I believe most fans do care about the management but that shouldn't stop people enjoying good performances as we had at Norwich. When things go well we should rightly celebrate those moments but that doesn't mean we have stopped the dislike of Bayat or Duxbury or the concern over the finances. We all have our own concerns in life and football can be a break from that. Not sure what other clubs you are referring to but a lot of supporters don't like their owners. Man United being an obvious on and the Glazer family are still there. I heard the Spurs fans singing for Levy to get out of their club in their game against Palace. They didn't sing that when they were 4-0 up but that doesn't mean they don't want it to happen, just means they're enjoying watching their team win I don't see why just because fans enjoy their team winning means they deserve the contempt given to them by Pozzo. Be honest here, if you go to a game and Waford score, do you celebrate or do you sit there shouting for Pozzo out?
That's not true though is it? The fans were all up in arms at the sacking of Edwards after a summer if lies, after a disgusting attempt to tier fans with the committee, after more Bayat tat, but then we won a couple and people were all 'oh it's just fine again.' Absolutely no consistency. They are distracted by the slightest thing. Man U fans didn't stop wanting Glazer out because they won a game or two. Newcastle didn't stop wanting Sports Direct guy gone because they picked up the odd 3 points. I have maintained my position against the owners. I don't care about the short term swings of fortune. I hate the way they treat our club and want them gone. You can't accuse me otherwise.
100% they celebrated a goal or winning a game though. I, and I suspect most supporters, support the club. Not the players or the managers or the owners, the club, so when we do win or score a goal they will celebrate. I don't think anybody is saying it's fine again, they just enjoy winning a game of football. I'm pleased to see Bayat appears to be moving aside and I think it's now time for a change as god knows what Pozzo has been doing for the last 3-4 years but if we were to score or win tomorrow I will be delighted still I'm also not saying you are swaying from wanting the Pozzo's gone but do you celebrate a goal or a win? I don't know you outside of this forum but I would be very surprised if the answer was no
Swayed how? There was no mass protests in the aftermath of Edwards sacking. There was no mass protests after relegation. There was no mass protests when we signed Bayo. Fans unhappy when club lose games and fans happy when club wins games is not a unique phenomenon to Watford. If you think there's imminently going to be a force of outrage strong enough to oust the ownership after a decade of overall massive success relative to our size and history, then you'll continue to be disappointed. This is potentially our lowest ebb in a decade, and we're still capable of appointing one of the strongest managers in the division, signing young talents for millions, and appointing a sought after technical director proven at the highest level. And we still have a pretty full stadium every week. If it gets to the stage where we're clearly heading into financial ruin (however positive/negative your outlook may be, none of us can predict this for sure currently), we're spiralling to League One or below, all good players are gone, Gino still not bothering to communicate then sure, I'll be first to wave a white hanky at the next home game. But your average Watford fan who doesn't sit on a forum or Google translate the latest Giaretta interview on tuttifruttiudinese.net will have a smile on their face when Watford score a goal. Sorry.
Not really relevant, but that Mike Smart chap broke lose in the secondary on twitter yesterday. Quite a missive, my favorite part being " I’m not done being grateful for the riches Gino has bestowed upon us". Cracking stuff!
Lowest ebb in a decade that’s been getting worse for the last 4 years. Pozzo signing youngsters for Udinese then loaning them to Watford. And debts that are getting worse. After lies and betrayal. This club right now has more chance playing in league one than premier league. If they don’t achieve promotion with these parachute payments then you’ll be waving that white flag. Things need addressed before it gets there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Trouble is Scott Duxbury went a bit rouge in the summer making statements and promises that clearly weren’t agreed on a whole by the club so obviously not kept and he was made to look a bit silly. So he’ll be keeping quiet for a bit or checking what he says tallies with the Pozzos .
If gaining the odd 3 points here and there escalates to us getting promoted this season and then winning every game for the next four years, collecting silverware and being the dominant force of English football, would some fans still want Pozzo out because in this hypothetical scenario he continues to deal with Mogi and appoints a head new coach every season? Or would they be happier with the ownership due to the on-field success we would have achieved, despite that apparently not being a factor in their current lower ebb of popularity?
In the last 3 and a half seasons we've beaten Manchester United 2-0 and 4-1, Liverpool 3-0, Everton 5-2 away, Luton 4-0, Bristol City 6-0, achieved promotion to the PL, broken defensive records in the Championship, won 6 games on the bounce (9 wins in 10) and are currently in the top 6 of the Championship. These are matches and achievements that would be looked back on fondly 30 years from now for the fanbases of 80% of clubs in England. Yes there's been more depressing events than positive since the FA Cup Final, and some truly **** performances and results, but we really haven't had it that bad. Were Kone and Hurtado signed by Udinese? You should tell the bookies we have more chance of being in League One than the PL, they don't agree currently. Again, neither of us know the severity of our financial situation if we don't get promoted this year, so (for me), I don't see the sense in catastrophising about a hypotheticical future. Could you elaborate on 'addressed' with regards to what fans can do, and if they are/aren't allowed to celebrate goals?
You've constructed your own straw man, so perhaps you would like to just continue to argue with yourself? Nobody has said fans shouldn't celebrate a goal. My point was only that the fans showed their true colours when they went from talking of manning the barricades, to white hankies, to here's to you Pozzo Family, in the fickle space of a week. You stick to your (wrong) guns and I'll stick to mine, but I won't respect fans with the attention span of a labrador in a park full of scampering squirrels.
I asked you what you wanted fans to do, instead of be happy at good results, and you said you want them to 'show they care by being angry'. What does that actually mean, in practice? And in the ground? You haven't answered Knight, do you still celebrate goals? Do you enjoy it when we win? If so, is that not a bit hypocritical? Or are you able, like others, to separate good moments on the pitch with your disapproval of the off-field activities? If we're talking strawman, where have you heard Pozzo family chants?
You know damn well I hate it when we score and win. It isn't my job to tell the fans how to protest. Clearly they won't. That is why I disassociate myself from them and you.
Then I can only offer my sympathy, as it's a depressing way to live, imo. Also fairly strange to commit so much time to a forum about something you hate and containing people you seemingly hate. But again, each to their own.
I know this is in jest but a group of bods on twitter seemed very keen on protests after Edwards was sacked for about 3 days but then we beat Stoke 4-0 and everyone was happy again! Which I suppose is Moogs point. I don’t think there will ever be a protest. Too many people are satisfied with the way the club is run. I guess the only tipping point would be serious financial problems.
Like wise for the Norwich game which was after we lost at Blackpool. I mean if people are going to flip flop depending on how we do each week there will be a lot of “lets protest , oh hang on let’s not we won”! I agree if people aren’t happy about the way the club is being run etc they need to be consistent and stick to their views rather than change it just because on the pitch we get 3 points .
Maybe Norwich are Pozzo puppets who merely exist to take the heat off them? Or maybe they're simply crap lol
Pozzos might get a bit of grief over this. Not gone down well as expected . https://mobile.twitter.com/Observer_Owl/status/1617069559210512384
Old fella saving £2.50 on a cup of tea? Unacceptable. £5m on the abysmal Bayo with 2 Bayat brothers involved? Done by end of day. Pozzo knows where his priorities are.
Unlikely to be Gino's decision, or something he's even aware of, but it's a PR own goal by the club. A small thing that affects relatively few people in the grand scheme of things but unwittingly says a lot about the attitude and ethos of the organisation. Every so often football clubs seem to fall into the trap of this sort of desperate penny-pinching nonsense. People have been bringing flasks and snacks to professional football matches since the game's beginnings but some pointy-shoed marketing drone has calculated that an extra fiver could be prised out of the supporter's pocket if they stop people bringing their own food or drink – not realising that the sorts of people who bring their own flasks and sandwiches are not likely to suddenly say: "Yeah, I'll get a disgusting tea and overpriced burger in the ground instead."
The Original Family Club (Just give us an extra tenner if the family want a hot drink on a freezing cold day)
It will end up like Spurs who have banned food and drink being taken in since their new stadium was built, because apparently you can buy it inside the stadium.
If it is Gino's decision, he can watch a game in Feburary when it's minus whatever at the game in his underpants only. Then see if hot flasks are still not allowed. It's not like they can harm anyone, they've been around for decades. Pathetic.
Sad to see the horrible overreaction to this. We should all be buying the food and drink in the stadium to support the club and owner financially and to get behind the boys.
Quite so. People using anything as a stick to beat the club. Or is it the amount of incompetent decisions the organisation makes perhaps? The only surprise is the club didn't have an exemption in place for WD18 and FTRE tier 1 fans.
It’s no surprise to me that it’s the Thermos crew kicking off. Very Watfordy. I think we could see full uprising if they banned blankets and people knitting.
I think we should leave the purchasing of poor quality meat wrapped in a flaky exterior to Gino. He's the expert! But seriously, the club should pick its battles. The types of people who bring flasks and their own sandwiches are likely to be older, long-standing supporters who've sat in the same seat for three decades and they're the least likely to actually spend on food and drink in the ground, even if denied the option to bring their own. We've seen it before, football supporters are not great at accepting change. The bin bag protest when they wanted people in the Upper GT stand to move along a bit being an example.
