He was on Talk***** with that ****** Jim White this morning. Laughed the Spurs link off but did say no one from Watford has started any new contract talks. Also said the team downed tools under QSF.
I don't believe it's one to worry about. He seems very happy here and contract talks now could effect performances.
Yes, when he signed it was for two years and an option for a third year if we wished to continue with him.
We seem to do that a lot with coaches. At what point do they do it under Pearson, before Arsenal away?
It has been alluded to by the players earlier this season. I agree with you and think it is really poor. Frustrating as well when you look at what we can produce with maximum endeavour such as Saturday.
Shocking if the players really did down tools. Not surprising in the slightest, but if we go down it's absolutely their fault.
Did they "down tools" or just struggle to lift themselves and perform under his stifling tactics and mumbled instructions?
Does "down tools" mean what it literally says, or does he just mean that confidence and motivation tailed off? Footballers aren't professional wordsmiths, and I'd be surprised of 15 people competitive enough to get into Prem teams stopped bothering altogether.
It would be great if he could explain this a little more because as it stands that would be a disgrace but I would hope it means something else and that professional pride might get in the way
The meaning is clear. Footballers are thick as dog dropping but not that thick. Why try and give the players a pass on this? They are absolute ****s for not trying because they didnt like the manager. I, and thousands of other mugs, forked out hundreds of quid to watch them not give 100%? Arrseholes.
Do to it is one thing. To publicly admit to it is something else. What breathtaking arrogance and complete lack of respect for the club and the fans. Not that I'd expect nothing else from the shower of ****s, but still.
I'm quite impressed our squad managed to come up with that. They collectively downed tools because it was obvious that Quique was taking us down with a whimper so they got him sacked so we could stand half a chance of staying up. Everything about him was wrong when he came back - he said the players were only 30% fit, they couldn't understand his system, he was only the coach and there was a limit to what he could affect, Sarr wasn't ready, we had to focus only on the defence, he didn't seem that bothered if we got relegated as there was only so much he could do, he kept repeating over and over again that the players had no confidence. Look at how they started playing for Mullins and Stack as soon as Quique went. I've been critical of the power of the dressing room in the past when they've got rid of coaches but this time they were right to do it and the fact we're out of the relegation zone with a fair chance of staying up proves that. We'd be completely ****ed if Quique had stayed.
Sounds incredible to say the players were right to down tools, but you're absolutely spot on here. We were 100% doomed under QSF. If we stay up and it's true the players downed tools in the actual sense of the term, they'll have saved our Premier League status through forcing a coaching change.
Or they could have gone en mass to the owners to say it wasn't working while still giving 100% on the pitch. Their behaviour is inexcusable. How can fans forgive players for losing on purpose?
You never had a terrible manager at work and thought "**** it, I don't believe in anything they're saying, I really can't be bothered with this"?
And then remembering how happy we were when he leaves and then.......the lunatic CEO rehires the tool 3 years down the line!
I've thought it, but never actually stopped working otherwise I'd be sacked. We sat there and paid to watch players who were trying to lose. It's indefensible. Especially if we go down just by a point or 2.
I suspect it wasn't a conscious or deliberate act by the players to "down tools". I think that they just didn't believe in Quique and didn't believe in, or understand his system. It's difficult to commit to something and someone you don't believe in and, at this level, the margins are fine. If you are regularly not giving 100% and confidence is low then you are going to lose more often than not. Pearson's man management is superb. And he's backed that up with a system the players understand and believe in. That breeds confidence and commitment which brings better results.
I suspect saying the ‘players downed tools’ is tarring them all with the same brush. Their will be those within the squad who didn’t do that but their ability didn’t let that be shown. I suspect the comment is more around players like Doucoure and Pereyra etc who were capable of so much more than they were showing.
I'm sure what Ben meant was that the players had no confidence in QSF or his tactics. I doubt he truly meant that they "downed tools", more likely that the self belief and belief in the team succeeding just wasn't there. Players need that belief to be able to perform at their best. EDIT - Yes Sydney has just posted the same thought.
LOL at all these mental gymnastics you're doing to try and forgive the players. He clearly stated the players stopped trying. They have zero respect for the fans. Accept it.
I suspect what Ben meant by 'downing tools' was that they tried extra hard all the time and that they do nothing else with their lives but train for football and play football.
Well regardless of the rights or wrongs, or the different interpretations, it worked. I doubt there's a single person who thinks we'd be in a better position if Quique was still our manager so by hook or by crook, the squad have given us a better chance of staying up.
As a forum savant once said, we are dealing in small performance deltas that can make a big difference.
Wait a god damned minute. If the players hadn't downed tools and played to their ability, OK, maybe we'd be stuck with Quique's anti football but also maybe we'd be 16th in the table. It is not down to them to play Russian roulette with our club's future and hope we get a coach they like next.
We wouldn't be sixteenth with Quique at the helm, regardless of how much the players tried. Let's not forget how he set us up at home against Bournemouth and Sheffield United. We'd have had a few more 0-0s and people would still be saying that he's fixing the defence first before he thinks about the attack, and before we knew it we'd have run out of games.
