I'd imagine the club hierarchy are reluctant to give 5 year deals to our promising youngsters after Murray and Smith. Bond is a good player, but i'm not sure he'll ever be good enough to meet our ambition as a club. Maybe a good Championship player (IMO). It's disappointing but 100% understandable from both parties and it's hard to see him being good enough to be our first choice even in 2/3 years IMO so not worth losing sleep over.
And also if you're a championship club signing a promising keeper like Bond is very different to getting one on loan. It's hard to see any champ club wanting to loan him, as they could easily get a more experienced keeper, but if he joins the club they've got an investment.
I'm aware goalkeepers mostly come into their peak the older they get. But there's no certainty in that. Maybe he would've gone for a 5 year contract if we told him to spend 3 seasons on loan and see where we are. But what if nobody wants him except teams like Rotherham and he's still at championship/league 1 standard? We're now out of pocket for 5 years of wages. I'm also aware that the following example is flawed and he could end up being a sensational goalkeeper who joins Man City or someone. But i'd go with the people who watch him week in/week out in training and have years of experience at analysing players. Obviously, but it's going to come with the territory, I'd be gutted if that happened to me, but considering we're about to be playing at a MUCH higher level than before, it's fully understandable. We won't be coming up against Brighton and Sheffield Wednesday every week, we'll be coming up against your Chelseas, Liverpools, Arsenals etc.
Can this week get any worse? What news tomorrow? Thoroughly dejected about the prospect of a new season. I believe the club have got this closed season all wrong.
The bottom line is.....he's a player of high potential. There's no denying that. He's a regular in the England U21 set up. Sure he may not develop......but that's something only the future will reveal. He could equally go on to be England's number one keeper. How would people feel then? He's a local boy, from Hemel and loves the club, but has to feel valued.....like we all do. I understand why the club has signed another keeper, but it still disappoints me that there is not a place for players like Bond, and they feel it's necessary to move on.
As of last week, Bond's, Cathcart's and Abdi's contracts all ran out in 2016. Afraid it's yet another case of HB making his mind up about something, closing his eyes, putting his fingers in his ears and shouting the same **** repeatedly for 10 pages, as loud as he can.
Actually WTF are you talking about? Vydra signs permanent 5 years. 5 year contract for Angella. 4 year contract for Cathcart. New 5 year contract for Deeney. Sign a fullback from AS Roma who kept Ashley Cole out of the side and is in the Serie A team of the year (don't get distracted by this didn't sign bullcrap). Will almost certainly sign a very good fullback from Granada that they are pissed off about losing. Close to signing 2 experienced PL players from Tottenham. Our captain and talisman declares our new manager the real deal. Possibility of Gokhan Inler or Dries Mertens. Actually, could this week really get any better?
He's a regular in the set-up. But doesn't play. He's played 3.5 games for the U21s in total. Even Loach managed 14. He's also now 22 so is out of the U21 setup. As someone that follows youth football quite considerably, i'd say one of the main reasons why he gets called up to the U21s is due to lack of competition as good goalkeepers is something we're lacking from U19-U21 level (Butland's good but he's also now over-age, and I'd imagine Daniel Bentley or Blackman to now be the regular keepers). How many other players in the England youth setup get called up for a major tournament after playing less than 3 games throughout the season? That's basically what I said, but I also said to have some faith in the people that watch him training daily and have spent their life in the game to judge his potential, rather than getting sentimental over the fact that he's a local lad.
I didn't realise Cathcart and Abdi are players of unfulfilled potential. Wow.....I'm looking forward to seeing them reach their peak.
So, like I said, he's one of the best young English keepers around. Thanks for confirming that point.
Quite the opposite actually. Well done for ignoring the rest. I think WTs post sums up the last 3 pages.
You forgot 'got rid of a keeper who is fine and dandy whenever he doesn't have time to think about what to do'. We will never hear of Bond ever again. I'm just glad he'll fade into obscurity whilst wearing someone else's colours. As you say, what a week!
That's a bit like saying someone's one of the best high-jumping Pygmies. The same thought crosses my mind when I hear people talk of England legends. Is there really an English player that would break into to the top 20 best ever players?
This. Never seen someone so stubborn, an it's bloody entertaining if you're not trying to argue the obvious against him, then it's tiresome.
It's not stubborn to have an opinion. What part of the point I'm making is so "obviously" incorrect......providing you've even bothered to read any of it?
There isn't a place for Bond because he wants to play first team football and we are now a Premier League team. The two things are simply not compatible for either party. Be disappointed by all means, it's always a shame to see a familiar face move on. But please don't try to quell that disappointment by finding somebody to blame. There is honestly no more to this than a player not getting regular football when he should be, and his club not being able to offer it.
Of course I've read it, it's thoroughly entertaining. No it isn't, but it is stubborn to, as WT says, make your mind up about something, then refuse to compensate despite so much evidence to the contrary, from so many other Watford fans, making the same, flawed points again and again. Still, as I said, it's what you do best, and it's bloody entertaining, so keep it up.
It's not a blame game, but it's a situation that could have been avoided with a bit of forward planning. I'm certainly not pointing the finger at anyone here, but maybe assumptions were made and they've been caught out a little here. I understand why the club signed another more experienced keeper and I understand why Bond decided to move on. Had it been dealt with a little differently, I'm sure Bond would still be at the club and playing somewhere on loan next season. I just find it a shame that it all worked out this way.
Even if so, i find it hard to see a scenario where Bond doesn't leave in the near future to further his career.
...but how can an opinion be a flawed point? Why should I compensate my view? Do you compensate yours? Just because you are a majority, doesn't mean you're right. I've proved that many times in the past. If someone comes back to me with an excellent point, which I hadn't considered, then I'm more than happy to change my mind on something.....but no one ever seems to do that.....it's just the same old point scoring.
Not sure why HB1's getting flack for his comments from certain posters. I think he's hit the nail on the head to be honest. Whilst I totally understand Bond's decision to leave and hope and pray that the Chalobahs of this world sit up and take notice of Bond's decision, there's no doubt in my mind that in Bond's particular case, the contractual situation has been very poorly handled. For a club which places huge emphasis on its youngsters, I think we've got this one wrong, big time. I am very disappointed that we didn't tie Bond down to a new contract 12 or even 6 months ago. You may say, "how do you know that we didn't already try this and Bond said no". To you, I would say that Frank Smith or someone else would have picked up on this and it would have become public knowledge. It is a real shame that Jonathan has left us, and whilst I wish him the very best of luck in the future, for me the biggest shame of all is that this situation could and should have been avoided.
Right, you've just pushed yourself beyond the point of credibility. Your gripe all week has been the lack of immediate premier league experienced signings, and now the gripe is the release of an inexperienced championship keeper? You've got to be consistent or you have to fold your hand
