Going to be honest I think it’s a daft transfer for us to be making. Is Ekong the best centre back we have ever had at the club? No. Is he serviceable at this level? Yes. Is he a leader? Yes. Is he homegrown? Yes. Does he love the club? Yes. So why on earth are we moving him on?!?
He's not even played much this season and still shown what a liability he can be. MK Dons and Swansea away stand out for me.
Granted Porteous might not be the player in question (and he is still young for a CB and might yet improve), but is he any better than WTE?
I genuinely don’t know. I’d be worried if he could be worse. My overriding point is that we aren’t in a financial position to be paying bad bit-part footballers just because they are nice people.
He's not good enough for where we want to be going. A very likeable guy, and i belive most of the fan base will wish him well in Italy
We need a new centre back by Saturday. If Cathcart is injured, we are down to Sierralta as the only fit centre back
Mattie Pollock hasn’t gone anywhere yet. And given Bilic’s comments regarding not even knowing about WTE leaving, I suspect Bilic might have put a hold on that move temporarily.
Yep. He's just about ok in the Championship, but I think he made about 10 errors leading to goals last season. Mentally he's not up to the highest level (though not many in the squad are truthfully)
Good luck to him. Very likeable man it seems and clearly connected to the club. However his next error was never far away unfortunately.
……he’s gone. Just seen a photo of him in Salerno, Italy. I’m actually disappointed he’s gone. The timing is very odd. At a time when we’re crying out for leaders, we let our best one go. https://t.co/n5e3V5YBaK
What evidence do we have that he was a leader? I didn't see him do much on the pitch that screamed leader to me, unless ducking under the ball and passing to the opposition counts towards it.
Off the pitch, there’s a fair bit of evidence. On the pitch, I think it’s telling how more than one manager has overlooked him as a captain option.
Serie A used to have a reputation for producing or honing excellent defenders who were really well schooled and tactically disciplined. Amazing that a guy that is a fourth choice in the Championship because he's a liability played so many games in Serie A for Udinese and is now heading back to the same division. I know Italian club football is ***** these days but even so, the quality of defenders that we've had from Serie A clubs recently has for the most part been appalling: Masina, Troost, Samir, Holebas (much as I loved him overall) were all tactically and positionally very suspect. Britos the honourable exception but that's probably because he was schooled in Uruguay where they really do know how to defend.
He’s not a leader, he’s a nice guy who natively speaks English so is therefore able to talk to people in, at and around the club including staff, journalist etc. Therefore the tag is he’s a leader but in reality he’s a nice guy who speaks English and is presented to media departments for comms and interviews.
Least he will be prepared for weird management changes and re hiring . https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...nager-Davide-Nicola-TWO-DAYS-sacking-him.html
He has twice called pretty important squad meetings behind the scenes to focus minds etc. I think it's fair to question whether he is a leader on the pitch given he has been overlooked for the captain's role on a number of occasions by more than one manager. But I think we have seen enough people confirm what he has done within the squad off the pitch that would mean your appraisal is a bit harsh. He has clearly been more than just someone who speak's English and gives interviews. He is still crap at football though. I am happy the player is leaving us. But I'm not celebrating losing his type of character.
Okay fair enough, you’re right. He’s a dressing room leader who oversaw one of the worst runs of form in Watford history. Thanks for Luton, wish you the best Troost!
Sorry, what? That’s really your reaction to a reasonable post? Talk about going off the deep end with a wrong stick.
On the other side he played a role in a very successful promotion winning side which broke defensive records so i guess you could say he had leadership and ability skills up to a certain level?
this was my feeling, he hasnt become a bad defender over the last 18 months. he was clearly out of his depth in the premier league, but i still think he is an average centre back at this level. seems silly to let him go.
I’m honestly disappointed. Yes he wasn’t the best defender we have ever had in this division, but he certainly wasn’t one of the worst. All the best Troost!
Happy to see him go. Nothing special at this level, and utterly hopeless in the Premier League. I'd rather we got rid of him and signed someone who might be good enough for the PL than kept him just because he isn't completely hopeless in the Championship.
