Tough one. Our bogey team are flying high. I predict a damn good thrashing. I hope it's in our favour, but logic dictates otherwise.
Well that was scrappy. But I think on the balance of things we deserved to win. Good luck for the rest of the season.
Just think, if Marcus Evans had bought Juventus and Barcelona, as well as Ipswich, we'd have won tonight. Seems a bizarre loophole that Watford can name 8 players (starting and on the bench) that they don't own, haven't paid for and are all eligible to play. That didn't look like any Watford side I've ever seen. Reg Dwight will be pleased. Not that I'm bitter or anything. ;-)
Ha ha! Touché. But I think you know what I'm talking about. The FA are voting to close the loophole allowing unlimited foreign loan players this season. I wish you all the best for your promotion push, but I can see you being annihilated in the Premiership without being able to 'borrow' Udinese next season. Jus' sayin'...
It's a rule we are using, like any other rule people take advantage of. Whether it's right or fair is down to opinion. Is it right for clubs to loan Prem players for a fraction of their wage? Is it right for an owner to bank roll a club, paying extortionate wages and causing an outrageous loss? Is the "Emergency" loan window fair when the majority aren't an emergency? Like any other rule, it's open to everyone. I'm sure if you had a link with Barca and loaned 10 players, you'd justify it? The main reason people are moaning is because we are successful with it. If we were in the bottom 3, people would just be saying it's a failed experiment (bit like Donny Rovers and their loanees in the 'shop window'). It's not as if we are loaning has-beens either - many are young players, who look to have good futures As for next season, if they close this rule, we will just sign them from Udinese/Granada for 'undisclosed' fees, and 'sell' them back if they don't work out - but I expect us to sign most of the players we want to keep in the summer, and we should have the bulk of our squad done. We will then try to sign the players we want using the Pozzo scouting network, regarded as one of the best in the world. Anyway... good luck for the rest of the season
I agree with what you say SalisburyKev, but do you see this being good for the long term sustainability of your club?? I'd imagine it would be hard next season with the FFP stuff coming in (unless you are in the PL where the rules as per usual are completely different) for you to buy all those players, also depends on where your owners priorities lie, if one of those players who the club has to sign due to the closing of a loophole but he starts to do well at the expense of one of your owners other clubs. I'm very jealous of the quality of footballers at your club and the style of football you currently play, I would never have imagined you would be the best footballing side in the division and we're the ones trying to grind results out when most of our competitors are trying to playfootball but I can't see this ending well for you guys in the long run, it seems too many complications and too many external factors.
I think we can argue less than most on this point as we had 7 loanees in our matchday squad last night!
This is where my current gripe lies. I am certain this is a short-term method, so, irrelvant to our long-term plans and, therefore irrelevant to the "good of the English game". I am sure it is a method of utilising the current rules and regulations surrounding international loans, to test-the-water in the English game. The Pozzo's are new to all of this, so using temporary transfers makes sense. A well reasoned statement though. It is nice to see comments like this without the bitterness and obvious envy.
Hats off to Watford they are without doubt the best side we have come up against at Portman Road this season. I hate to think what the score would have been if Jewell had still been manager! Mick was gracious in defeat and accepted like most of us do that we were beaten by a better team. The big game for us is on Saturday against Huddersfield so we take this on the chin and move on.
I think for many of us, it will just be a case of 'wait and see'. We signed Forestieri in January for an undisclosed fee, with the assumption it was on a free. We would probably just do the same with the other players we bring in. The next thing to contemplate is wages, and if we are still in the Championship next season, then I suspect we will loan the maximum amount we are allowed (keeping the bulk of the cost with Udinese) and sign the ones we can afford to keep within our budget. We will be offloading many of the fringe players... but we still do have a very good core of our own players (Almunia, Nosworthy, Hall, Doyley, Eustace, Hogg, Forsyth, Deeney, Yeates) plus some younger Academy players who have been in and around the squad this season (Hoban, Bond, Murray, Thompson, Smith) plus a couple of youngsters who are out on loan may come in and have an effect! Out of the loans, I can see us signing maybe about 6 or 7 (Vydra - hopefully, Abdi, Pudil, Battocchio, Ekstrand, maybe Anya and Neuton - and maybe Cassetti if he wants to stay another year! Thats of course if they all want to stay!) I don't really fear for the long term as the Pozzo are a football family. They won't risk the future of the club for a short term gain. This is why they have done this loan route rather than paying stupid money on over-the-hill players looking for a last payday, or stupidly overpriced Englishmen! A big reason they chose Watford in England was our Academy - their way is to bring in the youngsters, develop and then sell on. Expect us to start signing a lot of 16-19 year olds, and very few loans! If we do make the step up to the Premiership, and can stay there, then we could very well be the 'main' club in the Pozzo family. The money in the Premiership is astounding, and is only going to go up.
If I was a Watford fan I wouldn't be worrying about long term vs short term, the faster you get promoted the better your long term outlook is (especially with FFP rules coming in and the extra £100m+)
Fairplay you Watford guys, I'm just slightly apprehensive atm about the whole thing in the long term but then there aren't many clubs on a sound footing in any division anymore ourselves included. And Wright I'm not sure that is definitely the case using the likes of QPR as an example, particularly due to the difference in rules between the divisions, If I understand this correctly with FFP in the championship is a breakeven model whereas rules in the PL say you cannot exceed spending more than £105 million of what you earn, which will effectively mean clubs will undoubtably do this and if those clubs then come back down many will still have to rip up their playing squads. I hate to say it but I think Norwich are the model to aspire to atm, they may have difficulties if they are relegated but not half as much as other clubs. Football has mirrrored the economy of doing everything to make the quick buck in recent years, which is why our economy failed and is having to change unfortunately it appears football is not changing fast enough though I think the football league is slowly coming to terms with it but this will mean nothing as the PL has become a cash cow!!
Don't misunderstand me. I think what you're doing is clever and I admire it, but my point is that when the FA tighten the rules, you may find yourselves in the unenviable position of having worked your way to the frontline, only to be stripped of all your ammo! If La Famiglia Pozzo manage to exploit the rules further by pretending to buy players from other clubs they own, then sell them back when needed, this too is fine, legal and totally above board, but it's not a long term solution to the problem. Having said that, I think our little band of players, topped up with legitimate domestic loanees played well, considering the opposition. All the best for this season... and next.
As has been said, there are ways around it. I don't know the in's and out's of the international loan rules, but I'm pretty sure it's a FIFA rule. Maybe the amount could be limited, but I don't think it could be disallowed altogether (I don't think other teams would want it to be either). Should there be a limit, ok, that's fine by us. Originally we had a lot of loanees, but we've sent a few around (Beleck is at Stevenage, Fanchone is somewhere in France) and even the ones we still have don't all feature. But who's to say they will be loanees next season? Forestieri has already signed permanently, any other players we want to keep are also in discussions to stay. I'm 99% sure that at least Pudil, Abdi and Battocchio will sign on. As for the others, I don't know. But we will not be in a position where we get promoted, but lose all our players. If we got promoted, the players would definitely sign permanently. If we don't I'm sure most still will. If Vydra goes... Udinese are always bringing in players from their scouting system. The fact that these players are loanees, isn't so relevant. Cassetti signed for Udinese on a 1 year contract, then got loaned to us for a year. That's hardly a loan is it? Udinese see us as a long term project, in the Premier League we can make big money and I'm sure we will be repaying Udinese and Granada by spreading the wealth a bit.
Completely agree, but what if the unthinkable happens and you do not get promoted and in effect 'do an Ipswich' and get progressively worse whilst still pissing money up a wall. Will the owners and your 'sister clubs' be quite so forgiving. Many 'big' clubs have had to deal with hardships in recent times, fortunately my club has stayed afloat in this crazy league (for now) but I do wonder whether there will potentially become a point when those with the purse strings get a bit bored of this experiment?? By the way I think with Zola in charge you should be fine, but football is a ridiculous game and I wouldn't like to guess what will happen next week let along 5 years down the line.
