takes all sorts Mitch. I think you'll find a lot of people were very hurt over what MM did after he left. It's only now we are recovering...so maybe now, people will start to get over the fallout...but it will only be when the season is over, and if we finish in an ok position...otherwise, it'll be hard to forget. Don't be under the illusion though that it is 'purely to rub it in Malky's face'...it's only partly the desire for karma...mostly, it's for the club, and where we can finish.
I guess Im not as ' Sensitive ' as most Watford fans then. If ANY Watford manager does well I expect them to leave and if ANY Watford player does well and is talented then I expect them to be sold at some point. That way it's not so depressing when these things happen. Is anyone else like this or is it just me LOL
I dint even think he comes close to the filthy ones. Thats a whole nother matter. Its not the sole reason that i want us to finish higher, but its nice to be able to say that we did not need him. I will only hod the grudge for this season, after the final whistle on the final day i will not give a toss about how he does. Think of it this way, if you have kids and you raise them for 21 years and then they walk out of the house with out a single word of thanks, would that not annoy you or hurt you. This is a similar principle, we fathered him for many years, but then he gets a better offer and walks away with out a word of thanks.
I think with MM, wanting to finish above Cardiiff is about proving a point. He has gone there because he believes they are a better prospect of promotion. He took back room staff yes, I'm no overly fussed about that, but he also 'sold' Cardiff to Cowie and Conway, I'm assuming saying they are far better prospects than Watford, or at least that they will get a better pay packet. Maybe Cardiff are better long-term prospects to Watford to go up, but for us to finish above them might show that he 'jumped ship' a little too early... and another decent season here would have had bigger teams than Cardiff calling! I hold no grudge at all towards BR. Yes he was naive to come out with the 'integrity' quote, and maybe he went to Reading too early.... but I would hope ex-Watford players and staff would consider us high on their list if we ever came calling!
Mitch I agree with you in the sense that the moment anyone leaves the club I cease to waste much energy worrying about them. They quickly become history for me. Nor have I ever felt the same level of hostility that's sometimes reserved for local rivals. To me they're just different players, different fans, different grounds...often with the same issues we face now or have faced in the past. There are one or two teams I don't like much...but only because of unpleasant personal experiences visiting their grounds. That said, I've come across a few brainless Hornet fans over the years!
Mitch - it is great to have you here - you inject an element of debate into this site that for me has been lacking as we know each other too well and agree too often. I think that as this is our first post Malky season we all want to see us succeed without him and for him not to do as well as he thought he would - I would like to see him fail so that others may think twice about jumping ship quite so quickly. However by next season it will be too long to care that much - same went for Aidy ( different scenario but ref hoofball) and BR. His leaving was again not really the issue but the nature and timing and the number of people he poached and the manner of it were all harmful to us so why would I wish him well?
Football supporting is tribal. It is also, by its very nature, us against them with huge amounts of emotion thrown in. Conseqently, the decisions that people make within the game raise passions. If I put myself in MM's shoes I would have gone to Cardiff because 1) more pay; 2) more resources; 3) greater chance of success; 4)probably geater job security. There is no loyalty in football. Baz had just taken over Watford. Thee was no security in the club, the best players would be sold. From a personal point of view it was a no brainer. Once at Cardiff he brings in people he knows can do the job he wants. As a fan i see disloyalty to my club, I see the rape of its best remaining assets. I worry about the medium and long term future. I see what the club has done for MM and it is upsetting that he should show no respect for that. I want him to lose. I want us to defy the odds. As a neutral I don't really care. Cardiff have nearly been there for so many seasons so for the fans it seems like their turn in the EPL. MM seems like a promising young manager but there are many managers with a great future behind them. Which view is right? None of them probably. A non-sports fan (such as Mrs NZ) wouldn't understand any of what I hve written.
Agree with you NZ - As MM I may have gone (although I am not so sure it was that clear cut as Cardiff are not really a big club and have 3rd tier history more recently than Prem or our 3rd tier - and under a pretty decent manager could only get to play offs) I might have stayed and learnt my trade for at least one more season at Watford where there would be less pressure. As it is the League Cup Final will save him but to fail to finish in the top 6 otherwise would almost certainly have seen him dismissed. He will be sacked early next season if they have a poor start. As a neutral - why would anyone care less? As a Watford fan - he left us to a fairly heavily backed relegation - luckily for us SD was salvaged from his grasp - yes remember that - he tried to take him too - who thinks we would have survived without SD? Look back at the start of the season - we all hoped just for survival. Under Malky we would have looked for approaching the play offs. No MM deserves at least one season's loathing
Evening all from La Palma, just chilling prior to our return tomorrow. Mitch good to see you on the board!
Nice to see you about PSH. Are you enjoying the vacation?? In other news common sense prevails at red card appeal!!! Jon Marks @jonmarks72 Bristol City have failed with their appeal against Liam Fontaine's red card v #watfordfc on Tuesday. He will serve a 3 match ban now. Hows that for you Mr Derek McInnes???
I would suggest that this obsession with how Cardiff get on this season can be simplified. MM left Watford because he saw Cardiff as the more ambitious, better resourced & supported club - in short with more potential than Watford - reflected, of course, in better wages. All that is arguably true and (maybe subconsciously for some) hurts all Watford fans. So it is only human nature for us to wish that, despite what appear to be significant advantages at Cardiff, he should fail (as Rodgers failed at Reading) given these advantages. We can then all feel better that "he made the wrong decision leaving our club, should have stuck with us and would have done better with us than leaving for the other side of the fence", especially in the unlikely event of us finishing above Cardiff. BR getting the sack at Reading made us all feel better, despite his later success after moving to Swansea - which is one move removed from leaving Watford - if you see what I mean. I suggest that if MM ultimately fails at Cardiff, but later succeeds elsewhere then we will bear him as much malice as we now bear Rodgers. But I may be wrong..........................
I stand by my view for this season but will wish MM well if Cardiff City are promoted. That reflect well on Watford, a club with many problems producing two managers who had the ability to get two better financed clubs to the premiership. Anyway the thred is writen and linked to from the Ipswich Town thread. The predictions are done so I go. Góða nótt til allra.
I haven't actually thought about it that way, stability is a very important thing. When I think of Malky Mackay I think of all the good things he's done for us, be it as a player helping us win promotion and scoring against the tramps, as well as our manager bringing in exciting players who I enjoyed watching and helping to stabilize the club over a 2 year period. Im not really that botherd about Cardiff City although I will admit that I really wanted them to beat Liverpool in the final. Managers taking staff and players from the club they have just left happens all the time. When Nigel Pearson joined Hull one of his first signings was Jack Hobbs from Leicester City, the club Pearson had just left.
I agree Leo will continue to hope that Cardiff fail to go up this season , then I dont really care what they do next season!apart from our 2 games of course
Mitch when a manager leaves a club ,he normally takes one or two people with him, He doesnt usually try to relocate his old club to his new club!! Thats where some folk have a grudge , even GT told him to stop and he still took more! For that He deserves a seasons grief
He took one player - Don Cowie, admittedly my favourite Watford player at the time, but at the end of the day Cowie was out of contract because he turned down the new contract we offered him - i.e he didn't want to play for Watford once the season had finished. If it wasn't Cardiff then it would have been some other Championship club to get him on a free. Besides, as soon as Malky joined Cardiff I knew he would go in for Don, it wasn't a surprise to me at all. Andrew Taylor - we had him on loan for a few months, we tried to sign him in Jan 2011 but we couldn't afford his wages. Even if Malky had stayed with us we would not have signed A.Taylor as he would have joined a Championship club that can pay more in wages with a better chance of promotion than ourselves. Coaches and Physio's - It's common practise for managers to take with them the coaches and physio's to the new club they join, happens all time. Im not bothered about this as coaches and Physio's are easy to replace.