Cowie gone

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kchorn said:
Frankly I'm not surprised by what has happened and fully expect further departures. But I'm a bit shocked by the extreme reaction of some 'orns here. [As for anti scottish sentiment - just grow up].

We can all blame people outside the club for all our woes, imagine everyone who doesn't offer their life to Watford must have questionable parentage, and suspect brown envelopes must have been passed every time a potential Watford target goes elsewhere. We can all imagine that our death warrant has been signed.

But back in the real world we have a club that is rebuilding. We have an exciting management team from GT down to the boot cleaner. We have some great young players.

Yes I enjoyed watching DonC in action but I'm glad he has gone because he didn't want to be here anymore - unlike me and many here he is not a 'orn, he is a professional footballer with ambition. And within a few weeks we'll see Sean build his squad and Don will be a distant memory.

Enough from me, enjoy your weekend everyone <party>

ps. To our visiting Saint - your 6 points will be very welcome :emoticon-0100-smile
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"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to kchorn again."

Well I tried.
 
This is the stuff boys and girls. Let's get behind what is not a bad squad. We have a new manager we all like (I presume) and we're above the favourites West Ham in the league as things stand.
 
andytoprankin said:
Thanks for replying One Lars Melvang. I appreciate your strong personal view and perhaps I didn't represent my view brilliantly in that regard. I think that the concerns are the same although the aspirations may be different. Those with more money might be wanting to buy a nice house for each of their children and make sure they will never want for anything. I think the point is Malky has to look after the interests of his career and his aspirations for his family as a first priority.

I agree about the bitter taste, but what can you do if there is no contractual obligation for him to steer clear?

I want to concentrate on Watford, not Swansea, Cardiff, Reading, whoever; that's the nub of what I'm saying.
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I agree with all of that Andy.

I just had to respond to the point about footballers looking out for their families: like a moth to a flame, I'm always drawn to that particular argument and fought running battles against numerous Premiership supporters (or 'EPL' as these 'soccer' fans were fond of calling it...) on 606. You're right that desire for more money doesn't cease just because you have abundant wealth, but I hate it when fans talk as if footballers are struggling along on £20k per annum and desperately trying to make ends meet. Thankfully, you clearly have a sense of proportion and I am not banging my head against a brick wall here, as I was on the Man Utd, City and Liverpool boards a while back!

Let's all hope for a more positive week in which we can focus on personnel arriving at the club rather than departing.
 
Definitely, but I won't hold my breath on the arrivals. :wink:

I do think we have been in worse positions before. I think Deeney and Sordell is a more than moderate line up. If they can stay clear of injury I don't see why we would go down. And all we've got to do IMHO is stay up, clear more debt, buy wisely when we can, sell wisely when we have to.
 
You're probably right about the arrivals. I wrote in hope rather than expectation.

These are pretty dark days, surely even the most ardent optimist would admit. Deeney and Sordell is a decent front two, although we'd need greater consistency from Sordell and more of a goal threat from Deeney. Very thin on the ground in terms of forwards generally, however, so we definitely need one or two more, either permanently or on loan. And as you say, injuries will be key.

The plan you speak of is the one I've bought into for the last few years and it's one the club must stick to for the foreseeable future. Make profits from transfer dealings; keep the wage bill sustainable; bring through more young players; stay up; stay solvent; and, ideally, play some entertaining football along the way.
 
One_Lars_Melvang said:
You're probably right about the arrivals. I wrote in hope rather than expectation.

These are pretty dark days, surely even the most ardent optimist would admit. Deeney and Sordell is a decent front two, although we'd need greater consistency from Sordell and more of a goal threat from Deeney. Very thin on the ground in terms of forwards generally, however, so we definitely need one or two more, either permanently or on loan. And as you say, injuries will be key.

The plan you speak of is the one I've bought into for the last few years and it's one the club must stick to for the foreseeable future. Make profits from transfer dealings; keep the wage bill sustainable; bring through more young players; stay up; stay solvent; and, ideally, play some entertaining football along the way.
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Not much to ask is it?
 
Hi, have lurked here for sometime, was part-time poster on 606, thought about time I contributed something. I have a few points to make...

1. Very very disappointed to see Cowie go, I thought he was an excellent player for us, and vastly underrated by many. He was one of the main 'cogs' in the way we played - a hell of a lot play went through him - and he will therefore be very difficult to replace. I am not at all surprised to see Malky come back for him.

2. I am actually very interested to see how things work out for Malky and Cowie at Cardiff. What type of football will they play? How will Mackay cope with the greater expectation? Unlike others here, I wish him success. Managers move on, and players follow managers, it's a fact of life.

3. I'm not an expert on employment laws, but you could argue that Watford are as much to 'blame' as Malky. We have surely made mistakes - maybe we could have conditioned against Malky coming back and plundering players? Did we have an inkling that Malky wanted to leave? Why was Cowie's contract allowed to wind down? We do seem to be somewhat reactionary in the way we work - where was the strategic planning?

4. We will surely again be amongst the candidates for relegation. I personally wouldn't want it any other way. I love it when others underestimate little family club Watford. You only got to recall the egg on faces of TV commentators at Norwich and QPR away games last season. Maybe the feeling many have that we have been shafted over the last few weeks will further increase the togetherness at the club - a siege mentaility? Maybe it will help to lift the atmosphere a bit more at home games?

5. I personally don't anticipate that we will make that many signings this summer, and believe we will have to continue to rely on young talent. Whilst it is difficult to rely on consistency from the younger players, we mustn't forget who we still have at the club.
A fluid first eleven of Loach/Doyley/Taylor/Mariappa/Thompson/Eustace/McGinn(once fit)/Forsyth/Whichelow/Sordell/Deeney plus the likes of Jenkins/Murray/Massey/Bryan still has plenty of talent, pace and skill. Some of them will step up to the plate. Let's have a go.
 
Welcome to the board Qslounge!

I agree with almost all of that, except to take issue with Hodson's omission from the first team and the list of backups. Hodson has a bit more experience and has had to learn to grow a thick skin, Thompson will probably turn out to be a better player when they're both in their early 20s. But right now, I think they're at a very similar level. Bearing in mind how green the wingers will be with Cowie gone and Deeney presumably up front, experience could well win that mini battle.
 
guys, i hate to rub it in but have you not heard of agents? cowies agent would have been contacting every club in the league to see if they wanted him, to suggest that no clubs would have known cowie was out of contract on july 1st is naive to say the least really.

about MM being a supposed traitor. most managers who move clubs bring their staff with them, as well as players. mourinho did this at chelsea, martinez at swansea, mark hughes at man city, the list is endless. why should MM be loyal to watford and not sign their players if he so wishes? if he had underpeformed as manager you probably would have sacked him, theres very little loyalty in football now, you are living in the past if you have the idea that players / managers / owners are loyal.
 
Malky was perfectly entitled to bring Kerslake and McBride with him. Assuming that Cowie's contract had expired (as opposed to Malky exploiting a technicality that only an ex-Watford manager could), you can't blame him for that either. The only thing I'm miffed about is that Collinge was allowed to leave: was he out of contract too?
 
andytoprankin said:
I think the term 'Scottish ****' was used earlier. Banter?
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Can you point me to that ATR - just for my own interest as it is totally out of keeping with the normal use of language on here. In fact your use of the word is the first I have seen on our board - it is the rule on the General Board of course (or has the offender removed it already?)
 
Swamp said:
guys, i hate to rub it in but have you not heard of agents? cowies agent would have been contacting every club in the league to see if they wanted him, to suggest that no clubs would have known cowie was out of contract on july 1st is naive to say the least really.

about MM being a supposed traitor. most managers who move clubs bring their staff with them, as well as players. mourinho did this at chelsea, martinez at swansea, mark hughes at man city, the list is endless. why should MM be loyal to watford and not sign their players if he so wishes? if he had underpeformed as manager you probably would have sacked him, theres very little loyalty in football now, you are living in the past if you have the idea that players / managers / owners are loyal.
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Swamp - I agree with almost everything you say - Managers and players move on to better themselves in their eyes, managers take their team and often favourite players with them, agents act in their clients best interests etc.

The factor that rankles wth us is down to trust and loyalty. We were mistaken in thinking MM had those feelings for Watford and weere surprised to find he did not and our reaction reflects it. We did give himhis chance in football management and he knows what his actions have done to harm us but clearly is not bothered - he will as many people do - focus entirely on his own self interest. Wrong of him - no; a likeable trait - no
 
The last 48 hours reflect very badly on our club. Losing a prospect to a lower division club, failing to secure one of our best players on a decent contract and failing to protect ourselves against our ex manager picking over the bones of our club.

Our club is in my opinion being run by amateurs at every level.
 
You are right n8ive - how on earth did the club fail to secure Cowie's contract over the last year - rank amateurism
 
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