Out of all of our collection of loanees, here they are in case you may not remember them all; Nathaniel Chalobah Defensive Midfield 17 Chelsea FC Cristian Battocchio Central Midfield 20 Udinese Calcio Jean-Alain Fanchone Fullback, left 23Udinese Calcio Lars Ekstrand Centre Back 23 Udinese Calcio Neuton Centre Back 22 Udinese Calcio Fernando Forestieri Secondary Striker 22 Udinese Calcio Geoffrey Mujangi Bia Right Wing 22 Standard Liège Marco Cassetti Fullback, right 35 Udinese Calcio Ãlex Geijo Centre Forward 30 Udinese Calcio (although I thought he was from Granada, maybe he was on laon there from Udinese..) Matej Vydra Right Wing 20 Udinese Calcio Almen Abdi Central Midfield 25 Udinese Calcio Daniel Pudil Fullback, left 26 Granada CF Leo Beleck Centre Forward 19 Udinese Calcio Ikechi Anya Right Wing 24 Granada CF And forgive me if I have forgotten one or two... Who can do one? Who would you like to stay on, on loan? And who, given the chance, would you sign?
I like Pudil, Abdi, Chelaboah, Forestieri and Vydra. Neuton and Cassetti don't convince me. I haven't seen much of the others...though "Road Runner" Anya looks as though he might revive a few memories of Nordin Wooter
According to the CEO, we only have one player on loan, Nathaniel Chalobah. The rest are already signed as Watford players. OK I know that was a means of getting round the rules, but it sounded at the fans forum we can keep almost any of them that we want to. I feel sure that once he gets fully up to speed with the English game, Fernando Forestieri will attract offers along with one or two others. Looking at the list there are a couple that have had little game time so it is a bit unfair to say they should go. I suspect that the squad will be reduced in January, but it could be that the ones to leave will be fringe players that have been at the club longer than the imports.
Jenkins, Iwelumo, Bennett, Prince, Garner, plus a couple of others that we have out on loan, plus a couple from the international brigade. Just a guess, but it will be interesting to watch who wants the players we don't require.
Beleck...very slow and ploddy, he can go I think that's the only one i've formed a complete opinion on...some are not quite there..Anya for example is very quick, but doesn't always have a final ball, and Cassetti can lose the ball too often at the moment. Those that have had regular places are obviously worth keeping, but yep, jury is still out on the others, it's a bit too early to say i suppose..apart from the regulars, we haven't seen much of them.
OK, this is what I would do; Keep (WFC-Owned); Almunia, Hodson, Eustace, Hall, Hogg, Deeney, Doyley, McGinn, Murray, Buaben, Bond, Hoban, Nosworthy (Loanees); Neuton, Pudil, Vydra, Abdi, Geijo, Mujangi Bia (If fit), Battocchio, Chalobah, Ekstrand, Forestieri Let go (WFC owed); Yeates, Iwelumo, Jenkins, Bennett, Dickinson, Forsyth, Wichelow, Garner (Loanees); Beleck, Anya, Casetti, Fanchone Loan out; Smith, Thompson, Mingoia, Assombalonga I think maybe I have kept too many loanees (10) compared to WFC owned (13). That is a squad of 23, so there is scope to keep a few more, maybe Yeates and Forysth. I think the balance is about right for palyers and positions... although with all these muscle imbalances, maybe 8 defenders isn't enough! Maybe keep Fanchone as left-side cover. I fully expect us to bring the squad size down, and can see maybe a few going on fress or nominal fees, such as Dicko and Garner!
Bonham I would probably send out on loan with a call back inserted in case of injury to one of the others - but then if Almunia were to get injured for a significant amount of time (more than 2-3 games), I would probably prefer us to look to the emergency loan market anyway. There are a couple more youths that I didn't include, such as Tumwa and Hamilton-Forbes who I would assess how much they are playing, and pssoibly loan out if it is at a half-decent level, or just leave them with the youth Obviously my list isn't definitive, and generally based on the little I have seen of us, from reports from you guys, newspaper reports, and just general gut-feeling. Some haven't had the chance to prove themselves really, so do we just get rid, or keep them on the fringes/await their comebacks!
Not bad there Kev. I would change a couple of things though. Keep (owned); Almunia, Hodson, Hall, Hogg, Deeney, Doyley, McGinn, Murray, Buaben, Bond, Hoban, Smith, Forsyth, Dickinson (loan); Pudil, Vydra, Abdi, Geijo, Chalobah, Ekstrand, Forestieri, Cassetti. Let go; (Owned) Yeates, Jenkins, Garner, Whichelow, Eustace, Nosworthy (loans) Beleck, Anya, Fanchone, Bia, Battocchio, Neuton Loan out; Bennett, Britt, Mingoia, Thompson, Iwelumo
Dan I trust your judgement more, as you would have been to far more games than myself. I thought Battocchio was meant to be pretty good, but how much as he actually played? You'd let go of Eustace though? I would have thought he might be good to have around, even if he isn't playing so much. I think a year ago, he would have been good to slowly take more of a coaching role, but a lot has changed since then. Maybe he could always look at coaching the youngsters!
Eustace did say at the fan's forum that he is doing his coaching badges at present, but wants to continue playing for a bit longer. I think that Watford might find a role for him, maybe coaching the youngsters, but it depends just how many games he gets and if that will be satisfactory for him.
THniking about it now, not a bad shout there Dan. I'd also let Iwelumo go to the glue factor though along with Garner. Although the latter is scoring now...
and I'd want Eustace to stay on until he has his coaching badges then he can go into the youth setup.
All good opinions on the loanees...I've been at uni most of the season so have hardly seen any of most of them, so like SalisburyKev I have been going on secondary sources. I think anyone on loan at the moment whose not a youngster don't have any future at Watford. Zola has said he has been impressed by Iwelumo, I reckon he might hang around, not sure why. Eustace or Yeates definitely wont go in January in my opinion, like Iwelumo they will probably be gone in the summer. Don't expect too many of the loanees to go back, 2 or 3 at the most. I'm not sure what the Pozzi's will do or what you guys think, but i dont think Britt should go out on loan in January. Clearly cant stop scoring at Southend, I reckon he should be given a run in the team. A 3-5-2 formation might suit him I reckon.
The best 4 if you don't count the lad from Chelsea are likely to sign on a pernament basis it seems. I wonder how many more will be here after January - maybe Anya,Geijo and Ekstrand. Some of the others are squad fillers and Casseti is actually ours I believe but Udinese signed him...so we could.
