[SIGNED perm] Rey Manaj

I like the idea of “sighing” players.

 

A level of opprobrium resigned for only the very worst villain of a player by our fanbase.

 

Just to clarify - if we're signing him as a backup striker, I'd have no qualms about it. But I have a feeling if he's coming then he's coming as our main striker, and I feel we could do much better.

 

TBF he could be a sighing player.....

 

I get what you're saying, but at the same time he didn't attract the interest of Barca, he attracted the interest of Barca B, for whom he has exclusively played, and when it came to Inter, he could barely even get a game for their Primavera side - he managed a grand total of 34 senior league minutes ever for the first team.

I don't see these things as qualifying him for any kind of recognition, to be honest, and to my mind it isn't really any guarantee he'll be any less of a deadweight.

 

I'm hearing he used to player for Barcelona. Deulofeu used to play for Barcelona. It's a "yes" from me.

 

Hi, I am a fan of the Albanian NT. After seeing today that he'll sign for Watford, I'd like to leave some unbiased thoughts if it's okay, as I know this player very well and watched his games for many years. I hope I'm not intruding.

The comments on his previous season from the poster on the last page are very fair, but when reviewing his season in the Serie A, where you play against central such as Skriniar, Bremer, Koulibaly etc, you have to provide the context that he is dropping down a tier to come and play in the Championship, which of course is a lower level, despite being a very strong 2nd division. So in the end the fact he was a starter in Serie A, even if he didn't score much, is a good thing.

In terms of strengths and weaknesses :

Strengths : Very good at holding the ball and winning fouls. Good in the air. Decent movement and gets to a lot of chances (but doesn't always finish them). Physically strong and robust. Capable of pressing hard and works fairly hard. Underrated technique and good at linkup play, being a decent passer.

Weaknesses : Quite slow off the mark. Poor decision making (won't make the obvious pass, or take a good shot, and ends up missing the opportunity). Poor discipline and commits a lot of fouls, some unnecessary. Not great at finishing (but I think this can improve in a team where he gets more chances and space). Bit of an ego and thinks he can do more than he's capable of a lot of the time.

Where does he play?

He's a striker but for Spezia he actually played a bit of a deeper CF role, where you would find him a lot in the midfield, tracking back defensively and waiting for his team to rush ahead of him. His manager last season Thiago Motta used him several times in midfield or as a false 9.

Could he be a good player for Watford?

For a Championship level, in my honest opinion, I think it's a good signing for your team. The Spezia fans loved him for his fight and work ethic, and I think he'd fit perfectly in the Championship for this reason, whilst perhaps adding around 10 goals if he plays a season as a starter. I think if you got promoted you can find better but he made a lot of growth last season at Spezia and perhaps he can with you guys too.

If there's any other questions anyone has about this player I'm happy to answer.

 

Can he play the Chalobah role?

 

Another one from Edwards' list.

#culturechange2022

 

“Poor discipline and a bit of an ego”

Looks like we are continuing our excellent recent record of good due diligence on potential signings.

 

Poor discipline isn't always a terrible thing depending on how it occurs - for instance we've sorely missed some tw@ttish destroyers since the days of Britos, Holebas and Behrami.

 

I'm getting the feeling you're not currently happy with all things Watford!!

 

I love a midfield ‘scuffler’ like Behrami. GT would have loved him too.

 

Our team has really been missing some tw@ts of late - the kinds of players you loathe when they're playing for the opposition but are great when playing for you. When we first got promoted we practically specialised in them.

 

If you mean Chalobah the defensive mid/mid then I don't think so, I don't reckon he can play that deep in the field, but he stays quite close to midfield relatively for being a striker.

Playing from the striker position, I would say he is very defensively minded and a real s**t house at times (good or bad thing depending on how you look at it). He averages a card almost every other game in his career.

https://www.calciospezia.it/2022/05/13/manaj-verso-il-riscatto-il-centravanti-ha-convinto-tutti/ A small blurb from the Spezia fan site talks about it.

 

Another absolute corker. What a window this is lining up to be!

 

Best of the rest - Championship edition 2022/23

 

Leopards rarely change their spots. As they’ve messed up nearly every incoming transfer over the past two years, no reason they should suddenly start getting things right now.

Why should the people who thought Tufan, Rose, King, Kucka, Fletcher, Nkoulou, Garner, Murray, Perica etc etc to be the answer suddenly magically start changing now?

Woeful.

 

You don't think Vakoun Perica and Rey Mysterio are going to fire us to promotion? Have you not seen the amount of goals they (don't) score?

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/mundodeportivo/status/1543993416404566019



pretty sure this is Barca’s main media outlet

 

It’s the old, throw **** at the wall buy cheap buy twice transfer policy in full swing again

 

King attracted the attention of Man Utd, for balance. As did Cathcart and Cleverley.

The reasons he's not playing there outweigh the reasons why he was considered potentially capable of it, by mistake.

 

Fletch played for Utd too, it’s clearly a fool proof strategy to sign these players,

 

I like the sound of this guy, could be fun to watch and has a nasty streak, we need more of that.

 

Decided to take a look at similar players in the PL. It seems we have a type:

 

I think you're being somewhat unfair. Duxberry gave an interview in the Wobby, Gino made a clear and honest statement about 10 years at the club and we know that Rob Edwards is a young, British manager.

The Orns are going up!!

 

Ah, so he's a downgrade on Josh King. Just what we need.

 

Would rather sign his sister Nikki.

 

In your opinion (other than what you have already, thankfully, given from experience) is how these compare as bad as it appears, or does the differing level between Serie A and the Championship make up for it to some degree?

 

He’ll score 619. Dial it up!

 

No. We are fatally underestimating the strength of the Championship. Looking for bargain basement crap rather than going with English experience. Not so far doing anything to improve a defence we all know to be sub-standard. Or signing any midfield creativity. Yes of course it’s only July 4 but so far the window has been very underwhelming.

 

Exactly this

Signing this bloke on a free is actually a pretty good punt, the problem is our club is first and foremost a player trading vehicle, so all we get are 10 punts on random attackers like this, rather than spending once or twice on proven quality in key positions which have been neglected for years

It’s not a championship thing either, we were largely the same in the PL, wasted close to a £100m in total on 10-20 crap punts instead of buying 4 quality players like many of our rivals did

 

Hard to say as there's so much involved around team styles as well as league styles - I'd expect Manaj to do better in the Champ than he did in Serie A (and the data for some of those players above will be thrown off by them player in different positions rather than as out and out strikers so the above is not an exact science!), but I don't think he has enough to be the leading striker for a team who should be chasing promotion.

 

I don't want to be too unfair to this guy because I know nothing about him. Bayo and Manaj should be decent backups, I'm looking forward to seeing who we bring in as starters.

Wait, what do you mean they're the starters?

 

As you mentioned earlier, the rot is locked in and leopards don't change their spots. Pozzo and Duxberry have lost the plot and the club is on a downward spiral that isn't likely to end under their leadership. Bringing in an up and coming English manager doesn't change the fact that they essentially no longer have a clue what they're doing or how to change course.

My prediction is that come November we'll be somewhere around lower mid table, watching the likes of Cleverley, Kabasele, Cathcart and Gosling still starting week in, week out, with this new dud Bayo up top with no or very few goals at best, and people might finally wake up to what a state we are in and how bad the squads these idiots keep assembling actually is.