Eastern European Players

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by V Crabro, Mar 3, 2022.

  1. V Crabro

    V Crabro Reservist

    Off hand I can only think of Tamas Priskin who has played for WFC - there must be others? Or is this part of the world not on the Pozzo radar?
     
  2. Jumbolina

    Jumbolina First Team

    Kucka/vydra/Pudil/Tamas off top of my head?
     
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  3. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    Very much depends what you define as Eastern Europe!

    Arlauskis, Merkel, Cauna, Poom could all potentially be included in addition to those already named.
     
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  4. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    All of those come from countries that are geographically Central European though, although politically they're thought of as Eastern due to being the other side of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, and culturally the Czech Republic and Slovakia can be considered Eastern Europe because their languages are Slavic, belonging to the same family as Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian etc.

    On the other hand, Serbia is considered Eastern although parts of Hungary stretch further east (eg Debrecen is further east than Belgrade) and it's in the CET (+1) time zone. Romania and Greece are definitely Eastern. Have we had any Serbian players, or just managers?

    Holebas is only half Greek and apart from spells with Olympiacos has spent his entire life outside Greece so probably doesn't count, SLB beat me to it in listing Arlauskis and Poom.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2022
  5. SerbianHornet

    SerbianHornet First Year Pro

    Vujadin Savic and Filip Stuparevic LOL. Two Serbian coaches as well, Jokanovic and Ivic.
     
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  6. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Sorry but there is absolutely no way Greece counts as being 'Eastern Europe', and I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who would have contended that before this evening - especially not those of which that were Greek.
     
  7. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member


    All Greek to me!

    I remember GT was going to sign a chap from Moldova back in the day and the deal was all signed but he didn't turn up.

    This was in his 2nd spell.
     
  8. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Is that simply a function of them being on the Western side of the Cold War? While they are not Slavic (though of course not every nation in Eastern Europe is), they are predominantly Orthodox rather than Catholic or Protestant and have some cultural and historical links to neighbouring countries
     
  9. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    All-time Moldovan national team top-scorer Serghei Clescenco? I thought it was money and visa/work permit issues that put a stop to that rather than any unexpected surprises
     
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  10. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    And they are described as being in Southeastern Europe and in the EET (+2) time zone.
     
  11. Supertommymooney

    Supertommymooney Squad Player

    Anywhere East of Romford I'd think.
     
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  12. That incredibly tall goalkeeper. My brain has gone. Romanian.
     
  13. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Pantilimon.
     
  14. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Yes, I think most of that is part of it - the fact that they are neither a former Communist state nor part of the historic 'Eastern Bloc', and indeed the fact that their people are not Slavic adds to the mix.

    They're also much more aligned with 'The Mediterranean' than the East, and on top of that, they have an astonishing wealth of distinct cultural legacy that defines them in a way that absolutely dwarfs the basic geographical fact of being towards the east of the continent.
     
  15. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Entirely depends on how you're defining eastern Europe, really. Traditional association with the eastern bloc? Definitely not.

    Geographically speaking, it's absolutely on the eastern side of Europe if you're talking about an east/west split. Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Servia, Bosnia, Croatia are all further west than Greece. Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Bulgaria are all almost identically positioned on an east/west axis.

    If you exclude Russia (purely on the basis of its split presence in two continents), the only countries that you could probably say are further east would be the likes of Belarus, Moldolva, Ukraine and Turkey. In fact, more than half of European countries are located to the west of Greece.
     
  16. That's the fella.
     
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  17. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Yeah, I mean see my response directly above yours for most of my point on that, but more broadly, as I said: yes, Greece is in the East of Europe, but no, it's not an 'Eastern European country' by any modern understanding of that concept. We all know what we're talking about when we bring up the idea of 'Eastern Europe' - it's hardly arcane.

    Croatia experiences a similar effect, but to a lesser extent.
     
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  18. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Sergei Clescenco. Was announced as a signing on some WFC websites and then he just never arrived. Probably ended up at Marseille :).
     
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  19. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Surely it has much more to do with Greece being thought of as the cradle of “Western” civilisation?

    I’d describe Greece as Southern Europe or as Mediterranean.
     
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  20. lowerrous

    lowerrous First Team

    Janjeva in our U23s represents Kosovo at youth level, though he's been with the Academy for a long time and it's not clear if he was born there or in the UK.

    We also had Daniel Tozser who hasn't yet been mentioned.

    Thomas Kuszczak on loan.

    Grzegorz Rasiak.

    Andrei Stepanov (1match).

    Botond Antal (youth team GK)
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2022
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  21. ITK platypus

    ITK platypus Squad Player

    No one named our only Ukrainian, Bruce Dyer.

    Oh wait, he was anti-rushing, not anti-Russian.
     
  22. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Ah yes think you are right there .
     
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  23. R4E

    R4E Reservist

    I saw him play for the reserves against L*t*n at Northwood, so he definitely arrived but for whatever reason the move fell through.
     
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  24. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    On Wiki ("anyone can edit Wiki") it says "...Cleșcenco was taken on trial by English club Watford in early 1998. He impressed, but work permit issues, along with Zimbru Chișinău asking for too much money prevented the deal from going through.[3]...."
     
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  25. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Yes - as @Hogg-DEENEY!!! says it was due to work permit issues and other pressures.

    From BS&D:

    At the moment of signing, the Moldovan international apparently changed his mind following pressure, some said, from "certain quarters". We’ll probably never know the full facts, and his career with Watford was over before it started.

    https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/19577124.memories-players-didnt-quite-sign-watford/
     
  26. Robert Peel

    Robert Peel Squad Player

    Balkan?
     
  27. Since63

    Since63 Squad Player

    I see your Croatia & raise you one Slovenia.
     
  28. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Slovenia is all things to all men.
     
  29. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    Two players on the zero appearances for Watford list.

    That reminds me, was Sietes the only Spanish Watford player before the Pozzo era?
     
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  30. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Even though it's on the Balkan peninsula (largely, at least) and more appropriate as a geographical definition, I just don't think anyone really considers Greece to be a Balkan country either, and whenever anyone uses the phrase 'The Balkans' you can be fairly sure from the off that they aren't including Greece in what they are referring to.

    It's just a bit of an outlier that stands alone, and obviously to boot is a country with vast amounts of land mass stretching out into the Mediterranean and forming the southern boundary of Europe, so like Italy and Spain it also becomes defined by that as much as anything else.
     
  31. luke_golden

    luke_golden Space Cadet

    On CM01/02, if you sent scouts to search Central Europe, they’d come back with heaps of young Greek heroes.

    Anastasios Skalidis
    Alex Papapadologou
    Christos Stelios
    Stillianos Doukas

    To name but a few.

    That should be enough to settle the geography debate. You’re welcome.
     
  32. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    It's complex because of the religious connections of the Orthodox church and the support Russia along with others offered to rid the Balkans and Greece of the Ottoman yoke. Serbia and Russia have a long relationship as well. But indeed Greece itself is culturally part of the Mediterranean world although some of it's former colonies in Tauris and along the Black Sea still have sizeable Greek descendant populations ie Odessa.

    Rado ide Srbin u vojnike:


    We had Rasiak as well and his wonder strike. No Russian or Ukrainian players as yet. Or Slovenes I think.

     
  33. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    Just Googled Sietes and my mind is blown after learning that Sietes wasn't part of his real name at all, rather the village where he was born.
     
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  34. dynamo380

    dynamo380 Reservist

    There was a whole village full of sietes and we still couldn't get one to turn out for the first team?
     
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  35. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    Clescenko. Went to St Petersburg instead. Hijacked by Putin I expect.
     

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