Would be nice to see another Grimsby lad make an impact at the club. Welcome aboard Mattie and hope your development goes as planned and you attain your potential with us. Seems very grounded and a family orientated kid. Nice to see.
Agree @Smudger he comes across very well. Very genuine rather than just coming out with the standard PR quotes. Wish him well with us.
I always like to look at the opposition's forum to get a feel for a complete unknown. It's a mixed bag, but the general consensus is that they are amazed a club like Watford would sign him. He's not Premier League potential and has a chronic lack of pace. Had a very poor season for Grimsby but did well the season before. They weren't impressed with the inital story of the fee being £100k, but seem delighted someone has suggested it's actually £250k with add ons. Those are the comments that kept repeating. I can't see him being anywhere near the first team squad. I would expect he'll be loaned out, although he's probably not Championship level yet either. Maybe Lincoln or Blackpool, whoever goes up from those two, or a League One side, I think would probably where we'd send him.
It's Grimsby themselves who said that on their official website. https://www.grimsby-townfc.co.uk/news/2021/may/transfer-of-pollock-to-watford-agreed
Some quotes from https://forum.thefishy.co.uk/Blah.pl?m-1622017912/s-0/ . The lack of pace issue is a recurring theme... "Pollock is a fantastic defender for his age and for some reason came in for stick from fans as soon as he got injured. There's absolutely no denying his ability, calm on the ball, strong as an ox and will run through walls for you. Unfortunately for him, you cannot teach somebody pace and he needs a good few yards of that to make it in the PL. What'll likely happen is he'd go to Watford, learn a lot more about positional awareness and will become a decent Championship defender. Can't get my head around the fans saying 'you're welcome to him', there are many players from last season who deserve stick from fans, Pollock isn't one of them" "If we can get something for him now we should go for it, better than letting him walk for free. Talented youngster with potential, as mentioned pace will be an issue in PL but I imagine Watford are looking more to the future with him than anything. He's still a really good defender but needs somebody with more pace and athleticism around him as he suffered from Waterfall being too similar. Good head of the ball and able to chip in with goals, I'd say good for him and to take the chances he gets." "He’ll be a star that boy. Dominant in the air and a good reader of the game. Lacking pace, but a great brain." "Well good luck to the lad, it would give him a fighting chance of getting set up for life. Personally I think the notion of him playing regularly at premier league level is rather fanciful given his epic lack of pace and mobility as well as poor passing ability. Wpuld be delighted for him to prove me wrong though! Would be quite happy to have him stay - he's exceptionally calm for his age, reads the game well, has good control, is strong as an ox and fantastic in the air as well as chipping in with goals. I'm sure he would be very capable of dealing with NL target men types."
Plenty of great defenders have not had express pace. The master being Franco Baresi. It's their anticipation and reading of situations that more than made up for it. So even if Pollock does not have express pace his reading of the game in time should make up for it. Not saying he will become a Baresi of course but he has maturity beyond his years.
If he thinks of himself as an old-fashioned defender then he will learn a lot from the master of no-nonsense defending, Sierralta.
It sounds like he expects to be around the first team next season, including getting games. I doubt he'll feature in the league, but maybe he's been given assurances for the cup competitions? In which case it surely makes Wilmot's future even more in doubt.
We won't be able to turn him into Sarr but with the right training he can definitely gain an extra yard of pace. If you've got the awareness and positioning then pace becomes almost irrelevant though. Let's hope he's got some of these attributes already.
This just popped up on my Youtube feed, worth a watch for those of you interested in Pollock. No idea who the guy is who went to such lengths to make the compilation. The analysis actually claims 'pace' to be one of Pollock's strengths, though I'm not convinced by the examples given to illustrate it. In some of the clips it appears that pace isn't too much of an issue for him and he doesn't seem a complete slouch, but in others it looks like he's running through treacle - pretty odd. Maybe the inconsistency is a fitness issue in relation to his age, or a side-effect of his recent niggling injury problems? It doesn't seem like it should hold him back too much though, and as the comment above me suggests he should be able to gain another yard. Some of his play reminds me a bit of Harry 'slab-head' Maguire, both good and bad - very solid in the air and crisp in the tackle, but slightly prone to flat-footedness. It will be difficult to evaluate him more fully though until we see him in a Watford shirt after some proper training sessions with us.
Definitely something to work with. As you said Maguire's not the fastest and he's carved out a decent career.
He doesn't seem the quickest, but not THAT slow, and besides, you can just about get away with a lack of pace if you've got someone pacy alongside you
I've always felt the best centre backs don't have to be quick as they understand and read the game better. Defenders with pace can get away with it. Bobby Moore, John Terry, Baresi were not quick by any means but knew where to be and when
So it looks like Pollock will be with us this season then, taking Wilmot's old role as 5th choice. Whether he'll have as good a career as Wilmot, only time will tell, but right now at the age of 19 he's surely a downgrade
We may have to replace Kiko season after next, I just hope Gino will remember this come that time. Pollock could end up being an estute signing. See how he does the Cup we do crap in and the other one we did alright in twice.
Good. Thanks for sharing. Right move for him. Hopefully low Championship/high L1. Suggests that there is something in the Lyanco link too.
When we started being linked to the Brazilian dude I wondered if we'd decided Pollock's not good enough for 5th choice yet.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co....watford-defender-mattie-pollock-brave-6655081 Interesting article about our boy Mattie.
Agreed. He must be pretty slow given how the manager who was otherwise glowing about him kept talking about his lack of pace. Otherwise I think he sounds very good. The Cheltenham fans on Twitter seem to like him a lot (all 3 of them)
