Bate leaves Hornets
11:47pm Tuesday 20th May 2008
Watford have parted company with Dick Bate, their Technical Director.
Bate, the highly-respected ex Senior FA National Coach and England Under-19 manager, was informed of the news today by Aidy Boothroyd, and the decision will be confirmed in a club statement due to be released tomorrow (Wednesday).
His shock departure is likely to be the first in a series of cost-cutting measures as the club seek to implement plan B following their failure to win promotion to the Premiership.
The news is likely to have come as a shock to Bate who was present at Vicarage Road today, running his expert eye over the Harefield Academy who won the ESFA Under-15 Cup.
Bate becomes the fourth coach to have left the club in the last 16 months, joining Dave Hockaday, Chris Cummins and Keith Burkinshaw in departing Vicarage Road. Boothroyd also sacked his chief scout, Mark Stow.
Bate joined the club in the summer of 2006 as Technical Director yet found himself involved in first-team affairs on a matchday when Hockaday was sacked in January 2007.
The arrival of Martin Hunter and the promotion of Malky Mackay in the summer saw Bate marginalised at first-team level this season and he spent most of the season coaching the club's Under-23 players.
Your Say YourWatford
WFC & Proud, Watford says...
7:55am Wed 21 May 08
To the Club staff, coaches & players involved; great achievement to reach the final & even better to win against a strong Cardinal Heenan line-up.
Berko, Berko says...
8:11am Wed 21 May 08
Yes, well done but is it right? Cardinal Heenan is indeed a strong set up having produced the likes of Gerrard and Carragher (I think)in the past.
As for Bate going it is another example of Aidy's inability to handle people. Everyone talks about Aidy's man management skills but history shows this to be a fallacy both with players and staff.
Hexham Hornet, Hexham says...
8:44am Wed 21 May 08
POTUS, says...
8:50am Wed 21 May 08
a) what all these advisors & coaches did all day
b)that they either saw things the same as aidy or he did not listen to them
it was inevitable that both the failure in playing style/results since xmas and the need to reduce costs would lead to changes.
Clearly aidy is staying and therefore there will be changes amongst backroom staff & players.
I doubt if it did come as a shock to Bate.
Mark, Watford says...
9:22am Wed 21 May 08
WFC & Proud, Watford says...
12:40pm Wed 21 May 08
As I understand it, the WFC/Harefield partnership is meant to both improve their football, academic & related achievements; I believe there are rules around the scholars maintaining grades & results or they don't train/play. It's derived from a European model (mainly Dutch, I recollect - Willem II?) and can only benefit everyone concerned. Who knows, we might even win a World Cup in the future because of it!
Cardinal Heenan are a specialist sports college. If that's anything like Queens' School in Watford, they'll have students on the books of pro Clubs. Queens' has an academy setup; players are excluded from playing for other teams whilst in the academy. An older team at the Club I run a team for has several players at Queens'; if selected for the Acadmey, they cannot then play for our Club. One of them is now at Bristol Rovers; here's hoping he makes it then comes back to WFC!
izzy, watford says...
3:15pm Wed 21 May 08
izzy, watford says...
3:18pm Wed 21 May 08
Winston wrote:Surely the manager must take all the credit that goes on at the club good or bad!!!!!!!
"first in a series of cost-cutting measures" one hopes this includes Malky Mackay and the rest of the coaching staff - concern that next season WFC will be run on a shoe string small budget for players and a small back room staff!
Des, Hatch End says...
5:23pm Wed 21 May 08
Who would want to work with him after this latest dismissal?
I'm pleased we will get a chance to see some of our youngsters performing next season but I shudder to think how they will deal with Aidy's hoofball tactics.
I don't believe a leopard can change its spots so I don't expect Aidy to deviate too far from his awful tactics of this season.
I hope he proves me wrong but I doubt he will.
Des
zip, The real world says...
6:23pm Wed 21 May 08
The fact of the matter is that Bate probably had the temerity to question his tactics at some point. Like any ruthless dictator Boofers is now turning on his enemies...just like the Night of the Long Knives, or the great purges under Stalin. There is only one person responsible for this farce of a season and it is the prat currently doing the firing.
C'mon Gimpson John Ward would be the ideal replacement...a gentleman as well as a proven manager.
Boothroyd must go!!!!!
VoR, watford says...
6:43pm Wed 21 May 08
gimp.
Scotshorn, Aberdeen says...
7:51pm Wed 21 May 08
zip wrote:Odd choice of words here. If Bate "probably had the temerity.......", then it can hardly be a 'fact of the matter.'
The next person to go has to be Boothroyd. How many of his coaching staff must go in order to compensate for HIS ineptitude and mistakes? The fact of the matter is that Bate probably had the temerity to question his tactics at some point. Like any ruthless dictator Boofers is now turning on his enemies...just like the Night of the Long Knives, or the great purges under Stalin. There is only one person responsible for this farce of a season and it is the prat currently doing the firing. C'mon Gimpson John Ward would be the ideal replacement...a gentleman as well as a proven manager. Boothroyd must go!!!!!
John Ward a proven manager?? Let's see - he took Cheltenham from League 2 to League 1 in three years, then left after they struggled to stay there.
Moved on to Carlisle where, after two years, he guided them to the League 1 play-offs out of which they crashed at the first hurdle.
Gentleman he may be, but all he has 'proven' as a manager is that he is not as successful as AB.
Give it a rest - like it or not, AB is staying for the immediate future.
bonserout, watford says...
8:40pm Wed 21 May 08
Andy, St Albans says...
9:01am Thu 22 May 08
I do like the analogy of the great purges or the night of the long knives, but I don't think the victims of those got a P45 and a nice pay off.
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Winston, watford says...
6:14am Wed 21 May 08