Zola: 'We deserved to lose and were outfought' (From Watford Observer)

You have to consider sometimes that your better quality doesn’t prevail. Especially in the Championship where you have teams fighting for their lives like Barnsley and they make it so difficult for you to play and you cannot overcome that.

well this comment from Zola sums it up for me and has absolutley infuriated me having witnessed that rubbish today !!
how arrogant , Yes Mr Zola so much quality we could NOT overcome them !

performances from your team have been poor for a while now and we have somehow overcome teams like sheff weds but we have all seen these defeats coming , back to basics and picking the right team would do for starters , far too much changing of the team week in week out , too many injuries , why ? , cannot keep a clean sheet why ? do we do defensive work ?

so furious having watched that awful midfield today Yates , hogg why , nobody else rates them , any surprise neither of them has finished a game when picked by you , in fact barely finish a half proving your decisions are wrong

i will leave it at that i think will get stick no doubt "we are 3rd etc etc , well not for long if things do not improve and god help us if we play more teams that do not roll over and let us play and fight for there lives as it seems we cannot cope with that !!

Worst performance I've seen in a long time, Yeates was awful and the rest of the team weren't far behind him! Bond was our best player by far.

Fair play to Barnsley for doing their homework as we didn't have any time on the ball and were out muscled to every ball.

No plan B, why we didn't change our formation when we bought our last two subs on with half and hour to go is beyond me. Thank god we have two weeks to re group!

at least evryone around us is dropping points too, Onwards and COYH

No Abdi = no points. It's as simple as that.

We cannot play passing football on a bad pitch, with Yeates and Hogg in the middle.

Hopefully Vydra's form will coincide with Abdi's comeback and then we will start climbing the table again.

No Chalobah = no midfield
No Abdi = no engine room
Both of them are class and without them we are ordinary, its quite simple really.

I blame his Manager of the Month award entirely for this!

Things to take home...
- we need Abdi fit all the time!
- Vydra, people seem to forget, suffered a cruciate injury not long ago which (shot in the dark, but might be right) might be contributing to his current dry spell. Playing every week after an injury like that will take its toll
- Hogg and Yeates are both decent, but I don't believe either have the speed of thought and ability (as Chalobah, Abdi and Battocchio do) to cope with being incessantly pressed as Barnsley did to us
- Fitz is a big miss
- Almunia is also a big miss, I believe anyway, because as good as Bond is, I think we need some experience back there

All is not lost though - and I really hope that with the difficult games we've got coming up, Zola will be more inclined to play our best XI in every one. The fringe players more often than not get found out.

Would someone please explain to me (I really don't know, I'm not being flip) what the Plan B is that everyone keeps mentioning. As far as I am aware, we do not know how to play teams that get at us and press high. How DO we deal with that, cos that's what we can expect from now on, eh?

bigthunder wrote:
You have to consider sometimes that your better quality doesn’t prevail. Especially in the Championship where you have teams fighting for their lives like Barnsley and they make it so difficult for you to play and you cannot overcome that.

well this comment from Zola sums it up for me and has absolutley infuriated me having witnessed that rubbish today !!
how arrogant , Yes Mr Zola so much quality we could NOT overcome them !

performances from your team have been poor for a while now and we have somehow overcome teams like sheff weds but we have all seen these defeats coming , back to basics and picking the right team would do for starters , far too much changing of the team week in week out , too many injuries , why ? , cannot keep a clean sheet why ? do we do defensive work ?

so furious having watched that awful midfield today Yates , hogg why , nobody else rates them , any surprise neither of them has finished a game when picked by you , in fact barely finish a half proving your decisions are wrong

i will leave it at that i think will get stick no doubt "we are 3rd etc etc , well not for long if things do not improve and god help us if we play more teams that do not roll over and let us play and fight for there lives as it seems we cannot cope with that !!

Yes, you probably will get stick for that - and rightly so in my opinion.

There are plenty of fans who say what a disgrace it is as Chelsea for sacking managers so quickly, or Nottingham Forest, or Blackburn... but are perfectly happy to pan a young, honest manager who's loved by his players, got us playing fantastic football (most of the time) and has us fighting for automatic promotion in his first season.

I'm sick of people having to be reminded about where we were 9 months ago - but reminding they seem to need.

Thank god the owners, who know more about football than you do, are blessed with the patience and logic that you lack.

Interested to read these comments. What seems to be happening is that there is a lack of experience all round here. Naivety from manager and players has cost us crucial points this season. It is vital that our best 11 our fit for the remaining eight games. Teams have worked us out, so the players and management have to find other ways to break down the opposition. My fear is that if we don't make it this season the likes of Vydra, Abdi, Ekstrand etc wont be with us next season.

1. We did change formation when the subs came on....we went 4-3-3 but as we were all over the place it didn't look like it.
2. Your right that was possibly the worst performance I've seen since derby away.
3. Yeates and Hogg aren't for me but chalobah didn't start because he isn't fit...when he came on it wasn't an awful lot better...he lost the ball quite a lot.
4. Zola needs to pick some of his players up off the ground right now, they have lost their confidence and we need them to get up and come back a lot stronger!
5. Can we not fake an injury for vydra and not send him on international duty...as if his real lack of confidence is bad enough shattering him before our run in will just make it worse.
6. Let's keep the faith...I hate ranting and sounding negative I just think today was made overly dissapointing because it didn't look like any of our players wanted it. We can still go up...just need to find our stride again.

COYH

Meadey39 wrote:
Interested to read these comments. What seems to be happening is that there is a lack of experience all round here. Naivety from manager and players has cost us crucial points this season. It is vital that our best 11 our fit for the remaining eight games. Teams have worked us out, so the players and management have to find other ways to break down the opposition. My fear is that if we don't make it this season the likes of Vydra, Abdi, Ekstrand etc wont be with us next season.

I distinctly remember the Pozzos saying, when they bought the club, that there was no timescale on promotion. I understood that there was at least a two year plan, with the first season under Zola one of consolidation. I think that a lot of our thinking at the start of the season was 'as long as we don't get relegated'.
Although things have worked out differently and we may end up being promoted, I don't honestly believe that if we aren't successful this season that they will pull the plug. So my response to you is, yes, I think those players (or even better) will be at Watford next season. Why wouldn't they be if our owners want to get to the Promised Land that is the Premiership?

What was disappointing today was that we didnt match Barnsley's energy levels.

We had a week to prepare for this match... they had a heavy defeat in the FA Cup last weekend with a tough midweek game with Brighton

We should have been fresher and less tired..... we were'nt

It's a wake up call. We've got the players to turn to stabilise and turn it round. Decent keepers, stable defenders, creative mid and razor forwards.

It's a wake up call. We've got the players to turn to stabilise and turn it round. Decent keepers, stable defenders, creative mid and razor forwards.

Even after 2 quickfire losses we sit in a great position.Clearly we do miss Abdi and Pudil . Sometimes you have to give the opposition some credit. Today being prime example. All be equal we are having an amazing season...Happy days ahead.

Guy Bov wrote:
What was disappointing today was that we didnt match Barnsley's energy levels.

We had a week to prepare for this match... they had a heavy defeat in the FA Cup last weekend with a tough midweek game with Brighton

We should have been fresher and less tired..... we were'nt

Totally agree, play offs it is then!!

That was awful to watch, 1st half was abysmal, midfield useless. One of the comments made earlier was "they did not want it" I agree, but the question is "why?" We need the answer quickly. Are we ready for promotion? I don't think so - yet. However, remember how much our expectations as supporters have been raised, and one good thing that I saw today was Mr Bond, product of Watford FC, making life difficult for Barnsley.

Some watford supporters have short memories. At the start of this season all we hope for was staying up and the club remained solvent. It has been a great season so dont spoil it with all these negative comments. Zola knows Chaolobah should be a first choice selection but he has his reasons for making him a sub today obviously he has a niggling injury. We all think we know better but we dont work with these players every day. I think we have had our bad run now and it will do all the supporters and players to not beleive all the great press we have been getting, and get on with the job of playing great football in all the remaining matches. If we all dont loose our nerve and go on a great run who knows we could be in the Premiership next season. I will ask you all a question...Did you think that at the start of the season?..Keep the faith all you brilliant Watford supporters!!!!

I just can't believe this, we lost again.

The wheels are coming off!! We need to win our next 3 games to get us back on track. The time for tinkering is now over we've got to get our best 11 fit and stick with them. Our strike force which looked like world beaters 5 weeks ago now looks destinctly pedestrian. I fear that teams have now worked us out, they close us down quickly, battle and don't allow us any space. We can't play our passing game and have no Plan B. Unfortunately the same thing happened to Vialli's team. At least we have better quality players this time but we need to sort it out quickly. We don't really want to try to get promoted through the play offs as they are usually won by the team in form, that team are Nottingham Forest at the moment, not us!!

What I am about to write is constructive not negative so keep this in mind before sounding off;

Barnsley's manager Flitcroft on the Barnsley web site player gives a very comprehensive explanation of how his Barnsley team beat a very talented Watford team, he gives every detail and how he analysed every Watford player and tactic taking into account his own team's weaknesses. Most importantly how his players carried out his plan to the end. Result Barnsley beat Watford deservedly.

I am disturbed by this; does it mean that Barnsley's game plan was more detailed, more professional and better executed than Watford's game plan?

We know talented footballers are not the most cerebral of people prone to believe media hype.

Nobody doubts the talent in the team, however, we all know in the championship this is not enough.

Which is why Barnsley, Peterborough and previously Doncaster do incredibly well, almost too well given their very limited resources more suited to the lower leagues..

In the last six games or so Watford players' percentage game has dropped several percent. Passion and commitment has dropped. Blood sweat and tears have not been shed! Everybody can see this!

All Watford players should be forced to watch Flitcroft's interview ten times if necessary.

Watford players will learn tremendous lessons about teams like Barnsley who are a credit to their town and fans, they will also learn why the championship is so difficult and most importantly they will learn about themselves their commitment and performance percentage.

I truly feel sorry for the magnificent 1000 Watford fans who made the long cold trip to Barnsley to give their all for the Watford players. Each fan has their own story and difficulties but each made a fantastic effort, when it would have been easier and money saving not to have gone. (My wife is about 7 to 10 days from having a baby I couldn't leave her even if the game was at home. Instead she had to put up with my miserable mood listening to the game.

Honestly, given the above and the fans effort Can the players say the same thing? Did they give their all for the team, the badge and the fans?

I did warn a couple of days ago that Barnsley are a far better side than their league position indicates, and that Watford would have to be at their best. Flitcroft is a decent manager, and it showed.
Yes, teams have twigged watfords style, system and players. Personally, I'm suprised it took them so long. Unless Watford produce a fully fit side, and perhaps some changes in formation and tactics (and yes, I don't know what!) We'll have to be happy with the playoffs. And I would have bitten the hand off anyone offering that nine months ago.
Watford are going to have to battle through every game from now on.

rogeruk wrote:
What I am about to write is constructive not negative so keep this in mind before sounding off;

Barnsley's manager Flitcroft on the Barnsley web site player gives a very comprehensive explanation of how his Barnsley team beat a very talented Watford team, he gives every detail and how he analysed every Watford player and tactic taking into account his own team's weaknesses. Most importantly how his players carried out his plan to the end. Result Barnsley beat Watford deservedly.

I am disturbed by this; does it mean that Barnsley's game plan was more detailed, more professional and better executed than Watford's game plan?

We know talented footballers are not the most cerebral of people prone to believe media hype.

Nobody doubts the talent in the team, however, we all know in the championship this is not enough.

Which is why Barnsley, Peterborough and previously Doncaster do incredibly well, almost too well given their very limited resources more suited to the lower leagues..

In the last six games or so Watford players' percentage game has dropped several percent. Passion and commitment has dropped. Blood sweat and tears have not been shed! Everybody can see this!

All Watford players should be forced to watch Flitcroft's interview ten times if necessary.

Watford players will learn tremendous lessons about teams like Barnsley who are a credit to their town and fans, they will also learn why the championship is so difficult and most importantly they will learn about themselves their commitment and performance percentage.

I truly feel sorry for the magnificent 1000 Watford fans who made the long cold trip to Barnsley to give their all for the Watford players. Each fan has their own story and difficulties but each made a fantastic effort, when it would have been easier and money saving not to have gone. (My wife is about 7 to 10 days from having a baby I couldn't leave her even if the game was at home. Instead she had to put up with my miserable mood listening to the game.

Honestly, given the above and the fans effort Can the players say the same thing? Did they give their all for the team, the badge and the fans?

Spot on Roger.
Fortunately the other contenders are also failing miserably.

Sadly, as has been said before, although we have a massive squad, we actually have quite a few first choice players who cannot be adequaetly replaced if injured or out of form. We all know who they are. If we don't make promotion, it is to be hoped this problem will be tackled. This problem makes it very difficult to change players and tactics to any major extent, and means there is not a serious 'Plan B'.

Chabs improved the team in the second half, he gave the ball away yes but at least he was trying to pass it forward and move the game on. The first half was all about the 5 at the back passing side ways, backwards and then bond clearing lines with a hopeful punt to deeney. Yeates and Hogg were sadly lacking in time and space, with an inability to find that time and space, same could be said for batt also. Chabs made a massive difference but tone of match had already been set. We may as well had started with Forrest playing a free role behind strikers and dropping one of the them. Perhaps something to consider? Creating one chance in 90 mins was really disappointing!

JohnnyBarnes wrote:

bigthunder wrote:
You have to consider sometimes that your better quality doesn’t prevail. Especially in the Championship where you have teams fighting for their lives like Barnsley and they make it so difficult for you to play and you cannot overcome that.

well this comment from Zola sums it up for me and has absolutley infuriated me having witnessed that rubbish today !!
how arrogant , Yes Mr Zola so much quality we could NOT overcome them !

performances from your team have been poor for a while now and we have somehow overcome teams like sheff weds but we have all seen these defeats coming , back to basics and picking the right team would do for starters , far too much changing of the team week in week out , too many injuries , why ? , cannot keep a clean sheet why ? do we do defensive work ?

so furious having watched that awful midfield today Yates , hogg why , nobody else rates them , any surprise neither of them has finished a game when picked by you , in fact barely finish a half proving your decisions are wrong

i will leave it at that i think will get stick no doubt "we are 3rd etc etc , well not for long if things do not improve and god help us if we play more teams that do not roll over and let us play and fight for there lives as it seems we cannot cope with that !!

Yes, you probably will get stick for that - and rightly so in my opinion.

There are plenty of fans who say what a disgrace it is as Chelsea for sacking managers so quickly, or Nottingham Forest, or Blackburn... but are perfectly happy to pan a young, honest manager who's loved by his players, got us playing fantastic football (most of the time) and has us fighting for automatic promotion in his first season.

I'm sick of people having to be reminded about where we were 9 months ago - but reminding they seem to need.

Thank god the owners, who know more about football than you do, are blessed with the patience and logic that you lack.

I loved the real John Barnes and I love you too Johnny....excellent post, spot-on mate.

SAHornet wrote:
Would someone please explain to me (I really don't know, I'm not being flip) what the Plan B is that everyone keeps mentioning. As far as I am aware, we do not know how to play teams that get at us and press high. How DO we deal with that, cos that's what we can expect from now on, eh?

I just don't get this rigid refusal to look at starting tactics, or the belief to chop and change consistency. Whats the obsession with a 352 set up. Why was Nathaniel not in the starting line up and even more frustrating why not start with your strongest team every time??? We were dire yesterday and you would really have thought the teams were in reverse to their actual positions in the table by the standard of play. Why can't we be normal and starts with a 442, like the majority of our opponents, when your strikers are off the boil as they are now you need the back row strength but playing 3 at the back will not do that, also when influential feeders of the ball are not on the pitch it gives us options with our wing players taking over the role! Yes we did not get into the position we are at without doing the above formation but we are no surprise to other teams anymore and they are stacking up to counter our play, so we need to change the set up and make them work not vise versa. Roll on Good Friday will be there to see if we can learn something for a change, hopefully we can put this to bed once and for all but at the mo I am not convinced at all and sooooo frustrated on chances we should have capatalised!

We missed some key players yesterday, I was expecting to lose as last Saturday we were well off the boil too. Agree vydra needs an international rest and we need hall, Abdi and chalobah fresh to play. Oakwell was never going to suit our passing style, its still so disappointing that we couldn't play to our usual tempo, agree that maybe its time to start with fessi behind the front 2 to give the opposition some headaches and mix up the play, as it looks like our formation has since the palace game been worked out. Pity we didn't add a couple of players in January. Hoping palace lose today as all the other results yesterday went our way, but I won't hold my breath. Last 8 games, many against teams around us who have also been stuttering, should be interesting! Intriging that so few posts on here, maybe I wasn't the only one expecting to taste defeat.

Yes,after recent performances, and the good form of Barnsley, I did expect the worst---but one does not like to say that on here before the match. Hopefully, the break is coming at the right time. I suspect that when we play teams towardsthe top of the league, some will play their own, normal, system, but most teams will use tactics aimed specifically to negate the current Watford style. It is too late in the season for Zola to experiment will any drastic changes in style. They will have to fight and work hard.

This is the Championship - never going to be easy all of the time - that's what makes success so much sweeter.

This is the Championship - never going to be easy all of the time - that's what makes success so much sweeter.

Renewing my season ticket this week.I can't remember a better season this century,and at less than £15 a match for a Championship season,or less than £20 for a premiership season, the ups and downs of following my team will still be the highlight of the week. Did not go,so can only comment that 3 wins should see us in the play-offs and 6 should see us go up automatic.People worrying if Vydra et alwill be with us next year,need to realise that our future will seeplayers comeand go more regularly each year.More poignant that players going is getting 15,000 to 18,000 fans going to home games.Building the crowd now is the biggest challenge.

londomollari wrote:
Yes,after recent performances, and the good form of Barnsley, I did expect the worst---but one does not like to say that on here before the match. Hopefully, the break is coming at the right time. I suspect that when we play teams towardsthe top of the league, some will play their own, normal, system, but most teams will use tactics aimed specifically to negate the current Watford style. It is too late in the season for Zola to experiment will any drastic changes in style. They will have to fight and work hard.

yes a break, but many of our players will be off round the world playing internationals and come back more tired than before they went. Also GZ will not see them to discuss current performance levels. Less of an impact on our opponents so its not much help to us at all. Hope NC and AA will get time to rest/recover.

reading through all the post match comments there is one common thread that shines out.

There was a genuine sense of the inevitable about that result, as night follows day-- we were going to loose that game, and I include myself there..

We knew that Barnsley would be"up
for it" in fact everbody bar the manager knew what was coming,

and you know what, that is exactly what happened.
You need to be very clever (as well as many other factors) to get promoted from this league, and I AM NOT SO SURE that we are clever enough.

We have a great 12 or 13 players, after that it is very ordinary.

Lets just hope we have the passion to get out of this slump
COYH

endean2 wrote:
reading through all the post match comments there is one common thread that shines out.

There was a genuine sense of the inevitable about that result, as night follows day-- we were going to loose that game, and I include myself there..

We knew that Barnsley would be"up
for it" in fact everbody bar the manager knew what was coming,

and you know what, that is exactly what happened.
You need to be very clever (as well as many other factors) to get promoted from this league, and I AM NOT SO SURE that we are clever enough.

We have a great 12 or 13 players, after that it is very ordinary.

Lets just hope we have the passion to get out of this slump
COYH

Yep, agree with most of that. Big squad, no depth. If we get a few injuries or suspensions to 1st team players, the replacements just aren't up to it. Need a smaller but stronger more talented squad.

People saying "tinkering must stop". Who was left out yesterday you think should have played? You say Yeates and Hogg aren't good enough. Who should have played instead? It's not like Abdi and Chalobah were rested (I have to imagine Chelsea's medical staff told Zola he wasn't allowed to start). Also, very important, remember Barnsley had the exact same record as Watford in the 10 games prior to yesterday - 6 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses. This isn't the disgrace many are claiming, disappointing as it may be.

I was at the game yesterday, I have followed Watford for over 50 years and that must have been one of the worst performances I have seen.They are a poor side but we made them look good only a handful of our team looked up for it, its a good job we have the points in the bank because playing like this we would never have made the play-offs.

You raise some good points 123456789
I personally would have tried Forestieri in midfield instead of Yeates or Hogg. At least he is creative and skillful.

Its times like this that you need the likes of John Eustace playing ( I know he is injured). His experience is required to get the young players and foreign players through this last eight games.. Im confident we will be very much up for it on Good Friday

kojak17 wrote:
You raise some good points 123456789
I personally would have tried Forestieri in midfield instead of Yeates or Hogg. At least he is creative and skillful.

That's fair enough. I would like to see that at some point as well. But I fear that would be a bit too lightweight without the size of Chalobah and experience of Abdi.

kojak17 wrote:
Its times like this that you need the likes of John Eustace playing ( I know he is injured). His experience is required to get the young players and foreign players through this last eight games.. Im confident we will be very much up for it on Good Friday

And I completely agree with this! I've said before and will say again, I don't think he is actually good enough to be in our first XI any more but it would be good to have his head in there right now

This league certainly is a corker,Palace losing 3-0 today didn't hurt us thankfully but did hurt their goal difference. It is still in our hands, let us hope it is a good Good Friday for us.

Before everyone loses the plot completely, let's just take a step back and think about a few thing's...

This season was never intended for us to go up. This season was designed for the Pozzo's and Zola to come in, Reduce the debt, discover which player's aren't good enough, Develop a playing style, ethos for the club and bring in a backbone of player's that will stay long term and provide the platform to build on in the summer.

So far in my mind we are on target with what the owner's and management were expecting from this season.

We have devloped a playing style, The club has a new ethos and identitiy, they have reduced if not cleared the debt and provided us with the player's who are now the backbone of the team and who we can build on in the summer!

Next season was alway's going to be season when we went hard for promotion.

Let's take a reality check and stop actin like spoilt little girl's and enjoy the rest of the season regardless of what happen's, in the knowledge that we are on course and only great time's lay ahead!

@ChrisBottom16 wrote:
Before everyone loses the plot completely, let's just take a step back and think about a few thing's...

This season was never intended for us to go up. This season was designed for the Pozzo's and Zola to come in, Reduce the debt, discover which player's aren't good enough, Develop a playing style, ethos for the club and bring in a backbone of player's that will stay long term and provide the platform to build on in the summer.

So far in my mind we are on target with what the owner's and management were expecting from this season.

We have devloped a playing style, The club has a new ethos and identitiy, they have reduced if not cleared the debt and provided us with the player's who are now the backbone of the team and who we can build on in the summer!

Next season was alway's going to be season when we went hard for promotion.

Let's take a reality check and stop actin like spoilt little girl's and enjoy the rest of the season regardless of what happen's, in the knowledge that we are on course and only great time's lay ahead!

I'm not sure that's quite the right attitude. We should be going all out to get promoted this year. But we should remember that, no matter what happens from now until May, this gas been a successful season and much better than anyone would have predicted 9 months ago. Better probably than predicted 2 months ago even!!

kojak17 wrote:
You raise some good points 123456789
I personally would have tried Forestieri in midfield instead of Yeates or Hogg. At least he is creative and skillful.

Or put Cassetti in the middle of midfield. The facts and stats do not lie, when Yeates starts we rarely pick up points. I do not see why GFZ has persisted with him for so long.

Brighton 3 Crystal Palace

Everyone seems to be panicking.

a1derek wrote:

kojak17 wrote:
You raise some good points 123456789
I personally would have tried Forestieri in midfield instead of Yeates or Hogg. At least he is creative and skillful.

Or put Cassetti in the middle of midfield. The facts and stats do not lie, when Yeates starts we rarely pick up points. I do not see why GFZ has persisted with him for so long.

How about the facts and stats that end of Nov - early Dec he started all five matches and we picked up thirteen points. During that time he scored two and provided four assists. These five games also saw us score eighteen goals, making it our best run of the season........ Are these facts and stars lying?

1234566789 wrote:

a1derek wrote:

kojak17 wrote:
You raise some good points 123456789
I personally would have tried Forestieri in midfield instead of Yeates or Hogg. At least he is creative and skillful.

Or put Cassetti in the middle of midfield. The facts and stats do not lie, when Yeates starts we rarely pick up points. I do not see why GFZ has persisted with him for so long.

How about the facts and stats that end of Nov - early Dec he started all five matches and we picked up thirteen points. During that time he scored two and provided four assists. These five games also saw us score eighteen goals, making it our best run of the season........ Are these facts and stars lying?

I smell a big heap of bullsh"" !!
and it stinks 123456789

KeithMercer wrote:

1234566789 wrote:

a1derek wrote:

kojak17 wrote:
You raise some good points 123456789
I personally would have tried Forestieri in midfield instead of Yeates or Hogg. At least he is creative and skillful.

Or put Cassetti in the middle of midfield. The facts and stats do not lie, when Yeates starts we rarely pick up points. I do not see why GFZ has persisted with him for so long.

How about the facts and stats that end of Nov - early Dec he started all five matches and we picked up thirteen points. During that time he scored two and provided four assists. These five games also saw us score eighteen goals, making it our best run of the season........ Are these facts and stars lying?

I smell a big heap of bullsh"" !!
and it stinks 123456789

Simple enough facts, just look back at the match reports on watfordfc.com

Yeates started against
Ipswich at home
Derby away
Bolton away
Brighton at home
Cardiff away
Blackburn away
Hull at home
Blackpool at home
Barnsley away
Anything ringing a bell ?
thats right we lost all of them !!
He also started in disappointing draws at home to Bristol and away to blackpool.
For a guy thats only started about 15 games this season this makes unpleasant reading and you can all come on here and tell me how good he is.

1234566789 wrote:

@ChrisBottom16 wrote:
Before everyone loses the plot completely, let's just take a step back and think about a few thing's...

This season was never intended for us to go up. This season was designed for the Pozzo's and Zola to come in, Reduce the debt, discover which player's aren't good enough, Develop a playing style, ethos for the club and bring in a backbone of player's that will stay long term and provide the platform to build on in the summer.

So far in my mind we are on target with what the owner's and management were expecting from this season.

We have devloped a playing style, The club has a new ethos and identitiy, they have reduced if not cleared the debt and provided us with the player's who are now the backbone of the team and who we can build on in the summer!

Next season was alway's going to be season when we went hard for promotion.

Let's take a reality check and stop actin like spoilt little girl's and enjoy the rest of the season regardless of what happen's, in the knowledge that we are on course and only great time's lay ahead!

I'm not sure that's quite the right attitude. We should be going all out to get promoted this year. But we should remember that, no matter what happens from now until May, this gas been a successful season and much better than anyone would have predicted 9 months ago. Better probably than predicted 2 months ago even!!

Am I missing something but isn't that what Chris basically just said?

KeithMercer wrote:
Yeates started against
Ipswich at home
Derby away
Bolton away
Brighton at home
Cardiff away
Blackburn away
Hull at home
Blackpool at home
Barnsley away
Anything ringing a bell ?
thats right we lost all of them !!
He also started in disappointing draws at home to Bristol and away to blackpool.
For a guy thats only started about 15 games this season this makes unpleasant reading and you can all come on here and tell me how good he is.

Yep, he's pants as is Hogg. I'm a big GFZ fan, but I think he had a better option, play Fessi behind the strikers, Geijo if Vydra isn't firing on all cylinders.
Good job everyone's got the wobbles mind!

1234566789 wrote:

KeithMercer wrote:

1234566789 wrote:

a1derek wrote:

kojak17 wrote:
You raise some good points 123456789
I personally would have tried Forestieri in midfield instead of Yeates or Hogg. At least he is creative and skillful.

Or put Cassetti in the middle of midfield. The facts and stats do not lie, when Yeates starts we rarely pick up points. I do not see why GFZ has persisted with him for so long.

How about the facts and stats that end of Nov - early Dec he started all five matches and we picked up thirteen points. During that time he scored two and provided four assists. These five games also saw us score eighteen goals, making it our best run of the season........ Are these facts and stars lying?

I smell a big heap of bullsh"" !!
and it stinks 123456789

Simple enough facts, just look back at the match reports on watfordfc.com

I'm not trying to say he is great. I am trying to say that your comment was nonsensical. I think everyone knows that he isn't a first XI player but he clearly can come in and do a job when needed - as shown by the fact that he played in every match during that run I mentioned above, which, without a doubt, was our best run of the season so far.

lutondown wrote:

1234566789 wrote:

@ChrisBottom16 wrote:
Before everyone loses the plot completely, let's just take a step back and think about a few thing's...

This season was never intended for us to go up. This season was designed for the Pozzo's and Zola to come in, Reduce the debt, discover which player's aren't good enough, Develop a playing style, ethos for the club and bring in a backbone of player's that will stay long term and provide the platform to build on in the summer.

So far in my mind we are on target with what the owner's and management were expecting from this season.

We have devloped a playing style, The club has a new ethos and identitiy, they have reduced if not cleared the debt and provided us with the player's who are now the backbone of the team and who we can build on in the summer!

Next season was alway's going to be season when we went hard for promotion.

Let's take a reality check and stop actin like spoilt little girl's and enjoy the rest of the season regardless of what happen's, in the knowledge that we are on course and only great time's lay ahead!

I'm not sure that's quite the right attitude. We should be going all out to get promoted this year. But we should remember that, no matter what happens from now until May, this gas been a successful season and much better than anyone would have predicted 9 months ago. Better probably than predicted 2 months ago even!!

Am I missing something but isn't that what Chris basically just said?

Pretty much, which is why I am saying that I agree with the comments on 'not losing the plot' and comparing where we are now to 9 months ago. But it just seemed a bit defeatist as if we shouldn't be concerned about promotion this season where I think we should be going all out for it. That is all. If I inferred incorrectly, that's fine, apologies, but that is how I read it.

1234566789 wrote:

lutondown wrote:

1234566789 wrote:

@ChrisBottom16 wrote:
Before everyone loses the plot completely, let's just take a step back and think about a few thing's...

This season was never intended for us to go up. This season was designed for the Pozzo's and Zola to come in, Reduce the debt, discover which player's aren't good enough, Develop a playing style, ethos for the club and bring in a backbone of player's that will stay long term and provide the platform to build on in the summer.

So far in my mind we are on target with what the owner's and management were expecting from this season.

We have devloped a playing style, The club has a new ethos and identitiy, they have reduced if not cleared the debt and provided us with the player's who are now the backbone of the team and who we can build on in the summer!

Next season was alway's going to be season when we went hard for promotion.

Let's take a reality check and stop actin like spoilt little girl's and enjoy the rest of the season regardless of what happen's, in the knowledge that we are on course and only great time's lay ahead!

I'm not sure that's quite the right attitude. We should be going all out to get promoted this year. But we should remember that, no matter what happens from now until May, this gas been a successful season and much better than anyone would have predicted 9 months ago. Better probably than predicted 2 months ago even!!

Am I missing something but isn't that what Chris basically just said?

Pretty much, which is why I am saying that I agree with the comments on 'not losing the plot' and comparing where we are now to 9 months ago. But it just seemed a bit defeatist as if we shouldn't be concerned about promotion this season where I think we should be going all out for it. That is all. If I inferred incorrectly, that's fine, apologies, but that is how I read it.

No need for apologies, but I think Chris is correct in saying it would not be the disaster some are predicting if we don't go up, this does not mean it isn't what we want to happen.
I think this summer will be defining for the club with major changes taking place. Expect to see some of the old guard and injury prone to move on.
That's just my supposition of course.