Rob Edwards Sacked

I suppose it's better than him watching video tapes that Bassini has sent him.

 

Speaking of Bassini, is the lady who stopped him getting in the safe still working at the club? And if so could she do us all a favour and keep Mogi out of our recruitment team?

 

Though whoever it was was dismissed and frog-marched out of the building at the time ?

 

The message from the hierarchy of the club is that they have changed their ways and are prepared to stick by Rob Edwards for the long term, or at least longer than we're used to. Of course people have rightly said that the test will come if Watford are lying 15th in the Championship with no prospect of promotion; will they stick by him then? But perhaps more intriguing is if Watford get promoted, maybe narrowly in 2nd on the last day or through the play-offs. Would they be happy to hand him the reins for a PL season, given what they did with Joka and then with Munoz after seeing him start poorly? That I think would be the real test: allowing him to oversee a relegation but still give him time to continue building the team for another promotion.

 

We won't be going up for the forseeable so the real test won't happen. However, if he performed a miracle and achieved promotion he would be headhunted by a bigger club.

 

A bigger Championship club, possibly.

 

An update from AF. Edwards is still prioritising a young home-grown forward, but admits it could go to the final day of the transfer window. He says outgoing players could expediate the process. Says there are other areas he'd want to strengthen but is keeping his cards close to his chest as to what they are. But main focus is at the top end of the pitch.

He also talked about next season's captain, but hasn't made his mind up on that yet. Has a leadership group of 5 or 6 players and the captain may come from that group. "Captain is an important role that I won't underplay, but I've not made my final decision yet".

 

Probably can't decide which quiet bottler to give the armband too. Hobson's choice.

 

Hodson's gone to Kilmanrock m8.

 

Actually I think it's a good sign. From the interview it seems to me he's decided he doesn't have an obvious captain in the squad. Sure, a leadership group, which I would assume contains Cleverley, Gosling, WTE, Kabs and Cathcart. So, it's obvious we need to sign a leader, and hopefully this is something they have in the pipeline. Gary Cahill is available. Not sure where he's at as a player right now. He was a regular in the Bournemouth team until the turn of the year, then was regular on the bench, then didn't make the match day squad at all for the final 6/7 matches. Reading the Muff forums, it seems clear he had a falling out with Scott Parker. Apparently Bournemouth fans rate him and give him a lot of credit for their early season form. So it doesn't appear he was dropped because his form nosedived, which is a good thing to know.

I think Cahill would be a decent choice. Sign him and make him captain.

 

Would be a great leader. They would probably offer a 5 year deal though ?

 

36 years old, no thank you. We need a younger captain with less miles on the clock.

 

Usually I would agree, but he's an exceptional player. By that I mean an exception to the rule. As long as he's not "hit the wall" as age does creep up on players of that age quickly. It seemed at Bournemouth he had a rib injury which meant his lost his place and his form dropped. Could be because he was recovering although there were rumours he fell out with Parker also.

However, he's been a free agent since July 1st and if we were to want him, I'm sure we'd have made a move by now. He would probably command a big wage, but in a young squad, he's a proven leader and could be that Pat Rice addition to our team. A one year contract with an option to extend if all parties were happy. I think it would be a no brainer personally. Home-grown, free, an incredible leader and has played at the highest level. Keeps himself fit and is rarely injured. I don't see it as a big risk at all.

 

I watched him live in a few Muff games last year and thought he was fantastic. Always taking, calm on the ball, strong, rarely missed a header. Yes he’s older, but imo not too old. Clearly was fit and in great shape. I’d love to see him sign for us.

 

In common with the rest of us

 

If we still want strikers then Bayo & Menaj must be shyte in training.

I'm concerned that seem to be ignoring the midfield, with Louza out for a month that centre is really weak.

It's typical Pozzo fashion too, I remember when Doucoure, Capoue, Pereyra & Deulofeu was really strong and we just needed a striker and a quality centre-back to push on. We signed Sarr & Dawson.

Then when we come back up, the attack is actually looking good, we've shed Deeney & Gray. We just need to keep goals out, a left-back and a centre-back would be nice. We sign neither till January starting the season with Masina!!!

Now we're back down, the attack looks horrible again and needs 3-4 additions in one window, it's awful, awful squad planning, no foresight whatsoever, all reactionary business.

 

To be honest, I was disappointed when I read Edwards is still maintaining we need a young home-grown striker to come in. That tells me both Sarr and Dennis will be gone, and our promotion hopes with it. Whoever we bring in, even if it's Archer on loan, won't be as good as Sarr and Dennis. So a weak squad, who Sarr and Dennis could paper over the cracks, would be devoid of the necessary quality to bounce straight back, and if I'm reading the financial situation correctly, that would be a disaster for the club.

For me, midfield would be top priority along with keeping at least one of Sarr or Dennis. Without that. we've got no chance of promotion...IMO.

 

Look, if someone comes in with the right money both Dennis and Sarr will be gone. I think they will be by the close of the transfer window.

The foresight of replaceing the squad is non-existent or not very obvious but the age of the squad has reduced this season which is a good thing. We were top heavy on 30+ year old players last term.

The real issue for me is the lack of an obvious vocal leader on the pitch. That hasn't been addressed since Deeney left. The likes of WTE, Cathcart, Cleverley, Gosling and Kabs are not very vocal on the pitch.

 

Edwards sounds very greedy to me, we've got him two quality strikers and he still wants more. If he can't get us promoted with Bayo and Manaj then he's not the head coach for us.

 

Chequebook manager.

 

An interesting piece by RE today written by AF. He was talking about Sarr and Dennis about whether they would be parts of things, and clearly the answer is yes as long as their attitude is right and they are showing desire and commitment. This is all fair enough. He also went on to talk about Manaj and he was very enthusiastic about him. I think Manaj will play a big role this season......but there was one glaring omission. He never mentioned Bayo. It seems very strange...our "star" signing was absent against Wycombe and he's not been mentioned ever since.

 

Edwards must be chuffed at the moment. Apparently Vakoun Bayo, Rey Manaj and Mario Gaspar were top of his list at the start of the summer.

 

He was ill for the Wycombe game and has been training since. If he's not involved tomorrow then there will be alarm bells. Maybe we're going to flip him for £10m to Nantes?

 

He was ill during the Bolton match but I've not heard anything about him since. I'm assuming illness was the reason for his absence against Wycombe, but I've not seen that mentioned. I'm surprised none of the journos have asked about it.

 

Was looking forward to seeing Manaj today as I’ve heard good things from people who know Serie A .

can’t make any judgements from a pre season friendly but I think he was surprised about how physical the Soton CB s were . Although tbf they had 2 or 3 absolute monsters in centre of park today .

 

Calling it reactionary is giving them too much credit. They don't react at all

 

There arent any bigger clubs in the Champo than us.

 

Encouraged by our pre season, everyone seems happy and singing from the same hymn sheet. Two or three new signings, hopefully HG ones and HMSPTL will be ready to launch.

 

Reports of a ‘week of turmoil’ at London Colney I’m hearing.

Monday, Rob found out Samir had been agreed to be sold behind his back. Was said to be ‘fuming’.

Tuesday, allegedly Rob went to Gino with a list of young HG players he wants us to sign. I hear Gino made Rob wait outside his office for 3 and a half hours before eventually hearing from him. When he eventually handed Pozzo the sheet, they locked eyes. Gino then lowered the sheet into his shredder without breaking eye contact. Rob said to be ‘raging’.

Wednesday, upon arrival at the training ground Rob found someone had defecated in his parking spot. No one owned up but the ambitious young Welsh coach knew who did it. He was said to be ‘seething’.

Thursday, Edwards got home from a long day on the training ground trying to teach WTE to make a 3 yard pass. Arriving home from an exhausting day he allegedly found Gino in bed with his wife. Neighbours claim that he was ‘irate’.

I’m told things calmed down on Friday, despite Pozzo senior naming Rob his heir and disowning Gino. Gino however was said to be ‘fuming’.

Edwards is on the brink before a ball has even been kicked in anger.

 

Oh dear, this does not bode well at all, just when some of us were hoping that the worst might be behind us.
None of this will be good for team morale.

 

You telling us this is all a joke, had me well and truly fooled.

 

This aligns with some comments I saw from random kids on Instagram so must be true

 

Given what I know about the toxic , rotten club this is bound to be true . I heard Mogi Bayat Is in line to succeed Edwards