Wright and Bright were a well known double act, on and off the pitch. So we should probably go for Gene Hunt. Then it would be Hunt and [whatever you fancy calling Bassini]. And if we're going for a footballing one, Dave Bassett or Billy Davies, to ensure that the owner is the relatively popular of the pair.
Leo, your history is letting you down a bit. GT led Lincoln to a record breaking year in 1975/6, 74 points (equiv to 106 pts now), scoring 111 league goals (John Ward got plenty of them). I met a Lincoln fan a couple of years back who went to the 30th anniversary dinner - they still worship GT. So SEJ "almost appoints Bobby Moore", but then phones Don Revie (boooooo hissssss) and it was HE who recommended GT. In answer to the suggestion of re-appointing GT for a 3rd time, ask Rita she wouldn't allow it. And rightly so, he performed miracles twice and that's enough. Suggesting Sean Dyche wont work - he will follow MM. Any other suggestions (I thought of Nigel Gibbs) is just a needle in a haystack as far as I'm concerned. I honestly don't know where to start. If we have too many more weeks like last week, then I wont stop until I see Baz the Bankrupt and his other cronies hanging by the neck from the trees in Cassiobury Park.
As an outside suggestion, how about Ronnie Moore at Rotherham? He's got good experience working on a budget and bringing through youth players, and over-achieves with a 'smaller' club. Someone like Dyche could learn a lot from him, so in a few years time, could step up himself, or even bring in Gibbs as his assistant too to make the step up. I know we tend to go for unknowns, but he might be a good stop-gap! Saying all that, obviously don't want Malky to go in the first place....
Elixir - at my age I would be the last to deny a fading memory - however in my defence I did not bother to "wiki" the facts as I was trying to show perspective not detail - GT lifted a very unfashionable Lincoln from the bottom tier which is what brought him to attention - and people at Watford around SEJ begged him to consult the guru (yes boo hiss) Revie who helped abourt the approach to Bobby Moore and resulted in God taking over
It is a difficult decision to make on the parts of Bassini and the potential candidates, we are a small club with little to no money and a fair bit of debt. He wont get much to buy players with, but he wont be expected to do much. How attractive are we other than the fact we are a championship team? But i will offer full support to any new manager however, i would prefer MM to stay.
In many ways we are an attractive club to an up and coming manager and that is why I've mentioned Nigel Gibbs. Any manager who can succeed here can move onto bigger and better things.
Totally agree Elixir - whatever our present difficulties we are a club with a good history over the last 40 years.
BHD - we tend to overplay our debt problem here - the total debt in the Championship is approaching £600m - as ours is only around £10m it means the others carry an average of £25m - some obviously much higher than others - puts ours into perspective
Yeah i guess your right Leo, when you think if it that way, we are a pretty decent club to come to. Lets just hope it does not come to that.
We were!!! As GT mentioned Bassini wants to run it his way and we dont really know what that is yet. We've had a good academy with a good team ethos around the place, a good family club with a reputation for advancing players. All of that is down to systems which I hope are not soley reliant on the people who put them in place or have moved them on recently. It could be that Stephenson turns out to be a big loss or maybe not, maybe we're just moving forward. Same really applies to JW and even possibly Malky. GT and his role/influence could do with clarifying from the owner too.
As stated Aberdeen the next few weeks should tell us which way we are heading ,although it doesnt look good ,and I think the guy is a slimy weasel,However lets give him a chance!,what would have happened if he hadnt come in and plugged that 3.5m gap! We still dont know all the facts of what has happened ,what his financial circumstances are , Yes he went Bankrupt ,yes every business he touchs folds!, but he bought a 2nd tier club for 440k! (cant be bad business) Who knows I might be totally wrong and he may do a good job, all we can do is wait and see!
Did not alan sugar or richard branson go bankrupt once? Doesn't mean that in the scheme of things they're pretty decent businessmen? Wish I had a tardis and could travel to the end of this transfer window for a quick peek...
Leonardo--at the risk of consolidating my reputation as a GOM, I have to say that the debt situation at Watford IS a problem, even though our debt may be smaller than that carried by many other clubs. The difference is that these clubs have patient owners with deep pockets who are prepared to leave their debt in the club for a long time, even increase it if needed. (Of course many of them are taking earnings on their debt, so they are not philanthropists). We are different. The former owners wanted their money back, and Mr B has contracted to pay it back over the next 5 years, so that is £10M of debt that now needs to paid back, which will be the first charge on players sales. So we are trying to run a Championship club where operating costs still exceed revenues while PAYING DOWN debt at the same time. I don't think Winter ever thought that was a do-able business plan, but it is what Mr B is committed to. And Norway--the fact that Mr B only paid £440k for the shares is hardly a sign of his acumen--clearly the previous owners wanted out, and for them the most important feature was a deal that would get them their loans back on a predictable schedule;Mr B provided such a deal; the share price was almost marginal, and anyway they could use the losses on the shares to offset tax on capital gains elsewhere. When the Ashcroft/Simpson £10M loan/bond is paid off in 5 years time (perhaps a bit earlier) the club will (hopefully) have a lower debt burden and a lower cost base, so Mr B (if he is still here, and other things being equal) will have done some good ; but so much else could happen between now and then that this is a lot to pin our hopes on. And are we an attractive proposition to a new manager? Once again it depends on the personality and credibility of Mr B. Can he sell a vision of where Watford are going to a talented and ambitious young manager? (we don't want any other kind). Simpson did that twice. Winter did it on behalf of Lord A. Can Mr B do it--maybe with the (wholehearted?) support of GT. So--do you think Mr B is the right man to convince Nigel Gibbs that his managerial career should start at Watford? If he did do that, it would be good evidence that Mr B has actually got what he still needs to convincingly demonstrate--leadership qualities, the ability to inspire others and to build a team around him that can take the club forward.
No just trying to remain reasonable in the posts Shake the mans hand and you will see what I mean , I am far from happy with him being owner of our beloved club! However belatedly he is making the right noises , He has learnt the talk,I am just saying before we do crucify him, lets see if he can do the walk! To be honest I doubt it, another two or three weeks will go a long way in showing what his intentions are!
And Norway--the fact that Mr B only paid £440k for the shares is hardly a sign of his acumen--clearly the previous owners wanted out, and for them the most important feature was a deal that would get them their loans back on a predictable schedule;Mr B provided such a deal; the share price was almost marginal, and anyway they could use the losses on the shares to offset tax on capital gains elsewhere. Considering what Pompey were sold for I think that purchase price very reasonable even with the money put in to get us through the close season! Borrowed or not , we couldnt get the funding as proved by the ticketus deal , obviously the club credit was very poorly!
Good post Roger. It does strike me that despite what Mr B says he could use the current income to pay down the debt quickly and then attempt to sell the club again as a championship side with only small amounts to be repaid. Seeing as he bought the club for a small amount he could make a profit for once.
