Sorry if I'm going insane and just failing totally, but I can't see this mentioned anywhere, and Andrew French has dropped a new article essentially coming out and giving Gino both barrels - it's glorious. All it's taken is three months for him to reach this position. https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/s...s-dont-get-fixed-hiring-new-coach/?ref=twtrec Another arrow to the discontentment bow, to have the resurgent local paper now actively calling the owner out, I'd say.
I think this is his public reaction to Burnsy's reveal that he'd refused, tbh. 'Nothing personnel, kid'.
Very interesting to see if his popularity and reputation individually will mean some of his contacts are left standing regardless, or whether he just gets cut off on the Duce's orders a la the Lev, as you say.
Andrew French needs to be careful what he wishes for. He hasn’t named one other potential owner in that article. We’ve sold for way more than we bought. He needs to keep the faith. He’s in the minority here. Doesn’t he know there’s a war on?
Andrew French is probably one of the most honest and "on the nose" journalists for the WO - even if he mainly focuses on Sports and the Football club, I'm really glad he doesn't hide behind the doors of the club and tells us straight what he thinks. I would rather trust him as a source for any movement in ownership over Leventhal's tripe. Good post, thanks Chumlax.
To be fair, a few people on here said it because AF doesn’t really deal in rumours etc. He has openly said he won’t print anything that he can’t clarify with the club or with trusted sources. I think for a short while, a few people thought he was willingly being used by Duxbury - but in reality, he was just printing what he was told in good faith.
The best compliment I can give him is that he appears to have a similar ethos and thirst for reporting the truth as the legend that was Oli Phillips and as a result has earned the respect and trust of the supporters
About a month back he wrote a piece about “some” supporters needing to trust the board despite their actions of previous years. That article to me came over as heavily Duxbury influenced. Of course a few weeks later the board shot themselves in the foot, completely abandoned their previous promises, reverted to type and sacked Edwards. From the latest article it seems French is certainly saying it how he sees it now.
You've got me thinking there RM. Oliver P was an enormous man. Not fat as such just tall and large. He scared the living daylights out of me on one of my first days on work experience,so much that Malcolm Vallerius ( sorry about the spelling Malcolm,it was 40 years ago!) told him to leave me alone. OP bellowed back " This is work experience isn't it? Well this is what ****ing happens at work!" I reckon OP would have eaten Pozzo as a light snack before he and Terry Challis went off for a curry!
I think that’s the sense AF has as well after speaking with him. But, I guess it was only right that he explored every possible avenue he could to make it happen regardless. At least then, he can say he’s tried and the club can’t deny that. But it wouldn’t surprise me if AF doesn’t bother with the Watford Observer when this season ends (or even before). I think he jumped into this agreement on the belief that the club really were changing and his writing could be part of that. If the club pull up the drawbridge, I don’t see him continuing. It’s a stress I doubt he needs as it’s not his FT job. From the interactions I’ve had with him in recent weeks, I think this latest article is his last ‘reaching out’ to make an interview happen, given how the piece ends. I imagine in a few weeks there may well be another article where he may lay bare the attempts he’s made (don’t quote me there though - it’s just the feeling I get). The club promised him high-profile interviews (including with Gino)…I don’t blame him for taking the club at face value this summer. It was understandable naivety.
It’s more likely that he said it how he saw it then and he’s saying how he sees it now. The thing about journalism is that facts change minds - or they should do. Full disclosure – I know Andrew and worked with him years ago – and while I wouldn't dream of speaking for him, I do get the impression from reading his work so far that he went into this job with a clean slate (not easy to do when he's a lifelong supporter) and an open mind. He offered Duxbury the opportunity to set out his vision and he reported that clearly. Here we are three months later and the picture looks different, and he is reporting accordingly. I certainly don't think it was naivety @Burnsy. Andrew has worked for decades in the media, in newspapers, in PR and – crucially – in football club PR, including a long spell at Watford, so he knows his way round the block. As a journalist you have to take people at face value until shown otherwise – to do anything else is bad faith. @I Blame Bassett – you must've been on the WO sports desk a few years before me? I didn't work with Malcolm V, he'd gone before I got there.
It's a great article and I commend it to the house. Journalists are some of smartest and well read people I know, good ones anyway
Very early '80s as a cub. Was another chap there with MV, can't for the life of me recall his name. I remember the editor though,best not comment on his way of treating his staff!
