Social media gives a platform to people to air their views that previously they wouldn’t have been afforded. The modern day equivalent of standing on a soapbox at Speakers Corner or whatever. And there’s nothing wrong in that. In my humble opinion the important thing is to remember that’s all it does. The notion that any policy maker at the club actually decides what to do based on the opinions of fans on Twitter or wherever is crazy. As supporters the only ‘power’ we have is how and when to support. If we don’t like the current regime, we can stay away and maybe if enough do so, the message will hit home. And conversely if we don’t mind the current regime, we can keep attending matches and put money in their pockets to then probably waste. That’s our real power as fans, not conducting social media ‘campaigns’ and becoming more full of our own self-importance by the day. That’s just a sideshow. Same on here. It’s fun discussing the club with others and reading all points of view but ultimately that’s all it is. I wish we all supported a club where our opinions seemed to matter more and the powers that be gave the impression of listening more. Ironically it seemed (maybe through rose tinted glasses) that the club did so more during the glory days of GT and EJ when of course social media was still to be invented! Maybe back then clubs had to work harder to engage with supporters in the era before YouTube, streams, tv desks, internet fora, Twitter etc. And because they had to make more effort to converse with us, we felt more valued. Interested to hear other peoples opinions on this topic…
Hi - your thoughts are well balanced. For me, having had a season ticket since 1985. I’ve had more days in the sun under this ownership than any other during that period. The ground and rooms suites etc within it are of premier league standard my word they are nice. Debt, I can only believe what I’m told that we will be debt free by the end of the season excluding the owners debt that will never be called or when he ultimately sells the club one day will be added to the selling price and don’t want to debate that subject with any other forum members I know many think that statement has holes in it. Watford FC, I think is perceived as a bigger football club than it was at the point the Pozzos took control. Yes of course mistakes have been made, although the recent climate hasn’t been fantastic for football clubs in general has it. I believe our finances to be better than many. Are we run as well as say Brighton and Brentford? I’d say no. Is supporting Watford our pastime and something to enjoy outside the other stresses and negative aspects of life, yes it is in my opinion. Keep up the good work, I’ll get my coat and leave you all be.
Stadium and training ground, sure they're in a better condition Debt, I'll believe we're debt free when I see it Are we perceived as a bigger football club than what we were 11 years ago? Perhaps ever so slightly now that we still have parachute payments, but they end this season, and we are still missing out on transfer targets to fellow Championship sides and foreign clubs who probably aren't paying massive wages. Attendances are still pretty high, let's see how that holds up in the probable event of us getting stuck in the Championship
I would add that we don't own the training ground. It's not an asset in terms of something that is ours. I've always thought it odd, we've spent a lot of money in developing the facilities on land we don't own. The stadium is clearly better than it was, but even that has been done on the (relatively) cheap. The SEJ stand could/should have been a lot bigger and although filling the corners and developing the SW corner are positives, a lot of the rest is just cladding tiles stuck on existing brickwork. When you see what was created for Udinese, then we are a long way behind. I think the immediate debt to Macquarie Bank will be paid, but I fully expect we'll still owe them money on the recent loans we took out over future payments. Basically, the terms of those deals were based on payments being received, so early repayment may not be allowed, as it would affect the interest Macquarie would have calculated they'd be getting. We'd still owe clubs money from transfer deals, as these payments are usually spread over the term of the contract. So debt free, apart from what's owed to Gino, is highly unlikely in my opinion. I think we'll still owe money to third parties but the level will probably be far more manageable. Being a perceived bigger club.....well it's true we were, but that's fading fast now. After this season, I very much doubt we'd be looked at as one of the stronger Championship clubs. We may not even be a Championship club, heaven forbid. So the comments, which wrangled the owner at the Fan's Forum, of Gino taking us full circle would be totally accurate.
don’t agree with a great deal of that. and I still stand by looking at what they have delivered to us since they took control has surpassed anything since 1985. However life would be boring if we all agreed on everything. Let’s leave it there. No need to respond. I won’t change my opinion and some of you with the opposite view to mine won’t change yours. I’ll get my coat again and this time I promise for the last time and let’s park in peace.
Mate...how many coats are you wearing today? That's about four I've seen you take. It's not that cold outside
Not sure why you need your coat - if someone tells you it’s sunny outside, you have to believe them after all. ‘It’s sunny outside…’
I’m not sure that this is true at all. In my own personal sphere of Watford fans that I know, and talk to about our club, not a single one of them is “happy” with our current ownership right now. These people range from older fans, to younger ones, and from die hard fans to the fair weather type. I know that this is only around 10 people that I know + the number of people that sit around me at home matches, but it’s still a sample of people that has a a return of 0% being positive about our owner(s). The biggest reason why people aren’t happy? Not backing our managers is the thing most often complained about. Obviously this isn’t accurate to the full extent as you are obviously positive about the way things are going, but i’m yet to actually come across a fan in person that’s actually happy with our current ownership. So your statement about the majority of positive people being silent, leads me to question.. Who are these people? Other than yourself obviously.
Agree 100% here. I think the vast majority are somewhere in between rather than being entirely happy and to say all those who are silent are happy with everything (as in the post from Amersham/Wendover) is disingenuous at best but bordering on an outright fabrication of truth. Much like you (so albeit not the largest sample size) the people I know whilst not vocal on social media are very disillusioned with the ownership and hold genuine concerns about the future of the club on and off the pitch. The fact they don't pin their colours to a certain flag on social media doesn't lessen their support by any means, just that they don't feel the need to be vocal about it . . Yet
‘Absolute nonsense. You and your mate and the majority of the negativity on social media are the minority. The majority who are happy with the Pozzo regime are largely silent.’ This reads exactly like something that Duxbury has said in the past.
Ah the same old arguing from Parlaci Gino has finally ended up on Transfer rumours... Is he any good? Can he play the Hogg role?
I agree totally. I love my club. Trust the owner though? No chance and I don't think he has any goodwill left from the last few years of catastrophic ownership from most of the silent, loud or sit on the fence fans.
This is a little bit rich. The people that said that the debt was unsustainable over the last few years and was a huge red flag have undoubtedly been proven right. This is exactly why we've sold well north of £100m of players in the last three Championship seasons but are now potless and can't reinvest any of it. It's good that Pozzo has decided to reduce it and not gamble the very existence of the club but the situation we're seeing now is a direct result of us being mortgaged up to the hilt. However, when fans were raising concerns about this over the past few years, you were front and centre telling them they were overreacting and that all clubs were like this. A little bit of humility now wouldn't go amiss. You were wrong. The debt was unsustainable.
Id be surprised at any more incoming players as were skint ! might even ship one or two out as cost cutting exercise ,were not going up or down ,not progressing in a cup so it doesnt matter ! give some youngsters some minutes , were pretty much back to the Dyche and Baz era!
I just wish the club was a bit more honest and managed fans expectations, rather than all the BS propaganda they keep spurting out
Under Bassini we at least had youngsters that could help the team, even if they were a bit crap. The likes of Murray, Hodson, Jenkins and Sordell actually contributed something whereas the current U23s look miles off it because Pozzo has neglected the academy for a decade.
I suspect most thought next to nothing would be spent tbh. Maybe a loan or two.. From the bank that is.
I think the piece from yesterday saying Pollock is staying and there will be no more outgoing’s is about as honest as they can be no? Not really sure what people expect to be told.
I get that - but they spout about if the right player is available we will move etc. but the right players seem to come and go that would clearly help our side and we are nowhere to be seen time and time again …. I cant believe we can’t find better players than what we have. It’s very frustrating atm - my only hope is that this is being done because we are in the process of being taken over … I can’t believe that with all the cuts this summer we can only spend £1.2m on Rajovic and £50k on Ince …. We have just recouped all that from Healey and further savings on wages with Louaza going on loan - as of today we are weaker as a squad now than we were on Jan 1st imo despite Dennis coming in who is clearly weeks away from being match fit
But how does the club communicate that? Or rather, what club out there is announcing it's transfer targets openly and keeping their fans regularly updated about progress? It's a very short list... Ultimately all the signs point to us being potless. The right player is (in no particular order) - very cheap, unlikely to be wanted by any other club that could result in a bidding war and probably far from the finished article. People at the club aren't lying when they say if the right player comes along we'll move... it's just the right player is bobbins. Arguably your frustration is largely because you've not quite reached that conclusion yourself yet and so can't marry up our actual transfer dealings with what you assume the budget is?
But are we a weaker squad? It could well be argued that getting rid of certain characters has made us a stronger squad? And as I’ve said above, just going out and getting better players than what you have isn’t that easy - you have to take into consideration the player you already have and how you can implement moving them on - or keeping their attitude correct if they are suddenly going to be playing less. I expect Ismael is telling the truth when he says he’s happy with what he has - because he has a squad with a good character and work ethic. Plus we really shouldn’t be going down the route of believing that because we have made cuts and brought money in, that it is in any way available to be spent on incomings. We are f*cked financially whatever way we spin it. The parameters for us being able to sign players sensibly are so small. But I’d still rather respect those parameters in our situation rather than going out and doing business that looks good on paper but actually doesn’t fit what we are trying to do on the wider picture.
Because the few starlets we find and develop can be and have been taken by prem sides in return for peanuts. The quality of the youngsters taken far exceeds the quality we used to produce. One day the team will finally drop back down to a level of quality where we are forced to use youngsters of the level of a young Hodson and a young Ross Jenkins(jnr). Andrews is of course a much better prospect than Hodson ever was.
The academy players had to play then though really, the club had no money at all. Sordell and Murray were excellent, but most of the youth players who played for us in that period ended up playing in league 2 or below for most of their careers. A big part of the issue is that every time we’ve had a talent coming through in the last few years, bar Andrews, they’ve been poached for a nominal fee by a much larger club (we do need to increase our academy level, but even that doesn’t help much).
