For anyone who has supported the Horns for as long as I have and even for those who are more recent we should accept that "our" Watford is gone forever. That is just a statement of fact. The new regime is not similar to any other that has taken over Watford in the past. The finances are totally different the nationality is totally different the availability of players, the style, the aims - are all different. We should accept that. More to the point had it not been for the Pozzos I doubt we would have a viable club now - we would at best be in Administration. Sean Dyche did a good job last year - but he could not possibly have worked in the way the Pozzos seem to want. Elsewhere Mitch intimates that many of our old players also would not be able to adapt - he is probably correct. I have no idea how well we will do now - and even this season I regard promotion and relegation as two equally possible outcomes - with survival somewhere in the middle as the more likely outcome. Am I sorry - do I regret the change - no. Had there been a consortium with Elton John some others wiht serious money and Graham Taylor wanting to take over of coourse I would have preferred that -but there wasn't. Instead we have an uncertain but certainly challenging and exciting future to look forward to. I sooo wish i lived nearer the VIc as I would love to be watching these evolving times - it may be that we may move back neareer London and so I can again get a season ticket - if so I will enjoy it to be sure - whatever the outcome - it will be different
Well said Leonardo, have to agree it is a totally different Watford FC from what most of us are used to and it will take time to settle down. I have to say though we need an ugly win, not a play good and get beat but a blood and guts hard fought scrappy win! I for one will take this on Saturday and every week until the team gels and finds its own identity and everyone knows each other, everyone one is match fit and GZ is able to pick from his whole squad.
Llodydinio.....you can't be serious!?! Mind you it could happen I have a spare tenner in me back pocket
of course i would'nt be too happy, but i would respect that desicion and would still call it my watford, whatever the team.
Of course you are right Leo, times do change and as much as we enjoyed so many things from our younger days they have gone and been replaced with the new and shiny. In 1953 we had our first TV which was a small screen in a large box. Today we have a screen with virtually no box and not black and white pictures, but colour. In my early days at the Vic there were players who had been to the same school as me, played for the local team in Bushey before earning a contract at Watford. The fact that they signed a contract which gave the club total control over their entire playing days was dreadful for them, but was good for the club. That has all changed to the opposite extreme, with players getting their own way one way or another about who they play for. Clubs were owned by local business owners who often only became involved because of their love for the team. I would include Elton in that bracket because of his love for the club and he had the money to carry out his dream. Of course we have seen football trying to adjust to the demands of a high value company, with the Premier League, European Cups all trying to maximise income. There are still the clubs who are struggling to survive, with fans who only want to see the best players and games at their ground. There are also the clubs who have been infiltrated by money men, some from very dubious backgrounds. It does seem to me that we have been fortunate to have lost a dodgy owner who has been replaced by owners with a football background. They will have their own way of wanting to do things, but we can only wait and see if it will take us from the grey period of unfulfilled promises to the colour of a few periods in our history.
What is 'our' Watford? According to the Pozzos they still respect and value 'our' principles, the local community connection, our academy, and us. Our Watford is just evolving. Or is it?
Lloydinio I know you are young and young people make mistakes but for that quote you deserve to suffer blood eagle. It is the worst thing I can think of when I am writing this.
Excellent thread Lenny and good responses (apart from the mention of them!) We need to have some patience to get through these early days when the change is going to most painful - I have to admit I was struggling to get enthusiastic about going last night and when I was there I struggled to warm to all the new players on show. But by the end of the night there was a few players that I started to notice and will be looking out for on Saturday - even though I am struggling with the names! But you are right, we need to accept this new world as there is little alternative - one thing that interests me is this business model that our new owners operate as it might be one that a few others try to emulate. After all there is only so many Arab princes and Ruskie oligarchs - but plenty of shiny suited spins!
like my signature says...it's Watford, but not as we know it. That doesn't make it bad, it makes it different, and yes, it will take some getting used to, but already there are 'loanees' that i think of as Watford players, i'm getting used to seeing Zola in the dug out, i'm even almost getting used to seeing the team pass the ball. There are things we will lose, most notably Sean Dyche, who, imho was a great loss, but i agree, he couldn't have played the 'new' way, it wasn't his style. I still regret losing him, but i'm also still excited by our future. One of the huge positives about all this is that LB is gone, we're not going into administration, and the future seems bright. We just need patience, and understanding, and the ability to adjust.
My concern about all of this is the fact that we are now supporting a club who as neutrals we would probably steer away from. Our model of ownership cannot possibly be good for the game in England as a whole or for the development of young talent in this country. I feel that I am a Watford fan because I aways have been, and because I was hooked at 13 - not because I identify with the new Watford in any way. My other concern arises from the fact that we are living in a loophole at the moment which allows for so many foreign loanees, and allows for multiple ownership of football clubs only if done on an International basis. But loopholes tend to be filled at some stage. I think I am right in saying that there is movement amongst our political parties at the moment looking at ways in which fans can be brought into the sphere of club ownership, with a law proposed by Labour allowing for measures supporting up to 25% fan ownership of clubs. At any rate the other parties, if not accepting Labour's proposals, are also dimly aware that our present regulations (or lack of them) regarding club ownership are destroying the game in England. Scottish football is also looking at the possibility of introducing the German model of club ownership into Scotland thereby increasing fans control over clubs and further restricting the voting powers of any one interest group to 49%. In short the cooperative model of club ownership is on the increase, the largest case being Barcelona who have 170,000 owners (ie supporters) who e.g. elect the club president every 5 years. Maybe the workers cooperative model will follow, with players also having shares in their clubs - as at Athletico Bilbao. My hope is that the 'fat cats' days are coming to a close in football and that we will need to look to a future where clubs become once again, clubs,and not plc's or anything else. I do not believe that Watford's present ownership model can stand the test of time - or that it is the last chapter in the history of our club. So, for me, 'forever' is too long a word.
Interesting responses and indeed exactly what I would expect from the type of supporter that we have. No wailing and bemoaning the fact that we have suffered 4 defeats in a row just an acceptance that things change and that change can be interesting. Especially liked your post Cologne and ultimately hope you are right and we will eventually move to a German system or whatever with more fan input and control. I do think forever was correct though as whatever changes happen in the future Watford will unlikely ever return to quite what it was - and that is not a bad thing Times change after all
The thoughts of Rookery Mike seem to fit very comfortably in this thread. http://fromtherookeryend.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/creating-sum-of-our-parts.html
Good thread Leo. Yes we have changed, if for the better only time will tell, but it needed to be done. I was talking to my boss yesterday (A Man City fan) and long gone are the days where teams can compete on very little money. We will never see another season like '83 where a team gets promoted to the top division and challenge in their very first season. Is the Pozzo model right? Maybe not, maybe it is unfair to the other teams, but then I remember Cardiff having a team almost full of loans just a couple of seasons ago, where they had the likes of Bellamy at a fraction of his actual wage! We just happen to get the majority of ours from 2 teams! I cannot see this being the long term model for Watford, loaning so many from Udinese. In the short term, I believe we will give back the ones who don't fit in, and keep maybe half a dozen of them for a few seasons. Long term, I imagine we will buy a number of youngsters for our academy and develop them ourselves. As long as we will still try and produce local talen as well, I will be satisfied... but with the new EPPP rules, the top teams from all over the country can cherry-pick whoever they fancy - we just now get a little less money for them! Hopefully we can get promoted within maybe 3 seasons, and stop so much of this happening! Exciting times are ahead and you feel the Pozzos are in for the long term, so let's embrace them, welcome them to our town, and get behind the team!
On Saturday I will be putting my money where my mouth is and swelling the attendance by 3! I had hoped that one of my guests, A BCFC fan, would be under some pressure to buy the beers. Sadly, unless GFZ stops the rot I will be up and down the steps with the John Smiths.... Right at the beginning of the 'project' I stated that I would give it until mid season and then look at the facts, it has to be given some time and as has already been articulated, a huge change and departure from what went before. If, by any chance anyone dans la Rookerie wants to say hello to a 'orns veteran, I'll be sat next to the bloke with a bloody nose just after City score!
I shall be in the Rookery before the game and for the 2nd half. I shall be down the front before the match and will have my flag with me and the new shirt on.
