The truth is that Gavin Mahon was good enough last time around and i think VERY few people appreciated what he did. I do not take lightly the fact that one of the only mistakes Boothroyd admitted making at Watford was getting rid of Mahon too soon. I think it is no coincidence our season went into decline shortly after he left. VERY UNDERRATED IMO!
Couldn't pass, no pace to speak of, committed but not strong enough in the tackle, could only play in one half of the field. I think the reason we went into terminal decline that season was because Adam Johnson returned to Middlesbrough, Marlon King was disruptive in his desire to get a move and we played a dreadful, ineffective style of football. John Eustace has proved a more than adequate replacement for Mahon, performing better than his predecessor in every department I can think of. If Mahon is the answer, I shudder to think what the question is.
Well, it sounds as though SD may have been impressed enought to sign him: http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/9162902._Trialist_did_himself_no_harm_at_all_/ Also sounds as though he was simply giving Mahon a 'shop window' opportunity - really can't see him being signed.
OLM I reported that Mahon was warming up last night, and various said I didn't know what I was doing. I would rather Mahon and James didn't have to be triallists this late in pre-season, but I think Baz has dried up Dyche's funding. IMO we are plumbing new depths, but I support Dyche through this difficult time. If Dyche thinks he can "do a job" then I support him - I certainly won't be booing him. James is also a desparate move, if he had talent some other club would have snapped him up. Again if Dyche thinks James "can do a job", then I support him.
please log in to view this image For heaven's sake Elixir, do you have to be so bloody depressed/depressing? What evidence have you got for the above statement? We agreed terms with Bournemouth for Wiggins but he didn't want to come; he would have cost more than any of the recent signings (put together in fact). Totally baseless. For what it's worth, apart from an early error, I thought James looked excellent, and I'd far rather we were unearthing gems from the minors than spending money on journeymen after one last payday.
I one for can't see the harm in giving Mahon a short term contract, he'll always give you 100% and his experience can be only a benefit for our youngsters.
Remember that all clubs trawl the non league now, and if we have spotted him before anyone else we are very lucky.
Clearly the fact that we gave any game time at all to Mahon suggests we will give him some sort of deal. At the very least we are considering it.
as i and Norway said, we played Mahon to put him in a shop window...i don't think we have an intention of signing him, it actually seems like a mate doing his friend a favour. If we do sign him (which i think would be a backwards step) i too would support it, but i'd be far happier signing someone more effective. As for James, i thought he looked excellent last night, and i'd sign him up based on that performance, and hope it wasn't a one off!
I'm glad you agree Hornette and I really hope you're right that we aren't looking to sign him. I was beginning to wonder if the population of Watford was afflicted by widespread blindness a few years back or, alternatively, is currently suffering from a terrible bout of amnesia.
As i said yesterday, i find it very strange that a player that was being booed before he left, suddenly becomes someone we want to welcome back with open arms. I did applaud him last night, i respect him, and know he gave WFC 100%, but it wasn't good enough by the time he left, and it won't be now.
Elixir - What evidence do you have that James is a desperate move? Were you saying the same when we signed Jay DeMerit - look how that turned out! And because Dyche maybe thinking about signing these players (which is not comfirmed by the way) that means Baz has taken all his money. You come out with these sweeping statements but it is all just your opinion and a god awful negative one at that! Please excuse me if others including myself think that maybe we have unearthed the next DeMerit (positive thinking, try it) than signing someone for the sake of it!
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sp...tford FC ... Latest News)&utm_content=Twitter Watford manager claims trialist Tom James 'did himself no harm' against Brentford
Thats a fair point Pete maybe because no one else was prepared to take a punt on him! To win the lotto you have to buy a ticket! Yes we have bought in some flops ,but we have also unearthed a lot of very good players!
James may well turn out to be a fantastic signing eventualy but he has been playing at least 7 tiers below the Championship and he cannot be considered as the saviour of a defence that let in 71 goals last term. We have previously all said how we need a strong defence to achieve anything this year - there is no way we can expect to score as many goals as last year so our defence needs to improve by approx 20% - whilst I really like Hodson, many of you on here were not confident of him when he was in the team last season (in actual fact he just needed match time to get back up to speed) yet here you are hoping that an even more inexperienced LB from the 9th tier could come straight into the team and play consistantly all season. It's not going to happen. We have signed a back-up CH that is at least experienced but not the experienced (or at least have some proffesional football under his belt) LB everyone knows we need. I'm hopeful still that there is a target within budget that we are trying for because if we don't and we let in another 70 odd goals we all know where we will be this time next year - playing Brentford & AFC Wimbledon in the League and not in friendlies!
If we sign James who's to say its the end of our defensive additions? I've said before we need 2 in for LB position and I stick by that so if he comes in as one and we get another in the next month all's good. As to the financial rug being pulled Elixir you really are grasping at negative straws. Believe it or not the sky is completely blue and theres a golden orb providing heat today but taking your approach I should say God is about to take the sun away and give me a cold night. OK be realistic if/when we do not have the names in shirts at the start of the season but negative conjecture is no good for the club and boring. Change the record.
