutely dreadful footballer who has cost us millions and millions.
In all my years following Watford through all the divisions I can’t honestly think of a worse striker we’ve had. How he came to be playing at this level is mind boggling.
I just watched the highlights . The sitter that Gray scooped over the bar had even more consequences than I thought, because Hughes clearly could have got to the ball and probably scored if Gray had not got in the ******* way
Look at the despondent body language of Deeney after Gray did that. It tells its own story. Gray doesn't even look too bothered after he misses chances anymore. He's not even disappointed with himself, and why should he? He's getting his £70k a week salary whether he takes his chances or not. Yesterday, virtually all the chances fell to Gray, hence we don't score. There were several other chances too, where he's swung a leg and missed the ball. It's so frustrating that he is the best player we can pick, and the way he plays nowadays is just farcical.
Does this mean he is getting into the right places and its only a matter of time when the goals come?
He's very good at getting in the right places to score, but it means nothing if he can't finish off a chance. He's never going to improve. His basic problem is technique. He has no footballing ability. It's like asking a toddler to go out and play football. He kicks a ball like a toddler would. It's baffling, because Gray does have a lot of good aspects to his game. This is what fools people, coaches, managers, owners etc. They see the good things and turn a blind eye to the fact he has no composure or ability to kick or head a ball. Sure he has pace and can run into positions where chances are likely to come to him, but it's all folly. He can't head a ball, he can't shoot from range, he can't take a 1 v 1 against a keeper, he can't connect with a ball cleanly that flashes across the goal. He has zero ability as a striker, but he can run a lot, put himself in good positions to miss, is physical and doesn't hide on the pitch.
One of the funniest things about watching Watford this season is looking at the reactions of his team mates as he contrives to wildly miss yet another chance. It must be genuinely demoralising for players like Sarr or Kiko to take all the kicks, at last get the better of an opponent in the physical battle on a bog of a pitch, streak free down the wing and bust a lung to get a decent cross or cutback away, only to see that donkey arrive on the end of it. There's no need to wait to see the outcome - they can already start returning to their defensive position for the goalkick.
Just saw this posted on Twitter. I've not checked the numbers, but they seem about right. Run the numbers on Andre Gray. Been with us for 182 weeks - £14.5m in wages. Transfer fee £18.5m. Total investment to date £33m. Per game = £335k. Per goal = £2.16m. And the pozzos are shrewd businessmen?
As I already explained, in the PL we generally played a sole striker and that Deeney was always going to get the nod. This was particularly prevalent under Pearson. Under Gracia it wasn't unusual on occasions to play 2 and Gray wasn't bad then, he sometimes kept Delefeo on the bench which showed his value to the squad at the time. It is unfair to judge him in the way you are doing given the circumstances.
Still seeing some desperate claims on Twitter that he just needs a goal or two to go on a run He literally already had the cliche ‘one in off his @rse’ and it changed nothing. I think he even missed a 1 on 1 about five minutes after that
He will probably score a goal or two, and every time he does it will be classed as the moment to get him going. But it won't be. He's not good enough and if he plays every match this season I wouldn't expect him to score more than 3 or 4 goals.
He is absolute bobbins and is holding us back as a team. At least Chunks can add something to a team, Gray is just turgid.
Of course it fair to judge him now. It's about the here and now, simple as that. You say he's getting in the right positions to score any forward worth his salt is capable of getting into those positions. Right positions doesn't equate to goals scored or assists though sticking in the net does.
Won't stop one or two obvious individuals popping up on here claiming it has 'silenced' the 'haters club' though if/when it happens.
Xisco needs to take a good long hard look at himself today and admit that this was down to selection. Obviously he'd forgotten the first half against Stoke. Gray should never wear the shirt again because he is again hampering our progress.
Unless certain elements of the selection are out of his control - and he signed up to it. Not hard to believe. I still don't think the 'we made mistakes and we have learnt' element of what the owner and chairman said in the summer has been addressed nearly as much as it should have been by the fanbase - I think it was an out and out lie and they've just changed the name of the Head Coach and swapped Giraldi and Giaretta and labelled it as something its not. The working practices and meddling from above all remain just as much as they did I think.
I didn't think of it like that. You could well be onto something. If so we can wave goodbye to an automatic promotion.
The only way he doesn't play for us is if he gets a catastrophic injury or COVID-19 at one of his orgies. We're ****ed.
Its fair to say that we are not going to agree on Gray isn't it. So there is no point in going over this with you.
I am not sure why Pedro needed to be rested anymore than any of the other players. I can only presume he is trying to keep both happy and give some mis-laid confidence to Gray?
For me I will only judge Gino and the board after this window closes. There is still time to find a solution to the scoring problem. Doing nothing will probably mean play offs at best, and we all know what a lottery that is. With the team we have we should be automatic, however, I think the lack of goals has probably surprised them. Even I didn't think Gray would be this bad in the Championship, and I'm disappointed with Deeney's goal threat too. Deeney at least deserves his place in the side, but we do need something more up front in order to get into the automatics. I think there is enough evidence now to safely say, this is the area which will be our downfall. Defensively we're top two. Controlling games is not a problem in the majority of games. We have the highest xG rate in the Championship, so creating good chances is not a problem either. We've got it all apart from a competent finisher. The signings so far in this window I'm pleased with. Zinckernagel and Elliot are good signings, with a couple of young players like Toure and Cukur. That's all good, but the club do need to land the plane. The owner has to give the club what it needs in order to go up. Stick with what we have and just hope these failing strikers will hit some form will just not cut it. A lot of blame will be at Gino's door if the club does not address the goal scoring issues over the next 5 days.
FFS give him a break. The guy has just been really unlucky. As soon as his confidence comes back he'll be scoring for fun at this level.
Who said it isn't fair to judge him now? Not me. You've replied to a post where I have explained his previous time with us to another forum member. I've already said I don't want Gray and Deeney at the club going forward.
Sad but true West Ham's Craig Dawson has the same number of goals from open play (2) in 8 appearances for The Hammers as #WatfordFC's Troy Deeney and Andre Gray have managed in a combined total of 31 appearances for the Hornets this season.
The only reason I can see for the bloke playing is for him to score a goal, (f*** knows how that will happen), so that the club can sell him immediately afterwards. There simply is no other reason. He's our handicap. We would honestly be better off with 10 men on the pitch.
