Good news - I think he is a star. strengthened up a lot during the last 12 months and showed enough last season to justify an extended contract. I expect him to develop further this season and become a natural replacement for John Eustace. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13960509.stm
Great news I'm hoping he becomes Eustace's long-term replacement too. JE will slowly play less and less and will be good to have a ready-made rplacement already in the sqaud. Then hopefully JE will start taking his badges and make the step from player to coach in a couple of years time!
Very good news - as people have said we'll need a replacement for Eustace, and Jenkins is a very similar player ie. does the defensive midfield dirty work but also has the ability to grab 5-10 goals a season. I think those two will be the staple midfield partnership this season (barring injury), and rightly so. Plus he always comes across as a good, intelligent lad in interviews, which is a bonus
And another signed up... Adam Thompson, also until 2014; http://www.watfordfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10400~2379494,00.html Great stuff
Good to see Jenkins signed up, he didn't really fit into Mackay's plans and he had seemed to have gone backwards since emerging during the reign of Rodgers. Would like to see him given more opportunities under Dyche, especially with Eustace as part of a 4-2-3-1 away from home.
hmm, contrary to popular opinion, though i'm sure this is good for us, he's no replacement (yet) for JE. It would worry me if JE left us and all we were left with was RJ (sorry 2RJ!). Still, i'm glad he wasn't poached, we need all the players we have to stay with us! Very good news about Adam Thompson though
Jenkins gets too much flak off our fans and I think it's bang out of order. He's a young player trying his best; he's bound to make mistakes so early in his career but, on the whole, I think he's been impressive. Certainly shows maturity beyond his years. Excellent news about Thompson too, who showed real promise last year. While we know from recent experience that these contracts are no guarantee of long service, they do at least put us in a stronger position should anyone try and snap them up on the cheap.
Totally agree about Ross. I think what some people forget is that he is only 20 and still learning his game. He is kind of a victim of his own success by bursting onto the scene and doing so well. He is certainly one for the future, and having someone like JE to study and learn from can only be a good thing!!
Well said Kev. Contrast Jenkins (and Hodson) to Sordell, who was used sparingly until he was 19, and has flourished as a result of being held back until he was ready. Same goes for Matty Whichelow, and looking at players we've signed from elsewhere in the relatively recent past, same goes for McGinn and Buckley.
The nature of Ross Jenkins favoured position also leads to the flak. If he was an attacking midfielder/winger/striker and lost possession/committed a reckless challenge/made a poor pass, it would inevitably be in an attacking position, therefore the consequences would not be so obvious. Playing just in front of defence, any sort of mistake will lead to unnecessary pressure on the back line. Being young, whilst plying his trade, he will make some errors that could change a game. But, from what I have seen, being only 20 and already having around 80 first-team caps whilst laying in a critical position, it is impossible and ridiculous to deny he doesn't have talent. Excellent news and I hope goes on to be a long standing Watford player.
Lest we forget........... Ross Jenkins took his first step towards a career in football by training with the Brentford youth squad, before signing up as a Palace apprentice in 1968. He became a professional the next year and made his debut against Manchester United in 1971. He made just eleven full appearances for Palace, scoring two goals, before joining Watford on 23 November 1972. The 30,000 fee was a club record and the pressure was on the new signing. Kirby stood by his new signing but was replaced as manager by Mike Keen, who preferred Billy Jennings. That summer, Jenkins turned down a move to Huddersfield. It all came right in that season - a re-born Ross hit 19 goals and won the Player of the Season Award. An injury against Hartlepool, sustained in the process of scoring a hat-trick, brought a premature end to hopes of a repeat performance the next season. Despite injuries, Jenkins reclaimed his number 9 shirt and scored 18 goals as the Hornets stormed to the Division 4 title. The famous partnership with Luther Blissett was formed during the next campaign. In an injury-free season, Ross hit an amazing 37 goals, Luther scored 29, Watford went up again. The Player of the Season Award was once more his.Ross Jenkins was 31 in his testimonial season. Ross Jenkins was given a free transfer in the summer of 1982.After finally leaving Watford, he played in Hong Kong and Cyprus before settling in Havea, Costa Blanca to enjoy the Spanish life with his family. He is a qualified football coach and owns a half-share in a bar.
My favourite ever Hornet. Did I dream this or did he score two headers after getting stitches in his head at half-time. Someone please help!
I fear i might incur the wrath of OLM here but i will say it anyway. I think the guy is too weak! I understand he is young and developing, but he it taller than JE but gets knocked off the ball too much for a defensive midfielder. He does loose the ball a fair bit and in dangerous areas,, this will hopefully change and become less over time. I will support the guy, but i would prefer to see Deeney in an attacking role there as we played during our good spell.
Good 'article' 2RJ's. To be absolutely accurate, although Ross went on loan (not a free) to the USA in the Summer of 1982, he was back at Vicarage Road for our inaugural season in the top flight. He played 18 times in Div. 1 that season (82-83) scoring 5 goals plus 6 goals in 6 appearances in the old League Cup (not bad for someone who GT thought had 'lost his legs'). Ross played his final game for us in January 1983. My abiding memory of him (and one of most enjoyable games of the season) was at the Dell on the first Tuesday night league game. We won 4-1 (Ross scoring along with Cally & Armstrong) and a group of us (being late) stood amongst the Saints fans, who were amazed that, even after we went 2-0 up, we were still all-out attacking. As one of them said, they expected Watford to take a breather at some point - but we didn't, we just kept attacking and attacking for the 90 minutes. And this was an away game! Wonderful stuff. Incidentally I believe the current Ross Jenkins is one of the most promising youngsters to emerge in years - if we do not nurture him, he will become another Tim Sherwood - derided by many, discarded far too soon by the club and destined to be a top-class midfielder.
