Do You Still Have Faith In Gino?

By any objective assessment, we're a horrible club. Ridiculous short term hire 'em, fire 'em policy, do nothing for young players, long ball football, most yellow cards in the division, loudmouth captain disrespecting fellow professionals.

 

This is the worst thing that Gino has eventually done to us.

We, as fans, have nothing to like about our own club. There is not one solitary enjoyable or admirable aspect of the current Watford FC from the playing side to the board room.

Even if we do fluke our way to success, does it even matter? We are run by clowns so it will only end in tears anyway, lurching from one high profile humiliation to another until eventual, whimpering failure.

Apathetic doesn't begin to describe it these days

 

This club, in its current state, is a complete and utter shambles.

If we don't get promoted this season (and we won't), we will have to make another sizeable round of sales next summer. I suspect the likes of João Pedro and Femenia will be the first to go.

It is so, so frustrating that if Pozzo and Duxbury had just got their **** together 18 months ago, we would probably still be in the PL, watching the likes of JP, Suarez and Estupiñan tear it up.

Instead, we've on a sharp downward trajectory with a rag tag team of misfits, overpaid wallies and has-beens.

Pozzo has not learnt from his failures and he continues to make the wrong head coach appointments, all the whilst conceding to player power within the club.

Watford FC, in its current form, absolutely stinks and I have never held such a dislike for my own club before.

Thank you to Pozzo for the memories and all he has done, but the buck stops with him and he has not done enough to address the serious problems at the club.

Pozzo out.

 

And PSG, Monaco (and slightly less glamorously, so do Barnsley) as well, it's a hot league right now (which is why Portugal would be better!)

 

A painfully accurate assessment.

Maybe it works in Italy where clubs regularly go bust and chopping and changing and corruption are not uncommon, but short termism will only result in ******* a club up in England.

 

Come back Papa Pozzo we need you as your little boy aint up to it

 

I've tried to wrack my brain as to why it's all going so wrong. The only conclusion that fits is that Pozzo want to sell.

This is why players are being sold, and virtually nothing is being reinvested back into the squad.

They're hoping Watford might sneak into the Premier League, but that's not the main priority. They're trying to reduce debt to make us a more attractive proposition to a buyer.

Pozzo could have made Watford a major force this season. It sounds simple, but just the signing of Ivan Toney, who we could have got, would have been enough to ensure we would be top dog.

Our defensive record is top two. Had we signed someone who could take chances, then winning games would have been fairly easily achieved.

But a decision was made to not invest, even a small amount. This can only be because they want out. Sure, play lip service to promotion, without actually doing anything to make it happen.

Hiring a rookie coach is another example to show they're not overly concerned. There is too much going wrong for me to think the owners are serious about Watford anymore. It's clear their main interest has switch back to Udinese, and quite a bit of investment has gone on there. They signed top players like Pererya and Deulofeu, plus Pussetto back again. Llorente, Arslan, Makengo, Fessi and others.

If they don't want to invest anymore or want to create a plan of joined up thinking that will create a vibrant club who are upwardly mobile, then it's time they sell up and go.

 

It's all quite possible.

How would we know if they are actively selling? You don't stick a for sale sign up outside the ground, but surely word gets round if you're looking? I have no idea how it works.

 

It's a good question but I would imagine someone on here would have heard a whisper.
We seem to have some well informed people that get wind of matters earlier than AL and the like.

 

If he wanted to sell what would he do next? It would be to buy another club. The man is only going to sell now if he gets an offer that matches his valuation. A valuation that gives him the capital to buy and invest in another Udinese/Granada/Watford.

I would love a soccer obsessed billionaire who wants to have a uk club near to London, to buy out Gino. Basically because Gino does not have enough wealth to make us a LeIcester or Aston Villa. But it ain’t happening. We will get someone worse than Gino. So despite a miserable last 18 months, I think the alternative could be worse.

 

It might be to get out of football altogether. I heard today on one of the podcasts that the Pozzo's paid off all debt at Udinese, and that's normal practice before selling. Looking at their trading this season, even though they've made some good signings, it's all free transfers, loans and trading with ourselves.

I'm just joining up the dots, and could be widely wrong. All this debt consolidation and lack of investment could be just to batten down the hatches during the Covid storm. But the mastermind of their football empire is Giampaolo Pozzo. He's 80 in May and could be about to retire?

It wouldn't surprise me, once he gets out, that could be it for the Pozzo's. They would have made good money and maybe it's time to cash in?

 

Maybe Granada's new (Chinese?) owners would like to buy us. They seem to be doing a decent job so far.

 

We will man these barricades until the end!

 

The idea behind all the action could well be, that there is a plan to sell the club; you may well have the point there. We will find out in the future. But I don`t totally understand it though or I just want to look at it from a bit different angle. For example, if we had a chance to buy Toney for decent money and for decent salary, I would say they would have been better of with him, rather than without him, with the value of the club in mind. Obviously they didn`t know what was coming of him; all those goals and his positive affect for his current club. So they were only able to rely on not risking the future of the club even more with one more signing.

The facts they had then; because You can`t sell with yesterdays value or tomorrows knowledge; were that this club was skint (my guess only) because of going down and covid affecting the way You can compare to ITV digital 20 years ago. They knew (or guessed) they weren`t able to sell high earners and make the team ready for new economical level. They were also propably relying on the quality of the current players. We can argue, that we were missing couple of players for key positions, but we also had players coming back from injury and basically we were supposed to have enough guality players.

Today we are wiser. We know that new striker (Murray) didn`t work out and those already in the squad haven`t done it either. In Deeneys case we can say, that he has done maeby even better than expected. We were also forced(?, for economical reasons) to loan one central defender back to Premiership. That was seen as a good bit of bisnes by then. It still may be so, but he hasn`t done himself any harm, has he? It seems that Murray and Garner may also follow that category: a lot was expected, but now they seem to be doing it somewhere else.

Those players who have gone to Udinese can be seen as a loss. But they have also been able to keep those players inside the family. Our club has propably lost money on those players, because in normal circumstances we might have got good money for Delufeu for example. But at the same time we have (hopefully) been able to sell Pussetto back where he came from for same kind of money. And who knows we might have a chance to use them again in the future. I don`t see us as a competitiors as such between Udinese and Watford. Both could and should have a chance of succesfull future (hopefully) with these same owners.

So what am I trying to say, reflecting mainly for decisions made this summer? They have definately tried to make this club economically sounder. They haven`t risked the future of the club with more signings in a cituation, they know, that they may not be able to get rid of players like Gray, for reasons well known. I claim, that they had done they homework, signing players they believed should have been good enough and at the same time economically sustainable. I totally agree, that with a Toney like free scorer, this team would have been ready to compete in a different way, but they decided to make they decisions based on facts, rather than wishes of what might have been.

It didn`t work out though. And there comes their biggest short term mistake; they have failed to sign a manager who can make this squad ready to challenge for two top spots straight away. They may even have chosen a right person, but they have failed to give him the support he needs as a young manager; he would have needed someone to guide him to management and this league. That is something they should have realised allready back then.

What is their biggest mistake long term then? They have totally been unable to understand the value of open conversation with the supporters. That also shows, that they are not willing to respect the history of this club; if only they could have been able to understand what happened here when there were people around like Taylor, Blissett, Oliver Phillips, Terry Challis, Ann Swanson...

Ok, I may be too sentimental here.

 

Got Granada relegated and two seasons in second tier before promotion. Seems about par for small yo-yo clubs

 

Theres absolutely no guarantee of any of this.

 

Have to disagree with this bit. Considering they came in with no knowledge of the club's history, I think they have done their best to respect what came before. renaming stands, statues and various tributes, as well as regularly inviting black ex-players that came well before them. There are still plenty of people who work at the club and the training ground who were here long before them who they've respected in various ways.

Not sure how much more they could do in this regard.

 

I should add it’s a typo above and I meant **inviting BACK ex-players

 

Good point; You are right there. My idea was to challenge them to be more open and therefore respect the way things were handled back in the eighties. I must say that it may be too much to ask for though, as the time was totally different and we have had few decades since then. There is still chance for them to be more open, and with that I don`t mean that they should risk their busines. For example signing this Danish guy was going on for a while and it was informed when names were on the paper. That is how it should be done obviously. Just to give interviews every now and then would be a good start.

 

I think its more likely that they cant afford to gamble promotion and end up with millions of debt, than asset stripping with view for a sale. In fact if they had gambled and lost, they might have been forced to sell up. Its cutting cloth to suit the situation.

My lord they've made some massive errors, but I dont imagine pozzo sitting round the table with his minions cackling with evil laughter as they plot our downfall.

 

The big giveaway will be if Pedro and Sarr join Udinese in the summer. Asset stripping will be complete and we can be sold.

 

Thing is, it all kind of doesn't matter if we are winning. Sitting 10th in the Premier League, people will accept the throwaway approach to young talent, the Politburo atmosphere of poor comms and so on. These issues were always there but nobody cared much, as long as Deulefeou or Sarr banged in a goal and we won.

Now however, there's no sugar coating. We are awful to watch and not scoring goals. Suddenly the ugly truth about the way we've been doing things is laid bare.

That's the problem, we've been doing many of these things for years now. They're not 'mistakes.' They are policy. Our owner believes that shuttling kids around 5 clubs before they are 21 is good business. The human cost isn't a factor.

 

Tbh we only need to go back over the last two games to explain what's wrong and what needs to be addressed.
Both QPR and Coventry played with passion, heart and desire. They played on the front foot and both teams caused us major problems.
It's simple, play with a higher temp and fookin attack teams from the first minute until the last.
Dropping Deeney and Gray is a must.

 

Was Deeney on TalkSh*te this morning?

 

I can't say the human cost of anything has ever really been a big driver for me in watching football. It's a nice fig leaf when you've got nothing else to point to - like when we did the Al Bangura thing - but really I want to see my team be as high as it can while entertaining me. It that requires Penaranda to go on a world tour I can live with that.

 

..but partly compensated by the return of old favourites Zeegelaar and Pussetto for undisclosed fees.

 

Well, that's what you've got. Unfortunately the net effect of that is players who don't give a stuff about your club and move as soon as they can and work to rule at best when here.

 

Yes he was.
I heard him say he didn't like cricket when they handed over from the test.

 

The club declining to comment rather emphasises the point of the letter,irony that will no doubt be lost on GP and SD.

 

Was he happy with the tactics being employed by Root or did he feel that he needed to have a word with Joe in order to improve the performance of the team, including bringing himself in to open the batting and bowling ?

 

@GoingDown @Jumbolina

Is this the sort of **** we are supposed to be doing? I mean, relentless negativity online and the wholistic conversion of the Shoutbox experience to one of abject and utter toxicity are fine achievements, but shouldn't we be writing self important statements that nobody will read, in colourful and pompous English?

 

Well that’s it then. He’s dead to me.

 

We are pioneers. 2 seasons ago the Supporters Trust would have cast us into the abyss. Now they marvel at our prophecies.