Rob Edwards sacked.

I suspect Duxbury was going for a long term outlook whilst Gino and co almost see this season as promotion or bust really .

Their ambitions and goals have clashed it seems and that is part of the problem.

Bilic will probably be under pressure in weeks if he doesn’t start well too .

 

I reckon Duxbury has been hung out to dry in this instance.

 

So does Bilic need to just win a few more games or as Pozzo suggested the performances have to improve as well ?

I can see the results getting better but not sure about the performances given our current squad and team make up.

 

I don't think the Pozzo's are 'destroying the club'. Far from it. Yes the ownership style is unique - in the UK,. Neveretheless, the squad we have is not playing anywhere near its potential. I've seen 4 games this season, + 3 on TV. The system isn't working. And there's no excuse. We have the players.
I have 2 questions.
1) Would it be preferable to hang on to RE, have a disappointing season and hope for something better next season ? ( I suspect the financial situation means promotion is very necessary - hence the decision)
2) It's Gino's money not ours. Suppose he sells the club to Bassini (Mk 2 or, Mk1 - even worse). How would you feel about that ?

 

I don't know, but I assume he has to get us in and around the play offs sharpish!

 

I'd suggest that improved performances would likely see us win more games - part of the problem has been lacklustre performances in front of goal - ours as well as the opposition's.

 

Only a point off them as we speak !

Some who would protest against the Pozzos are probably the same people who have agreed with lots of the sackings or complained about how poor we have been .

I’d worry more about getting the team playing well and give the manager some stability first then ask questions of the owners .

 

I think we have a tendency to overate our squad Bodbo. Altogether we have 17 non British players in our squad coming from 13 different countries - only 4 of these are from EU countries. This is a scattergun approach to squad building built up on players who have mostly only played in sunnier southern climes for teams which are not premiership standard - players who are 'alone' in a foreign country. I've noticed that when some other clubs do this then they bring players over in pairs - ie. 3 from one country rather than individuals from 3 separate countries - this makes sense in that they can help each other to settle. And why so few players from EU countries ? Or does this have something to do with Brexit ? The truth is we don't have the players - the quality of players sent over by the Pozzos has deteriorated over the years - there are no Matej Vydra's or Almen Abdi's amongst the present squad. Apart from the last two the best foreign players I've seen playing for the Horns have been Helgusson, Gunnarsson and Allan Nielssen. Maybe the Pozzo pool of players isn't good enough or they are recruiting in the wrong areas. In answer to your questions - yes it would have been better to hold onto a manager for a whole season in order for him to have an idea where he wants to build for the following season - at some time we have to build that continuity because teams are built over seasons. Interesting to imagine whether the Pozzos would have sacked Graham Taylor at any stage - probably they would have, in which case they would have deprived us of the most important period of our history where real legends were made. Talking of legends where is the next one coming from (all those memories of Blissett, Barnes, Mooney, Tommy Smith etc. etc) ? These types of legends are what makes us a club not journeymen - and those legends are the reason we are all here now. So in a way I stand by my original claim that the Pozzos have destroyed my club because I grew to love them as my home town club - but there is no way I would have been attracted to the present set up at that age.

In answer to your second question my dream would be that Elton would come in and buy the club again - maybe that's what he meant when he said that he wanted to have more of a connection in future. Maybe it's just a dream but you can always hope. No I don't want Bassini coming near our club but there are a lot of others out there - I'd rather do an Exeter or a Portsmouth and have the fans taking over. The Bassini period was hell - but on the other side things like administration are not the end - roughly 40 clubs in the league (5 of them now in the Premiership) have been put into administration and all have survived, in some cases to prosper. Luton went all the way and then came back again and I actually envy their present position and youth policy (don't get me wrong I don't envy their town or their fans ) but see them as a club many others would want to emulate, but I no longer see us in the same light.

 

Booing during the game ?



Not sure that would work or make much difference.

They get booed anyway at half time and full time!

And I bet these people weren’t complaining when Munoz , Ivic , Gracia and QSF were sacked for example.

Seems to be more disappointment and anger this time as Edwards was “young , British , likeable” and someone to “relate” to.

 

Ben Foster says he saw it coming.

https://fb.watch/fPD30tSQrJ/

 

I wonder if the current players feel the same so just get used to it all and carry on as normal?

Seen people saying the players weren’t happy with Edwards tactics etc but Adam Leventhal claimed some were very sad to see him go.

I guess it probably depends if the were playing or not !?

 

Still processing the sacking... on the face of it this is both a surprise and not. Results, but more importantly, performances haven't been good enough. We know how it works at Watford so we really ought not to be surprised. Given the pre-season statements and the soundbites from the club it would appear to me that they're less invested in their promises than the results.

One thing I've noticed on the Twittersphere is that the young men with the St. George / Union Flags seem to be shouting loudest as this time it's who they perceive to be one of their own that's been sacked: a young, upcoming, highly regarded, British manager (I'm tempted to say "white" at this point though I think it is a subconscious thing) and not some out of his depth / boring / languid / old fashioned Johnny Foreigner or some old codger who shouldn't have been anywhere near the Home dug out in a month of Sundays. It's my impression, not a hard formed opinion.

I think the Pozzo's have overstepped the mark on this one. Edwards should've been given more time. They have lost a lot of credit this time and even I'm wincing a bit here. No pressure on Slaven Bilic then, ahem! but if he doesn't get results from the get-go then I think the ownership are going to be in for a rough ride.
On balance I'm in the "careful what you wish for" camp and will continue, for the time-being, to accept the hiring and firing from the hip: I wouldn't want to work for them and, if I were a business owner (no thank you, I'm a happy Lieutenant with no intention of being Captain of the ship let alone Admiral of the Fleet) I'm pretty sure it's not how I'd oversee things.

 

Edwards thought he had won his battle with Giaretta but somehow the tables were turned.

For me this sacking is different to most others as there's clearly a Machiavellian element to it.

 

I think there is more anger towards the Pozzos for bringing back Giaretta above Edwards and Duxbury's head than actually sacking Rob as that shows they clearly back one man over the others.

But yes you do wonder if people are more annoyed as Edwards was someone they related to.

 

Having seen some tweets from pundits and Watford reporters like Andrew French of the Watford Observer do get the feeling they feel sorry for Edwards as he gave good interviews and was a nice guy.

They probably think Bilic won't be the same but I remember in the past he has been pretty open and honest in interviews and when on the TV for ITV at major tournaments.

I don't think we are talking about a Jokanavic or Ivic type personalty who said very little!.

 

All that matters really is that he gets the right players in the best formation and releases their full potential or gets us promoted

 

I agree with all except the “should have been given more time” bit. I was done as he rang too much of Boothroyd’s (wow - unnecessary low blow) lack of reading what was evident. Forget the results, forget the league position, it’s the extrapolation of the likely result of our probable future performances that was critical, imho.

I also think his nationality etc. will affect the beautiful UK public’s response.

That’s the nub of it.

 

it seems that Giaretta is managing the team in the background so why not give him the job full time in full view, that way he will get sacked in a few months time.

A further thought, if he is the director of football and we have not been performing whatever manager we have, why does he still have a job?

 

I have read that the Udinese supporters greatly disliked Giaretta, who was employed at their club from 2013 until 2016. He has the distinction of being considered their worst Director of Football because of the many poor signings which he made (during a period when the club struggled). On the other hand, their present Director of Football (Marino) is highly regarded because he has made many good signings (some of whom have been sold at considerable profit) and he has built a competitive team, which is now 3rd in the Serie A table.

 

I was thinking whether I could imagine Giaretta going to somewhere in the north west, say Rochdale, on a wet and cold Tuesday night in November to look at a player. I decided I couldn't.