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.
- 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 
