According to the Wobby today, Manuel says that the squad didn't have enough Championship experience. We probably all knew this, but he cites not only John Eustace and Jonathan Hogg, but also Chris Iwelumo as big losses to the club. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sp..._enough_players_with_Championship_experience/ Thoughts?
Certainly the ability to adapt and settle into the Championship style. Mind you Eustace and Big Chris hardly played the season before so rather than on the pitch it was the altitude and morale off it that was the real difference which Alumina is talking about.
I never liked big Chris but you always used to see him clapping and encouraging people on the pitch. He probably added a bit of spirit which we are missing along with Eustace.
All the fans knew this, disappointing that the club didn't and it needs the captain to come out and say it.
Captains job is to inspire the team and help motivate the team on and off the pitch, Almunia seems an honourable man but not sure he did any of this. Seems training issues again have surfaced, would understand if lack of intensity under Zola but a little concerning if still continuing under Sannino New Captain required next season for sure.
I think this is why a lot of people were extremely disappointed when Cassetti announced he was leaving, a man of his experience with 2 years in the championship don't come along much. The problem is that most of the players that have experience, Almunia, Hall, are past it for me, or at least not good enough now. And the players like McGugan who do have experience are chastised and booed. For me, this pre season will define how we perform for about 5 years, in terms of the players we bring in, let go and the manager.
These are words spoken in hindsight. If they knew the issue surely the last transfer window was the time to do it. I don't know if its due to embargoes or whatever. I am convinced that a thuggish defence gets you out of this league. Burnley and Lesta are examples of defenders not being great technically but willing to throw themselves into tackles and shots, we just didn't have this. Leaders? well we only had one which was Troy although Marco did try in this department. I can only assume any transfer into the club will be experienced in the championship or prem.
What exactly do you expect the club to say in this situation? 'We know we didn't have enough leaders. Because of this, we're looking for players to lead the group, captain material. If you work for a different club, please ignore this and don't add a premium to the fee you want for your players just because we're desperate.'
Apologies, I interpreted your post as 'All the fans knew this, disappointing that the club didn't [say it] and it needs the captain to come out and say it'. Post-season madness, sorry!
I read the article on Friday and thought even more of Almunia and how important it is to retain him, should he have the appetite for more physical pain that he gets put through. I interpreted his thoughts about Chris Iwelumo and John Eustace as being critical men to encourage others during training sessions and to ensure the whole squad put in a shift every session. Manuel says CI and JE did this even when injured themselves. The goalies largely do their own work and fitness drills, so Almunia couldn't affect this as intimated by other posters. Even Zola mentioned his disappointment about some players attitude to their conditioning as a factor of what was wrong pre Xmas.
Almunia is probably one of the worst captains we've ever had Constantly moaning about the team, despite the fact that he has most of the responsibility to do something about it
It's a fair point. I'm not overly bothered if he and Cassetti leave to be honest with you. Having these two vastly experienced players in our starting 11/matching squad was not nearly enough to improve the squad's mentality when seeing out games.
I don't have an issue with Almunia being frank about the squad - the reality is he was captain in the absence of a better option. He knows the game in this country well enough to be qualified to have an opinion on what makes a winning squad. His reflections are probably correct - I also recall Hall, Chalobah, Geijo and Cassetti being cited as integral to team spirit last year, so perhaps it's easy to underestimate the impact of these characters around the squad - even if they are not playing regularly. A mixture of too many new young players, a manager learning English and a lack of discipline at the end of the season all contributed to a rough ride. It's plain to see that when the team are focussed and firing that we have the ability available to be successful.
