Zola says the Pozzo's have given him a season to find his feet before they expect Premier League http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11688/8056874/
Famous last words by Zola IF we don't do so well but lets hope that isn't the case. Afterall I'm not sure too many managers would want to work with the system we have of being given a group of players for him to work with.
So next summer when we have 13 players go back to their parent clubs and another new set of 13 players come in on loan how are we supposed to get another new team to gel quickly enough to gain promotion??? Blackpool the season they got promoted paid £500k for Charlie Adam and whatever they paid for DJ Campbell Burnley the season they got promoted paid £1.5m for Chris Eagles and £900k for Martin Patterson. So even the smaller clubs like us have spent money on actual/proper signings to get up. Look at Bristol City who recently spent £2m on Sam Baldock - thats real/genuine ambition for you.
I take it from that that you have already discounted promotion this season then - but what makes you think that one set of 13 players will be discarded for another? Granada have certainly had Udinese players on loan for more than two seasons, some of whom are still there. Of the new arrivals Neuton, Ekstrand, Fanchone, Battocchio, Forestieri and Geijo, none of us are yet in a position to make comparisons against the likes of Adam, Paterson, Eagles or Baldock - so I don't see your point there. Of those four you mentioned, only Adam has any real pedigree anyway, the others are simply useful to have for a promotion push and then discard IMO - none have actually proven their ability in the EPL. Our loanees are all a bit of an unknown quality, but do come from a Serie A club as opposed to only a Championship club, so must have something going for them. Are you therefore saying that you would be happy if we had splashed cash on them rather than getting them on loan?
I know we spent far too much on Nathan Ellington and that this crippled the club except for some clever not playing the most expensive player but can Bristol City really afford Sam Baldock and his wages if they do not start winning a lot, we would be in a bad place if it were us paying these new footballers money.
I cannot see where you are coming from Mitch. A couple of days ago you said, "Most Championship clubs fans would be excited about bringing in all these foreign players from top flight clubs, not here at WFC though." Now you are saying that you are not excited as some of them might not be good enough and sent back. Seeing as we have the option to buy some of them if we want to, we are in a no lose situation I would have thought.
I see it as very unlikely that we'll send all the loanees back and start again next season. This window was a transition due to new owners, new manager, new system and new goal. Minimum acceptable for the business is probably top half finish, measurable advancement in the development of the loanees (maybe a sale of 1 or 2 for the group), stretch target promotion this season and depending on how things are going will dictate more loans coming in or not across the remaining windows. As for splashing cash thats not the way we've attained our previous 2 promotions, its always been driven by loans so no change except for the origin. I'm worried that our weak link might be Zola, not the plan, if a manager is not able to assert himself and manage the team getting the undoubted talent to give 100% and gel then he's not the man we need. Its too early to make the call but I'm looking to see some zola assertiveness in the next couple of months.
The plan may be to flood Watford with loanees in the first year with Zola's task being to filter out what he needs to keep for a promotion push next year. I certainly cannot see a yearly exchange of these dimensions. At present Granada only have 4 players on loan from Udinese (and 2 of those are Spanish). This figure has gone down from previous years. Also Granada's squad has a large Spanish contingent in it, implying that the Pozzos have not used them as a long term dumping ground for their excess talent. More worryingly Granada have had 5 managers since October 2008 and Udinese have had 11 since 2000 (Including Roy Hodgson !) thereby indicating that they do not tolerate fools lightly. When Zola states that the plan is to turn Watford into the English Udinese, then I would take this with a pinch of salt - why ? Because both would then be clubs competing for a place in Europe and only one could actually play there - or they would need a very good lawyer as two clubs in the same tournament cannot be owned by the same person or group.
Good to see Zola has some time. With such a new squad he'll need it. This change isn't going to happen overnight. Viva los Hornets !
This is how I see it. They send a large amount of players to the club to see who is suitable and who Zola can work with, and the ones he can't see making any kind of impact, he can send back. I certainly hope this is the case, and there isn't any kind of directive that he has to play these players! As for having to get promotion next season, I can't actually say I read that in the article. I took it as this season is pretty much a 'free' year for Zola to start making an impression on the squad. Next season we need to start looking at challenging, but certainly wouldn't say he has to get promotion or he's gone, just the fact they want us to be in the mix.
I never expect anything in this division - it's too unpredictable. However, I do think that in a couple of years the increased parachute payments will mean that more teams go straight back up to the PL.
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/9915905.Zola___Number_of_signings_not_ideal_/ This suggests that he will take a look at some of the loans and existing players, then have a sort out.
It also suggests that Zola's job isn't as safe as he or the club would have you believe. If that article doesn't convince you that Zola must do better than Dyche this season (the general "you", not you in particular french) or be sacked, nothing will.
So far everything that has taken place at WFC has taken place before under the Pozzo projects. They do not seem to have much time for managers who fail to get quick results, so I have to agree with you NNW.
