The Pozzos have been in charge for ten years, Elton and GT were in charge for ten years, both periods had success including an FA Cup Final and ended in relegation back to the 2nd tier of football Just a general discussion about the highs and lows of both periods and what we can and the club must learn from the two periods in our history Plus one very important question Would we as long term supporters prefer the Pozzos with the possibly of going up and down on a regular basis unless we /they learn from the recent errors of judgement, or to be taken over like Newcastle by a Middle East state with a dodgy recent history on humans rights but have the possibility of buying suucess in the short term future I know my views and I think I know the views of most of our fans on here
Strange that you ask, but last night I was re-reading that Watford were within two hours of going into administration when the salad kings held the reigns. This led to the Bassini period of total chaos, and only the foresight of Ashcroft, someone that I have no respect for, with prompting from GT and Stuart Timperley brought about the Pozzo era. GT said that Watford were a top thirty club, and the idea that it could ever finish second in the top division again was impossible. He based that on the club just not being in the right place, or having the fan base to be one of the big boys. The Pozzos knowingly inherited a broken down three sided ground and promised to fix it. They kept that promise and we now have a decent stadium that looks the part of a modern attractive venue. It has meant that corporate facilities have become important, something that was expensive to install, but without them the income side of the balance sheet would suffer. The Pozzo family have had long experience of owning Udinese who are not one of the big clubs in Italy, so we are owned by people who are very experienced in running a club our size. Since they took over we have seen some very good players in our colours, but I do think that the current crop have not been good enough. Players will come to Watford if the money is right for them, they believe that it is a stepping stone to even better things, or they want to play in England. From the clubs point of view they need to have a wage bill that they can manage. This means that some players they would like to sign will go elsewhere and ones that they would like to keep will have to be sold. While the Pozzos may be rich by my standards, they are not in the ultra-rich group of owners either. We probably have a very good match for us, as they have given us some very fine days, but at a price we can just about afford. I doubt that any of the ultra-rich would be interested in us as we could never generate the income to make it worthwhile for them. I am happy enough to be a top thirty club, and feel that by modern standards our fans are getting a good deal. Never again would I want to see my club being within two hours of administration.
That is how I see it Frenchie When GT took us from the 4th Division to the !st Division it cost £1m For the Pozzos to get us into the Premier League and keep us there for a total of 6 years probably cost £100m For us to compete in the top four now would probably cost £1billion
Some people, not here thankfully, seem to think that clubs can buy success, but clubs such as Man. Utd or Everton prove that to be an illusion. Man.City and Liverpool do spend loads of money, but they both have large established squads that they build on year by year. You might be a large club by ground size, Sunderland, but without decent stewardship it can all go badly wrong.
Yes, but apart from 1. Financial security 2. A four sided modern stadium 3. A cup final What have the Romans ever done for us
Thankyou Frenchie for a superb accurate and sympathetic (but NOT hagiographic) account. I concur . I would add that the training facilities have also been seriously upgraded. My only criticism is the lack of first team players who have come through the academy. But after Sancho, and now Galvez, I can see the problem. To fix that one needs input from the spineless blazers. Some hope.
All in all ...a good fit for us... BUT please... lets play some decent football and not keep changing managers I lost the will to watch them this season!
Agree. Some of the football we played during that first season with GFZ was exhilarating to say the least - and of course gave us the lasting memory of that goal by Troy against Leicester.
I think the worry from some is that we don't given what the newest accounts suggested but who really knows. We can all speculate and worry but sure they have a good plan if promotion doesn't happen next season. Our wage bill won't be as high as it once was and we will get money for the likes of Dennis and Sarr. Just need to give Edwards and the new manager time - not go into panic mode in the boardroom or stands if things start a bit iffy.
I did too at the end. I just felt if they couldn’t be bothered, why should I? But Gino is a super fit for our club IMHO and has done a terrific job. Some on another forum suggest the wheels have come off because we have been relegated, which is absurd. If we had stuck with any of the several previous owners we would have been severely up a certain creek. What happened to them up the M1 could certainly have happened to us.
Yes...realism is needed.....Football is not like Football Manager etc Can hope for better next season eh
Quite. People complaining that some of the players from this season might be here for the next one . Well we’re hardly going to literally bomb out everyone sp a few will remain. Sure we need new players but not 24 new ones !
