We regularly have people on the FTRE podcast to add to the views and passions of Jon, Jason and Mike and we love having them on the blog as well. Below is such a piece by Alex Delaney. Alex won our recent Zola prize and as a Journalism student he asked if he could contribute. We were more than happy to post his pondering on the Pozzo family.
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We hope to have more from Alex in the future and from you too.
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Watching the Football League Show on the BBC a couple of
weeks ago after Watford’s opening day victory over Crystal Palace, I couldn’t
help but take in and think about pundit Leroy Rosenior’s comments that Watford
fans were feeling ‘uneasy’ about gaining loads of loan players from the new
owners’ fellow clubs, Udinese and Granada.
Yes, on one hand it does mean that some of Watford’s younger
players might not get as much of a look in, however, it does mean we can get in
quality players which offers us a better chance of success and it is far from
the end for Watford’s youth players.
Two good, contrasting examples of youngsters at Watford are
Sean Murray and Gavin Massey. Murray was given a run in the team last year and
proved to be good enough to play at a time when we weren’t exactly running
short of midfielders. He survived the change in managers and under Zola is
still a regular in the team at the age of 18. Gavin Massey on the other hand moved
to Colchester last week. Both he and Murray had reportedly attracted attention
from big clubs in the Premier League a few years ago. Massey’s Watford career
consisted of 9 substitute appearances under two different mangers, with no
goals; he also had three separate loan spells at lower league clubs in which he
managed 4 goals in 31 matches.
For me, this represents Massey receiving a chance. I didn’t
see any of the matches Massey played in on loan at Yeovil or Colchester,
however any striker who steps down a level should be averaging more than a goal
every 8 games. The games I did see of Massey at Watford, he seemed willing to
run but didn’t make a significant
impact in any of the games, hence why Watford have now let him go I would
imagine.
Since Massey’s departure, in an interview with the East
Anglian Daily Times, he said there ‘wasn’t the same opportunities as there was
before’ for Watford’s younger players. I think the case of Murray proves him
wrong, along with the case of Lee Hodson, Jonathan Hogg and Connor Smith, all
of whom are young players who have played at least a part in the current league
campaign. Also, Murray has been given a new 5 year contract as reward for his
performances, proving that if you’re a good enough player at Watford you will
play a part no matter what nationality or age you are.
Another common view point is that Watford are now just a
feeder club to Italian giants Udinese. This is yet another point of no concern
to me. It is in the Pozzo’s interest for Watford to become a Premier League
team; as it was in their interests for Granada to become a La Liga team, which
they now are. It is clear that of the 8 loan players received most of them look
like very good players. At the time of writing, we have scored seven goals in
all competitions, five of which have been scored by loan players. This proves
that they must have at least some quality.
Another
positive spin on the whole takeover is that it seems Laurence Bassini had left
us in a very bad shape so the Pozzo’s are putting us in a better position than
we were in both on and off the field with minimum cost to the club. Our wage
bill was one of the lowest in the division and I assume a lot of the players
received are having their wages paid for by Udinese, which means our wage bill
will remain low.
We are in a
similar place to where Granada were when they were taken over by the Pozzo
family in 2009 and they are now in their second season in La Liga. It is also
clear that the Pozzo’s aren’t in it for a ‘quick quid’ as they have owned
Udinese since 1986 when they were a Serie B side; they now regularly qualify
for the Champions League.
My thoughts are that the Pozzo’s are sending us good
players, a lot of whom have international experience, in order to get us
promoted this or next year and then they will start to look at more long term
plans. Chief executive, Scott Duxbury said in a recent interview that the
stadium will be developed when it is being filled and that will only be
achieved with success on the field. That is what the loanees have been brought
in to achieve.
Before the new owners came in there wasn’t much hope for
promotion and there wasn’t a huge fear of relegation, it was all getting a bit
stale. Now though there seems to be a real opportunity of playing exciting,
attacking football and climbing back into the promised land of the Premier
League under Gianfranco Zola. After Gianluca Vialli’s first Italian revolution
failed in 2001, maybe it will be a case of second time lucky. FORZA WATFORD!
Alex Delaney
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