Going to be honest, I have absolutely no issue with this on a one year deal as announced. Adds experience and does the nitty gritty. He is a leader and don’t have any. Welcome Jake.
Welcome Mr. Livermore. As @Optimistichornet rightly said, a single year is a good thing. If by some miracle we do go up, then it's probably one who will be binned off. But he does add experience and the fact he was on trial before hand suggests he impressed VI in some way.
Good to have some experience along side players like Louza and Kone and others especially with Cleverley retiring. Only one year so makes sense
Only a one year deal and good experience to have in the dressing room. If it was 2-3 years I'd call it deadwood but 1 year is fine.
Yes I would think the prime reason for the deal is to add experience and the right attitude into the squad. Hopefully won't be a key component of the starting XI.
As a player, he's a poor signing, but probably will be Ismael's manager on the pitch (or rather a leader in the dressing room). I cannot see him playing too many minutes, which is why I consider it a poor signing. We need players who will upgrade the midfield, not good guys who you would rather not play. Had plenty of them in Clevs, Gosling, Kabs, Cathcart etc. I get he's a leader, which is what we lack. But it's a Catch22, when that leader is not good enough to play in the first team. He's going to be similar to Clevs and Gosling. Was decent, very good character but legs have gone.
He still has enough in the legs to be of alright quality for at least another year, is going to be a good leader to fill the void lost with Cleverley, Gosling and Cathcart now gone. I would like a CM there but not at the expense of LB, CB and ST first at least and what we've done is exactly the right type of contract we should offer.
I'm going on what West Brom fans are saying. He was very good for them up until the their promotion season to the Prem. He was found out the following season, as has been poor ever since. Cannot keep up with the pace of the game. He has to be used sparingly, or his lack of mobility will have to be covered by other players around him which is never ideal.
@wfcwarehouse Claim your point in the ‘posting a correct rumour’ game! File this signing under wait and see I think. Seems to me that we’ve been sensible and had a good look first. A two week trial is quite a long one. Bilic and Ismael have both worked with him and both wanted to sign him for us. But is he now over the hill, and could we have signed better? Interested to see....
A year seems okay to me even though I'm less than excited about this signing due to concerns from WBA fans about his legs going and that he is well past his prime but if he's staying on in some coaching capacity then makes sense.
Proper "we have absolutely zero ambition for the coming season" signing. We get one finished old crock out the door and replace him with another. Absolute garbage.
Yes. It shows zero ambition bringing in a highly experienced Championship player who two of our last three managers have wanted to sign. Somebody who knows the league, as opposed to wasting a lot of money on fancy sounding names from the Belgian league. Somebody who may just be a valuable addition off the field too, helping to look after our younger players. Every new signing is a gamble. This one has cost nothing and we aren’t greasing the palms of you-know-who this time either.
I welcome this, solid, knowledgeable leader to help the likes of Louza find their feet. Welcome Jake Livermore, do us proud.
Insert Cleverley from the perspective of another club and you could say the exact same thing. Experience doesn't automatically equal being a good or smart/sensible signing whatsoever. He's old garbage from the bargain bin.
Don't count on it. We paid him to help us move Samir from Udinese to Watford a couple of years ago, as obviously we couldn't have got that one the line without Mr "Just like every other agent" Mogi.
Just to be clear, he’s not somebody I would have signed. I totally understand all the negativity. I just feel that he, like any other new signing, should be given a chance. Write him off in ten to fifteen games time by all means. But doing so after a few minutes of a pre-season friendly where everybody is still getting up to speed seems a bit premature.
Those who hark back to the good old days of Ray Lewington /Malky Dyche etc ( I’m not one of them ) , in those days we would have been delighted with a signing like this. Experienced /hard working /good leader . I am concerned he may slow down the tempo but he could work as a deep lying midfielder . We appear to be cutting out cloth accordingly now and hopefully reducing the debt so I think people need to reduce their expectations a bit. If we’re still seeing a team full of apathy and getting bullied week in week out, this coming season, then we have much more reason to complain.
Exactly right. I never have any preconceptions about signings, even the ones I have a vague memory of having seen play like Livermore. See what they do in a Watford shirt for a while before making judgements.
It's there is black and white on the FA's published intermediary transaction list. Watford definitely paid Mogi Bayat when moving Samir from Udinese to Watford. For what, who knows?