Are you sure Mr Holloway? (From Watford Observer)

Are you sure Mr Holloway?

8:12pm Saturday 9th February 2013 in Latest Blogs By Jamie McDougall

After Crystal Palace’s 2 goal comeback against Watford on Friday night, Ian Holloway slated the way the hornets loan so many players from Udinese.

Holloway labelled Watford a ‘foreign’ team also mentioning that the system prevents producing players for our country. Crystal Palace’s had 5 non-English players in their starting XI for the game, the same amount as in the Watford starting XI.

Holloway also said that his club are getting players from the local area and are working with them. Crystal Palace’s match day squad included 2 academy graduates compared to Watford’s 4.

Holloway thought that having so many loan players in a squad is wrong. When the match between the two promotion hopefuls came to an end, Watford had 4 loanees on the pitch, the same amount that Crystal Palace had.

As an aspiring journalist myself, I believe that everyone is entitled to an opinion. I just think it is wrong when the media or the public voice their negative views on Watford and our unique system, without looking at the facts or actually researching.

Martin Samuel (Daily Mail) was a classic case of this along with Suzanne Geldard (Lancashire Telegraph). They both wrote negative articles on Watford and got main facts wrong portraying us in a very bad way.

I and fellow Watford fans aren’t in denial, we knew that there was going to be an influx of foreign players but the Pozzo’s and Gianfranco Zola have managed the situation perfectly.

Watford did sign many players from Udinese and Granada, but the players from last season still got a chance to prove themselves. If you look at the likes of Chris Iwelumo, Joe Garner and Carl Dickinson, they were all regulars last season and were given their chance at the start of this season, but when the management staff realised they weren’t quite good enough, they moved them on. The owners kept the main spine of last season’s team: John Eustace, Nyron Nosworthy, Mark Yeates, Lloyd Doyley, Jonathan Hogg and Troy Deeney. These players proved their worth and have since featured in the team this season on a regular occasion.

The club have also been good with the young academy graduates. Sean Murray, Connor Smith, Jonathan Bond and Tommie Hoban are all getting a look in after signing long-term contracts showing that the club is serious about the academy and our younger players. 

Football pundits, fans, mangers and journalists forget to mention these players when labelling Watford as ‘Udinese Reserves’.

At the end of the day, does it really matter what everyone else thinks? We’re not breaking any rules and have found the right balance which has worked wonders on the pitch in recent times.

Let’s hope that ‘little old Watford’ can keep plugging away and reach the Premier League a year early than the Pozzo’s had targeted.