Sunderland there for the taking so we make disastrous changes and come out with a lucky draw. It's amateur stuff. Accept the mistake and make the change.
The reason they were 'kept' was because they couldn't agree the sales prices. That's it. Our owners would've happily left us with this squad minis JP and Sarr if they'd got their desired asking prices.
With all due respect, this is absolute ********. He has at his disposal a very good squad of players. With the starting line up playing like they could/should, we would be out of sight before needing to use the bench. Edwards appears to be tactically inept and **** knows what they do in training.
While there are certainly deficiencies in the squad we can point at, the fact remains that a half decent manager should be able to get this squad to display a basic level of competence and we're not even showing that. We're currently scoring through luck or individual moments of brilliance, and conceding due to poor shape and organization. Neither of those reflects well on the coaching team and I remain sceptical that Edwards has the experience or the ability to change either. To be fair I did think we looked pretty promising for the first 8 minutes or so, but games are 90 minutes and with our relative squad quality compared to others in the league we should be performing far better than we are.
Would help if we didn’t get so many injuries during games to disrupt things but we also sat back and let them back in it .
I think the players are trying their hardest. I think our squad is ****. I think Rob isn't ready yet, but if we sack him then what is left of our 'new start' as a club? We still sign crap like Kalu and Okoye to please Bayat, we still never buy anyone to suit the team. Rob isn't good, but he's a symptom, not the problem. Getting rid of him will solve nothing. Better to have our problems laid bare whilst he learns his trade and the ownership have to face the music as a small percentage of fans start to realise that they do not have the team's interests at heart. Sack him and what's next? Another Xisco? Who actually gives a ****? Another 5 months with a new coach. An extra 0.4 points per game average. And then what? Another summer like this one. More secret fan meetings. More podcast approvals. ********. Let's stick with Rob and see this thing to its conclusion.
Large parts of the second half were the most in control we’ve looked all season. Davi’s was probably blowing but if he’s done 80 just let him do 10 more, the sub at that point made no sense. I love Asprilla but he’s not there to protect a lead, lost the ball nearly any time it was given to him, never should’ve seen the full 90. Wonderful ball for the first goal mind! Kabasele & Sema at full back I forgive him for because what else does he have? You do have to question why we’re losing two players to injury per game, it’s abnormal. Bayo left wing? Why? He done absolutely nothing yet again. Positive signs in the approach play and team looks much, much better with Davis up top. Negative signs in game management and subs. Cost us the game today IMO.
I don't think Rob is ready for Championship football - that is part of the problem. A lot of FGR fans' have said he sort of lost the plot a bit towards the end of their title winning season and although many were sad to see him go, you can understand their concerns to his coaching on what we have seen so far. Edwards is a good bloke and obviously loves the game, but I think he needed another year of League One football at least before he attempted to take on our bunch of shirkers. He has to take some the blame for how we are playing and he has, which is to his credit, but I feel a lot of Watford fans at this point are just thinking exaclty what the FGR did.
I told you all from the start - this is the season the depth of the issues at the club really come and slap everyone in the face. We are in major, major trouble. Mid-table at best.
Less than 2 years ago a Coventry player put Deeney out of action and thereby ensured our promotion. For history to repeat itself this season, a Coventry player would have to climb into the stands, shoot Scott Duxbury in the head and then kidnap Gino and tell his dad Gino will only be released if he upgrades our defence in the window. To be fair, its a big ask....
Other than to reject the one reportedly 'derisory' offer for JP, I'm not sure we really took it upon us to 'decide' to keep JP and Sarr, in fact, reading between the lines, I think we were fully resigned to losing at least one of them, why else would we then not sign anyone and sell Kamara to Udinese? For the record, maybe selling Sarr and 'rebuilding' would have been great, had anyone wanted him enough, but could we trust the Pozzos to suitably rebuild the team?
Could a bit of experience have helped, maybe, but I don't think another year in League 1 would adequately prepare someone for the shitshow we see here
To all of you who say it's not really Rob's fault and that our squad just isn't good enough. According to transfermarkt, who I know aren't the most accurate source at all, we have the most expansive squad, both in total and per player. There's no way that that squad isn't good enough for a top 6 finish. This league just isn't that tough. We should also be able to win games by more than one goal. Sure, the squad isn't very good and recruitment has been poor and all of those things are much bigger problems and are the main reasons for the way things are now. That doesn't mean that Edward's shouldn't have done a much much better job.
In GOBE's defence, can you honestly say that the squad should be struggling to beat Rotherham, Preston, Sunderland, QPR, Blackburn etc?
But a) what type of players are these, we've got a great forward line who we just can't get the ball to, Kamara constantly out of position, Choudhury could be good but is paired with someone who is probably even more of a clogger than he is, and a defence who are living off past 'glories', and while I guess it might be possible to get more of a tune out of this lot, they can't be fundamentally changed at this stage!
I hate Pozzo's hire 'em fire 'em approach to coaches but if we stick with Edwards this season is going to be one of death by a thousand cuts. That said, if Edwards does get the heave-ho I have absolutely no faith in our ability to appoint anyone better. We're going round in circles, folks. The frustrating thing is we have enough decent players to be a good side - but, equally, the potential to be utter sh1te is there for all to see. Why take Davis off? So what if he was knackered - he's got to 2 weeks before our next game to get his breath back. Thankfully, I was kept entertained by the woman next to me (never seen her before) who spent the entire game grazing on an endless supply of sandwiches, sausage rolls, jam tarts, chocolate bars, nugget, wine gums, crisps - pausing only to shout 'get up you girl' at any Sunderland player that went down. God Save The King
But would you honestly not keep our squad over let's say Rotherham's or Sunderland's if you could swap them ? I agree with pretty much all that has been said about our squad, but it's a pretty good squad relative to the division we are in.
The fact is professional football is in the entertainment business, and the stuff served up is very poor. Some supporters think we have a set of good individuals who just need to gel. Others that Edwards is a great coach let down by a low quality squad. i don’t think either is the case. The squad has serious fault lines, but they are poorly set up, the manger makes odd decisions. Even down to picking Troost and then making the zero communication Cathcart captain. At least William would be in the revs ear. Our substitutions are poor. Mowbray made Sunderland better substitutions. A different voice and different tactical approach would deliver better outcomes from the squad at our disposal.
No. Pissed off. We have individual players who should be performing way, way above the way they are, and quite a few of them, and a team that should be playing much better as a team. Our defence was the meanest in the division 2 seasons ago, and we have added Kamara and Hause. Our attack should be striking fear. I'll concede midfield is weak with Louza out, but even there we have added Choudhury for muscle, and in theory Asprilla, although IMO he is not ready to play 90 minutes every week. Buck for tactics, subs, and attitude stops with Edwards.
With a team consisting of Bachmann, Cathcart, Troost Ekong, Kabasele, Gosling, Kayembe, Sema and Bayo yes I completely understand why we are struggling to beat Rotherham, Preston, Sunderland, QPR and Blackburn.
With what we have available at the moment, this is how we should set up IMO: - Bachmann Cathcart Kabasele Hause Kamara Kayembe Choudary Semma Asprilla Pedro Davis
I don't really get why when we're playing with one of the better hold up players I've seen at Watford in a good while, we opt to try and pass the ball around the back for a minute or two before finally opting for the hoof. Surely we'd be better off getting a few men around him early and using that advantage before they get set.
