The thing with Pollock is that, by self-admission, he had a diabolical game when he had his first start for WFC...I am sure this is still on his mind and he is trying too hard every time he steps out for us to prove that he is better than that. That is what is holding him back IMHO, and he seemingly cannot move past that.
All he would really have to do is look at how Ben Hamer performed in his first start then compare him to now.
Lets hope the powers that be know VI won't want a squad that is short on numbers as we will suffer and we all know who will be blamed then if it goes wrong, Test for Pozzo here - does he just want the money and not bothered about the squad or does he want to help a manager the club have obviously put faith in?
My guess would be that Gino is hoping for success. From last season when there appeared to be a collection of individuals, without a discernable style of play, there has been a big change, both on the pitch and behind the scenes. Fans, well, a lot of them, are now saying that the games are worth going to watch again, something you didn't hear last season. Some players that Gino and the fans would like to see in the team are just not available, so you have to consider the old thinking, will a player that is available, going to fit in and improve the team?
Maybe its not happening? Marco Conterio on X: "⚪⚫ Non sarà Ryan Porteous il nuovo rinforzo dell'#Udinese dopo l'addio in ponte di Nehuen Perez destinazione #Napoli. Le normative non consentono il trasferimento (britannici equiparati ai comunitari ma con un tetto di tesseramenti già raggiunto dai friulani) #WatfordFC https://t.co/MkQGKjvnzE" / X (twitter.com) "Ryan Porteous will not be the new reinforcement of #Udinese after Nehuen Perez's farewell on the bridge destination #Napoli . The regulations do not allow the transfer (British people equated to EU citizens but with a membership ceiling already reached by Friulians) #WatfordFC"
I've read that the Porteous deal is dead due to Brexit believe it or not. Apparently only the first British player can sign for a EU club in a season for a working visa waiver and Udinese already signed someone in the summer window. Maybe there is a workaround but time isn't on their side so deal looks dead in the water.
There is a good description here on the rules regarding Italy. https://theathletic.com/4722174/2023/07/26/figc-british-swiss-players/
According to this it's because Udinese had already signed one British player - "Jordan Zemura, another former Watford player." But it does mention ex-Aston Villa player Keinan Davis https://football-italia.net/brexit-stops-porteous-transfer-from-watford-to-udinese/
Susy Campanale (Football Italia) may be correct about the new rules (introduced by the Italian Football Federation after Brexit) on signing English players, but she is mistaken about the club from which Udinese signed Jordan Zemura. He is not a former Watford player, but was signed by Udinese from Bournemouth last summer.
Watford Women playing away to Durham today - and scored in the 2nd minute. 8 minutes in and they still lead 1-0.
Our @EmiratesFACup fourth-round replay against Southampton will take place next Tuesday, kicking off at 7.45pm
We never do well in this. Are we just not good enough to even beat part time teams? Maybe physically short and try to play too much football..
An old friend of mine used to play for Kings Langley in the Herts County League years ago. He was a bit of a bruiser on the pitch but defended that reputation by saying that every other player was too. When it came to playing against teenagers, he took no prisoners - his rationale being that he was there to win not mollycoddle. I doubt things have changed.
I always think we should play more of our senior team's reserves in this (it's a senior competition, so its just that we choose to play the U21s). I feel there are fringe players who could benefit from the minutes.
