Kalu is not in Ismael’s plans and can leave, along with Baah according to AL on The Athletic. Doubt we’d get any money for him, so it’s another blinding piece of business by the recruitment team. Signing a player we’ve hardly used for £3m now are happy to let go. Idiots.
More stunningly incompetent work from Pozzo, the only person who benefited from the Kalu transfer was Bayat. We spaffed money up the wall, head coaches were given a player they didn't want to use and Kalu himself has wasted a year of his career.
The only positive to take from this, and granted it's a slim positive, is that it feels like the outgoings now broadly match how most fans feel about players. Pretty much the only exception is the Bachmann new contract and elevation to captain, but I suspect even that won't last long if he can't adapt to the new playing style.
Timing of his signing was incredibly suspicious. A week before we signed him, Belgian authorities released the details of the charges against Bayat, one of which related to Kalu's transfer to Bordeaux. Wonder whether Kalu would be more or less likely to help the investigation after Bayat got him a nice new 3.5 year contract...?
Amazing how Giaretta still has a job. 98% of the clear out this summer has been his signings. These crap players caused us to relegated, caused a toxic atmosphere in the changing room, refused to work for multiple managers, and made zero effort on the pitch. I really really really despise him.
Im at the point of genuinely believing he has something on the Pozzo family. That’s the only explanation I can see why he’s still here. He was fired before Edwards, but reinstated by papa Pozzo, why? He is a massive failure. No businessman in their right mind looks at his track record and gives him a new contract, but we did. Something is definitely off with us keeping him around.
I’m not defending Gino here, but Gino only agreed to sign the players that were presented by Giaretta. So the final decision is Gino’s yes, but Giaretta fed him a plateful crap. Gino would have trusted Giaretta’s opinion on the players we signed and Giaretta has let him down massively. How Giaretta is still here is mind boggling. How he is still involved in the transfer process at all is even more so.
But but but only a few pages ago the forum brains were telling us he could not be judged as a bad signing, because Hodgson and Edwards were clueless?
An absolutely disgusting signing. Absolutely disgraceful use of our club’s resources to lubricate Bayat.
Strange and risky decision given that at 25 he's still a couple of years away from reaching his peak. Could be a late developer ? "Kalu's mother was released on 5 March 2019, having been kidnapped six days previously" - exactly when did he agree to join us ? Ah, looks like we are in the clear unless he agreed a future obligation to facilitate the release ?
Gives Kalu the opportunity to walk round his garden a few times and raise some money for the Nigerian NHS
When will he be released? Another player brought who didn’t suit the manager we had at the time and then been injured most of the time .
Look on the bright side. He could have been part of this seasons plans because there was no one else. It’s another slot available to fill.
I guess no one ever really knows. Thinking of it as 'a release' is quite spiritual though really. Poetic almost. Certainly much nicer than saying 'passed away', which has slipped into most modern discourse.
I actually think he’s got ability from the minimal I’ve seen. Just old injury prone bones and doesn’t seem that motivated to even be fit.
He's looked fairly decent pretty much every time he's played, and if he could stay fit, he'd definitely be an asset at this level. But it's a moot point because he's constantly injured, or 'ill'.
Loan fees. Suddenly the signing makes sense. Hopefully he gets some decent game time - no point in having youngsters like him just sitting on the bench, he needs to be out, learning his trade in mens football.
Another Bayat signing that we can't shift for money so he'll spend the rest of his Watford career on loan. **** you Pozzo.
Leaves us with 22 senior squad members and 2 from U21s in Andrews and Adeyemo. Probably a good thing we are out of the league cup early…
Lucky Kalu. He get's to live here as well. 5-star housing retirement home for the wealthy. I am a little jealous...