Hi guys, I've been on holiday for just under two weeks so have missed all the discussion about the takeover and the replacement of Dyche with Zola. I generally think that this takeover is good for the club, despite the loss of Dyche who had an excellent season in charge. The Pozzi's have great experience within the game having been in charge of Udinese and Granada, with great progression being seen at both clubs. There is a lot more stability with them in charge as opposed to Bas. The main talking point is over the manager issue. At the end of the day if you take over a football club, you want to bring in your own men, including as manager. They probably have very little idea who Sean Dyche is or how much he achieved last season with so little, hence they would rather bring in a big name from their homeland, as Zola appears to be. We've had bad experiences with big name Italian managers before with Vialli around a decade ago, but something tells me that the Pozzi's and Zola will be a lot more stable and sensible in how things are run They also seem sensible in their targets, in that they believe promotion can be achieved but not yet. On the face it of it at least half of the clubs in the Championship will have real aspirations of being promoted to the Premier League, so we will face real competition in the next couple of seasons. It is best to build the club and the squad slowly and properly, but with investment, loan signings and their renowned scouting system, I think in 2-3 seasons we could be promoted all things going well. A further question is that of the East Stand. Do you reckon there is much chance that the Pozzi's will finance the rebuilding of the stand? They don't seem the kind to splash a lot of money, and that stand will cost a lot of money to pull down and rebuild. So basically, I would like a summary view from all of you out there on what you think of the developments at the club over the last two weeks?
I do believe that we have been saved from a financial mess, so in that sense whatever has come about is an improvement. The Pozzos would not have taken on the problems without proper consideration and they clearly have had some success in the past. Granada were broke and likely to go out of existence when they took over and they are now doing quite nicely. Clearly the first aim is to produce a team that is winning and looking at the record of managers they have had GZ will have to get results. He has a two year contract and the talk is that this year is transitional, but next year he has to produce if he wants to keep the job. Will the ground be developed? There is more chance now that it will be with Baz removed. There was never a possibility that he could deliver on all of the hot air that he produced. I think it will be done eventually, but the need will have to be shown and the money generated from player sales. It will be interesting to see if what will be a new situation for us all will attract the fans. Will we get players sign for us that we will sell at a large profit? My guess is that there will a few, but we will see plenty that will not stay long and disappear. Maybe not so different to now except that they will come from many more areas of the world.
The Pozzos first aim is to create a winning team then work on the ground which is fair enough as it would be pointless for a club who doesn't attract many new supporters at the best of times to build a new one and then find ourselves fighting relegation..or worse! I think its clear we won't be spending big under these guys so that is a positive difference to the Vialli era and Zola seemed to embrace the current squad and youngsters (who probably have more quality than some of the 1st teamers..) Ofcourse we need new players..they will be loans I suspect which is fine if they settle and stay for the season. Afterall I shouldn't think Zola is going to rate the likes of Garner/Big Chris. Dyche was hard down by (probably got a nice pay-off though) but that is modern football for you..we all love the game but not what goes on around it. I would suggest though it is better to have a change now than half-way through a season..least Zola has time to work with the squad and build his own team.
Welcome back, hope you had a good one It was a shame about Dyche. As you say, and most people realise, is that theew owners do want their own people. It will make it that much harder for Zola because most will use last season as the benchmark, and expect improvement. I will happily have another 11th finish (or just not fighting relegation) if it means stability off the field, the team starting to play some attractive football on the pitch, and we are still using our own players as well as the ones we borrow As for the stadium. I can only really see us building the new East Stand once we are promoted or if we are selling out games. It's not financially viable for the owners at the moment. Until we need more room for more fans, I think it we are stuck with the way it is now...
The only fair way to comment on Zola is air the grievances I have which have nothing to do with him, and talk about him entirely separately. Dyche should still be Watford manager. The fact that he is not puts Zola under self-inflicted short term pressure: I for one will not be happy with anything less than 10th this season. Not because I think the Pozzos are some sort of miracle pill, but because with someone to help him sign players, I'm in absolutely no doubt that Dyche would have achieved a top ten place. Now, let's move on. [HR][/HR] There are a lot of reasons to be reasonably assured that the ex-West Ham trio will not be a train wreck. Football-wise, Zola knew for certain that he would be working under Duxbury and Nani, and he wouldn't have agreed to reunite with them if he didn't feel that they worked well together. In turn, a surprisingly large proportion of West Ham fans are saying that Zola was a decent manager (not outstanding, but decent). The other main fear is financial meltdown, but the Pozzos are not in the habit of paying Vialli-era wages to players and managers, if Udinese and Granada are any sort of indication. The impression I get is that the Pozzos periodically look at what is happening, lay down any changes in approach that they feel are necessary, give the day-to-day staff a chance to implement their vision, and replace them if progress isn't made. If Duxbury is as useless as Hammers would have us believe, I wouldn't expect him to be here for too long.
