Louorns mentioned on twitter that João Pedro will be the only senior forward when Watford return for preseason training on Monday, 20th June. Josh King has already left and Cucho Hernandez is about to join Columbus Crew. I have read that Emmanuel Dennis will not train with the squad while he is waiting to arrange a transfer, but that Ismaila Sarr is prepared to rejoin the squad when he returns from international duty (if there have been no acceptable bids for him) and the club may wait until after the World Cup (when they hope his value will rise) to sell him. I seem to remember Adam Leventhal reporting in the Athletic that Watford hoped to have done their transfer business before preseason started. I fear that Rob Edwards may face similar problems to those which Vladimir Ivic had in preseason two years ago. Why can some Championship clubs such as Bristol City and Cardiff manage to do so much transfer business before the preseason starts?
Because they’re rebuilding their squads and taking a scattergun approach, whereas we mostly have to sell to buy and probably have a shorter list of positions we’re targeting?
So as it stands, we have one forward. AMAZING. There is no way Sarr will have the get-up-and-go he did two years ago to push us to promotion. Cucho was more than good enough for this division, but in typical Watford fashion, he's off. Dennis should be kept, he isn't amazing but he's better than King (who has already gone). That leaves what? Fletcher? Wow. We better get a least two new forwards in the close season or else that is a lot of pressure on Pedro to score the goals. I hope Pozzbury have some really good aces in their deck, otherwise we are going to really struggle.
Perhaps I am mistaken, but I was under the impression that Watford also intended to rebuild their squad (although I agree that they probably have a shorter list of positions which they need to target). I had forgotten to mention Fletcher in my previous post, but some rebuilding will clearly be necessary as far as the forward line is concerned. Moussa Sissoko is almost certain to leave. Is Asprilla ready to play a full season in the Championship? The results and performances from last season would suggest that both the defence and the midfield need attention. Have Watford never taken a scattergun approach in the past? Let us hope that this time is different, but they will not have completed their transfer business and they will have made no signings before the start of preseason (contrary to the information which appears to have been given to Adam Leventhal a few weeks ago). It will make Rob Edwards' job more difficult when he does not start with a settled squad.
So it seems several squad members are still abroad, including JP, Kiko and Sierralta. Suppose they could be heading home tonight, but could be 5-aside at LC tomorrow
Only downhill from here on in given the transfer situation. Lessons have been learnt. The squad should be together as of tomorrow no excuses.
If it does turn out to be the case, I certainly would find it very difficult to accept any justification for why the senior players we actually have in our squad and expected to be available for us this coming season are not present on the first day of pre-season. It certainly doesn't smack of a club who, having just had one of the most miserable relative seasons in their recent history, has learned its lessons and implemented a fresh, top-to-bottom new workplace ethos.
Oh good, Edwards is getting the Ivic treatment. Pretty sure he said that when he turned up he had eight players to work with. Probably the same bunch Edwards will have!
FS is not due back until next Monday as he has been on international duty. Not sure about JP & Kiko though would be dissapointed if they aren't at pre season.
So if Giaretta is to be believed, Watford will be doing very little in the transfer market this summer. But does that stack up? To go, if all rumours are to be believed and some already confirmed:- Dennis, Sarr, Sissoko, Kiko, Masina, King, Cucho, Foster, Kucka, Etebo, Samir, Bachmann, Zinckernagel & Nkoulou. That is a lot out the door. Without these players, are we seriously thinking we can mount a promotion challenge? It seems like a fire sale, rather than an ambitious club seriously intending on getting promoted. For me, the latest two links of Zinckernagel and Cucho are the most concerning. These are the type of players who have a lot of quality for the Championship, but are not going to attract major interest from bigger clubs. We really shouldn't be selling this type of player, and certainly not before Edwards has had a chance to even see them. He may think they are integral to his plans. So, a lot is not adding up (once again) for what the hierarchy are saying and (supposedly) doing. We'll have to see if these players are sold, so I may be jumping the gun, but if we sell as many of those I've listed, and not replaced with similar quality, I think we've got the right to feel let down by those running the club.
I know you emphasised if, but do they want to go? I've not seen that posted anywhere. I recall something saying Cucho was open to a transfer, but that's about it, and Zinc was very complimentary about playing for Watford this season. Seems to be the go to quote when trying to defend selling a player. What if ALL our players wanted to go? Do you sell everyone? No, for me, it doesn't stack up. If a player is integral to a squad for the season, then yes, they have to stay. They've signed a contract and Watford pay their wages. Only if they absolutely refuse to be willing participants and are considered a liability to squad morale would it make sense to move them on, but I think we're a long way from that scenario with those two players. Players can easily change their minds about moving if they see something interesting happening. If the new era is truly upon us, then Edwards HAS TO be able to see all his players and make his own mind up about them. It seems decisions have already been made without Edwards being able to run the rule over players who could be key components to his squad.
If we dont think the offer is right then we should 100% block them. I hate this idea that just because a player no longer wants to be here you have to take the measly offer you are given. If we start allowing every player who doesnt want to be here to leave, I suspect we will end up with a very small squad of Cleverley, Cathcart and Kabasele.
I don't think we should accept measly offers and we shouldn't sell to direct rivals, but keeping players who didn't want to be at the club has cost us dearly over recent years.
You do realise we've already sold Cucho right? If Edwards turns up today thinking Cucho is going to be "integral to his plans" then he'll be in for quite a shock. I'm not sure why people here would bank on Zinc being here next season either given many would assume he'll go back to Forest.
As have the players who want to be here. The issue is that the culture at the club is so awful that a lot of players would rather be elsewhere. No other serious club would refuse to pay the players the bonuses they were due because the owners was throwing his toys out of the pram. The coach changes 2-3 times a year. They sign players renowned for having bad attitudes. I have no issue with selling the likes of Richarlison when big money offers come in. The issue I have is more incidents like Hughes and now seemingly Zinkernagel. These situations are a a mess entirely of our own making. We forced Zinc out in the summer after he helped us get promoted and then ended up playing utter cloggers like Cleverley and Gosling in our midfield. Now we are relegated and surprised he doesnt show us any loyalty. Relegation was always a realistic possibility and so you would think keeping Zinc on side would ahve been a good idea.
I've been looking at our potential squad, if all rumoured players go, and Giaretta is good to his word and we don't sign many. Those of a nervous disposition look away now. GK Okoya, Elliot, Angellini LB(LWB) Kamara, Sema, Morris RB(RWB) Ngakia, Andrews CB Cathcart, WTE, Pollock, Kabasele MF Gosling, Louza, Kayembe, TDB, Cleverley, Asprilla, Manning Wingers Kalu, Hungbo, Baah Forwards Pedro, Fletcher, Forde For me, the shopping list would have to be No.2 keeper, 1 x RWB, 2x CB, 1 x MF, 2 x Forwards. Just can't see us making 7 new signings. Not going to happen.
In hindsight it seems clear we should have kept Zinckernagel last season given how poor our other signings in his position turned out to be, but that's also not to say that he would have necessarily been much cop in the Premier League either. It will be interesting to see what Forest do about him this summer, as if they don't try and sign him when he's available then it'll indicate that he's generally just not seen as a PL level player, even though he does well in the Champ. It's a bit of a red flag he's not signed for them already tbh. I can also understand though that another season in the Champ won't appeal to him regardless - he's got promoted from there already, and now managed it a second time. There's not really anything more for him to do or show here. If Forest won't sign him in the PL then it's fair enough he might want another challenge elsewhere.
We need 5-10 quality new players, yet: 1) We can't shift the current 'saleable assets' in order to facilitate that 2) The deluded hierarchy and the 'just happy to be here' new lower league manager seem to think the current crop are already close to good enough A lower mid table finish beckons
We know most of our deals will happen close to the window. Most deals are dependant on other deals happening and clubs/players will be assessing their positions before committing. Unless we slap an open chequebook down on the table we won't control the timetable for these deals. However, it was daft for the club to suggest we would have a settled squad ready this early in the window....unless they don't plan to buy or sell anyone else !
7 signings could easily happen - 3 Udinese cast offs and 4 Mogi specials (2 of whom never actually play for us)
Its about future planning though. Whether or not he would have been good enough isnt really the point. He would at least have had the chance to play in the PL. He would have understood that upper champ is probably his level. We were always at very real risk of coming back down, and so covering his wages for 6-12 months to give him that opportunity seems a good investment. As it stands we presumably didnt endear ourselves to the player when we told him he wasnt needed, then panic bought utter ******* dross in his (sort of) position in Kalu and then came crawling back when we had **** the bed in the PL and his services were required again.
What's everyone worrying about? We've already been told by Mr Duxbury that Mr Bayat has brought a lot of good players to the club in the past. When have Scott and Mogi ever let us down? Just chill out everyone.
We've made at least 6 summer signings in every season under Gino apart from 2019/20. Why do you think it's so unlikely this year, especially with the mass exodus likely coming?
As I mentioned previously, if Giaretta is to be believed, we're not going to be doing too much business in this window. I'm basing my assumption from this.
I think players should be held to the terms of their contract and also be aware of the standing of the club they signed for - if they signed 3-5yr deals, then the likelihood was that they may have to play Championship football. I appreciate the angle that we shouldn’t really want to keep players who are unhappy. But every squad has them. We’ve got to stop giving a players an easy exit just because things didn’t go to plan.
To be honest, he also said we didn’t need to do anything in the January window…and we signed 3 players in the first week. I wouldn’t take a great deal of notice of what Giaretta says in the Italian media personally.
