It's alright because Ismael wants a small squad apparently. Which is a great idea for a 46 game season with a manager who trains and plays with high intensity and a squad that picks up a new injury every week. Perfect excuse for Pozzo when we fail to bring anyone else in.
AF has just confirmed he'll be writing a piece later today, but doesn't expect much to be happening for Watford in the rest of this window.
Maybe I'm in the minority but have our outgoings been that good? Yes there's been lots but that has only been due to the fact that we've been carrying dead weight for a few years. Pedro was done last season, Sarr we've made a big loss on, Hungbo we made a modest transfer fee on, the vast majority of others have simply been wooden dollar moves to Udinese as no other clubs wanted them.
Hahaha - Mmm, I'm sure it was Ismael refusing all these unnamed dynamos Manga and the Stability have been offering him, likely because they disagreed with his stance on the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
To be fair, they could have been offering him Bayat dross all summer - kudos to Ismael for saying no if that’s the case!
Now you've got me torn because I agree, but at this point with seemingly no one on their way and the squad decimated, at some point we might need Bayat dross to adopt a position standing on the wing making up the numbers, in the fashion of a goalie with a broken arm from being 'charged' back in the days when that was a legitimate tactic and substitutions were yet to be introduced.
They don't want to be here, they're only here because they weren't good enough to be cherry picked by the big clubs.
I think aCB and a CDM minimum is required - I think even then the incomings have been very disappointing and I feel as though we have again let down the manager …. I dont blame Manga, if he has no budget to spend then anyone in his position and our expectations are going to struggle. What I can’t comprehend is why we stated that we are looking for the rough diamonds at £2m - £5m yet not found anyone in that bracket…. Why lie !! Why not try being honest and saying we don’t have a pot to piss in anymore !!
Who said that ? Manga - probably thought he was ! Probably went for players that didn’t want to come or too much money. Seems the club wanted players who really only wanted to come which is hard as most footballers don't exactly join a club for the love of them.
Every out going you could probably argue a case for and against. One of the major reasons for the amount of out-goings was to slash the wage bill and remain within our Operating costs. If we fall below that for a sustained amount of time the club is in danger of Administration. Sarr was on a big wage and last season alone he did barely enough on the pitch to warrant it. But, then again if I was offered that amount to half-arse my work I would of taken it too. Cleverley retired but is still here in coaching, Cathcart was moved on (possible mistake), Okoye was surplus to requirements (he was crap), and the rest were either past it, wanted to leave anyway or we did the right thing and cashed in on the amount we could get at the time instead of making a loss. Our incomings have been bang average overall, which is expected considering the minimal spending amount available. Raj could yet be a hit, Ince is getting there slowly but the less said about Lewis the better. Is the another Hause? God I hope not. I agree with what @Jumbolina said earlier in this thread, looking at what is going on, it's less of a "rebuild" right now, but more akin to a get the wage bill slashed. What we are left with is a much younger squad (which is never a bad thing), but short on ability and any major sustained period of injuries to first teamers is going to cripple us.
I’m not sure it was a lie… I’m caught between 2 stools on this one - I think the reality is that Manga, and more so the Pozzo’s aren’t the only horse in the race in any market anymore. There was a time when the Pozzo scouts were first on the scene - but everyone has wised up to 90-95% of where they do their work now. A Honduran or Ecuadorian of great promise is known to all clubs now - even Caicedo was known to United, they just didn’t pull the trigger. Which is why I think Pozzo’s now look for relationships (Bayat, Fluminense…) because they aren’t the only buyers in any market. What that means is that when it comes to players in the price market mentioned, we are behind the curve already. And we don’t have the draw of PL exposure to offer. I genuinely believe the sole hope we have is that Ismael makes a fantastic team of relative average players, gets them up - and then Manga uncovers some Moneyball style gems who pick us over others because of PL football.
You're right with Chelsea spending £15m on a 16 year old from Ecuador etc. Brighton only landed Caicedo because Utd couldn't work out who his agent was. I said the above 2 years ago that the "pozzo model" will have to change. I still think Africa is the next "gold rush" in football. Nordsjaelland have now perfected the model with their African academy - Nuamah just went for €25m, Adingra to Brighton for €8m, Sulemana to Rennes for €17m, Kudus to Ajax for €9m - so much so that they're launching a MLS team in a couple of years to be able to export even more talents that are ready. With the work permit rules now relaxed even further since my post it's possible to play African players without the need for a work permit that would've taken a couple of years to get it's obvious to me that clubs setting up African partnerships will reap the rewards very quickly.
If this excuse is wheeled out, it's literally nothing more than insultingly lightweight bullshyt fugazi PR fluff. As you say, almost no transfers actually happen because a player genuinely 'really wants to come' below the absolute top tier of clubs, and particularly not when it involves players of a requisite quality for the level said club is at. Owners, coaches and sporting directors also know this - you'd be reaching the level of Vincent Tan when he took over at Cardiff asking why the goalie wasn't scoring enough goals if, as an owner, you actually insisted on a player transferring to a famously basket-case, second-season-in-the-Championship-mire-who've-just-jettisoned-anyone-of-quality club 'really wanting to be there'. We're absolutely potless through shocking financial mismanagement/recklessness and being in thrall to an incredibly dodgy Svengali-type figure over the past half a decade - that is the only possible explanation for this window, and what it essentially confirms.
I suspect Livermore only came because Ismael was here . As said before not even sure most of those were bad eggs or trouble makers tbh so that sounded like a bit of an excuse too. Afterall sounds like Louza has been late for training and meetings a few times but still here .
It's clear we're just going to go with what we've got and then use some out of contract cloggers to fill the gaps when we inevitably get injuries. I'm looking at you Ciaran Clark and Robert Snodgrass.
Expect 4 or 5 tomorrow If we don’t get any, it’s still been a fantastic window, time to get behind Val and the lads. Scott said this is the best Watford squad he’s ever seen since last summer
Prediction: Kalu out or contract terminated Pollock loaned out 1 loan incoming from Premier League - either a CB or CM 1 from Udinese 1 smiling Duxbury happy that we have the best squad in years 1 Uncle Ron emergency spaces rant at 10pm....
The summer window gets a C minus for me. The F goes to those who’ve allowed a club who spent six recent seasons out of seven in the PL to be in such a financial mess that they can’t afford a better one.
The quality of the squad will always be up for debate. People have very different opinions on the talent of the players, their suitability to the system used by the current head coach and the ambitions they should be judged against. What shouldn’t really be a debate is that our squad looks far too thin for a long Championship season. We’re sorely lacking at #6 and at CB. If those aren’t addressed today (which they may well not be from the sounds of it) then Ismael, like so many before him, has been hung out to dry.
Currently on a C (and I doubt that will change). Outgoings are a B (got rid of almost everyone we needed to, incoming fees decent for the most part). Incomings are a D. Really poor overall. You know it's been a bad window when Tom Ince is your 'safest' signing.
