Godfather Nani has accepted responsibility for explaining this one, putting words into GianFredo's mouth as he assures Watford fans, "Gianfranco Zola has said there will be always be a place in his squad for talented youngsters." Of course there will! That's probably why the Pozzo Family have bought the club: no need to worry about results, it's development of young players for Udinese that counts!
Can we expect Consiglieri Duxbury to make a statement about "the Project" in the next 48 hours to keep Watford fans sweet, and for Nodding Dog GianFredo to be rolled out to tell the world that he is very 'appy with everything that is 'appening at Watford?
But tell me, if you are a bright young talent, why would you sign up for Watford's Category 3 Academy when other clubs offer a Category One alternative?
Short sighted or what? The £9.75m secured for Ashley Young has surely covered the Academy's costs for the last decade!
21 comments:
Watford are a small club and do not have the players to compete in the under 21 league without hampering their natural development through outside loans to gain experience.
When we pass you on the way up things might change but until then it is not sustainable ... not that you'd know what that means at West Ham.
In short - mind your own business. Not ours.
It remains to be seen what effect this will have on both the Watford Academy and the community at large but one thing is certain - your interest in Watford since Nani and Duxbury got involved is way beyond an obsession or the acts of a sane mind.
West Ham United are long since rid of the Duxbury/Nani/Zola axis of evil (as you seem to consider it) and your beloved bubble blowers are now back in the promised land, so why you invest so much time berating every piece of news that comes out of Vicarage Road. Get yourself a girlfriend mate and try to join the human race
PS. £9.75m covers about 4 years Cat1 - We sold Young 5 years ago, do the maths.
the obsession with Watford continues for WH with nothing of interest to report at their own club
The lack of detail within this write up goes to show how little the author knows of the actual topic and instead makes a sweeping comment to continue his weird obsession with Watford.
And once again,a comment has flooded in. Let's just cross our fingers that Udinese,s owners have links to the mob and can wipe out that arsewipe hammersfan.
Aren't you a "Hammers Fan"? Is there really not much going on with your own club. This obsession with Watford is all very odd...
"Short sighted or what? The £9.75m secured for Ashley Young has surely covered the Academy's costs for the last decade!"
You don't do much research do you?
Anyway you seem to get an awful lot of hits so I guess it's working for you... You're using the technique of "piss people off and you'll get views". Each to their own...
We wouldn't have got a Category 1 rating anyway as we would need to double or treble the staff in the U9 to U18 age brackets and invest heavily in facilities that only the academy have access to.
We would also have to invest £2.5M intot he academy. That is not good for a club that makes a £4M loss a year and are £10-12M in debt.
The only difference between Cat 2 and Cat 3 is the involvement in the U21 and U18 leagues with Cat 1 and Cat 2 clubs. We would still have to inves more then £1M more into the academy.
We can re-apply for Cat 2 or even Cat 1 when we get to the Premier League and wave goodbye to West Ham when they replaces us in the Championship.
Ha ha ha, so you're not content with winding up the Leeds fans and starting on the Watford fans too!
On a serious note, it will be interesting to see if the "project" ends the same way as it did at WHU.
That "project" saw the club pushed to the verge of administration and "clever" business decisions made such as "borrowing" from the next seasons sponsorship money a season before (I recall that Gold or Sullivan said it may even have been 2 seasons before, but don't quote me on that).
Obviously, the ownership of the club is different so, personally, I wish them all the best and hope that it works out better than it did for us when Zola et al were at WHU.
S_H_A
COYI
Youn articles and especially the ones on Watford are a complete joke. Who the hell develops an unhealthy obsession with a team in a different division from miles away from theit own and produces drivel week after week to indulge it? How long did you have to trawl for to find the picture of that child?
Obsessive drivel.
Do you thinks it's appropriate hf to have a photo of a child on your post? Did you get permission? There is something seriously wrong with you.
It costs £2.5m per year for a Category 1 Academy. That's quite a lot for a club with our debts - and we'd need to guarantee an Ashley Young coming through every 3 years or so to sustain that level.
The main reason for wanting Cat 1 in the first place was so that we could sign youngsters at an earlier age, but since the EPPP proposals were first drafted the situation has changed and Cat 3 clubs can now sign players to their Academy at age 9.
It is, in effect, a decision not to enter a U21 team into the league, rather than this "betrayal" - but that wouldn't give such a good reason to have another pop at Watford, would it?
01:23 don't take the bait mate, this blogger is a care in the community case - he obviously doesn't have a lot else to do other than trying to wind up decent people. It's more than a little perverse if you ask me and of course a tad sad too.
Can you imagine how long it takes to moderate all the comments? Funny thing is.... all that effort and nothing worthwhile to show for it, this blog is one dimensional with no depth or quality, which when you think about it is just like the current West Ham style of football.
No wonder he is so bitter and twisted, I mean has there ever been a worse time to be a Hammers fan? Poor bugger.
I am with your on this Boleyn boy. This could be the beginning of the end for us as a club that has always produced little gems every now again. I think this confirms how the Pozzo's will model our club starting by down grading our prestigious Academy and replacing it with a nursery for their scouting network and to benefit Udinesse.
Its not to save money or to protect our youth. Its just plain short sighted madness.
Why do you waste your time writing this dross? Youngsters from the area will always get a chance and downgrading will not change that. Its not like the facilities are suddenly going to be removed. Apart from the fact that it makes business sense, an emphasis away from one that relies on youngsters to remain competitive isn't such a bad thing.
To be fair, Watford were my local club for five years and I don't live so very far away now. The Nani, Zola, Duxbury axis of duplicity is irresistible.
0911 and others, costs have risen. The Ashley Young transfer fee probably has covered the costs for the last decade, albeit not for the next. If the Academy costs £2.5m a year, you need to bring forward one player to the first team from each crop to cover costs - as you avoid paying a transfer fee - and every player you sell on represents pure profit.
What is the Pozzo model? Develop Udinese players at Watford and shop window those not good enough, exploiting higher transfer fees in the UK. So, a player who they know will not cut it at the highest level is shop windowed and "conditioned for English football" and then sold on an an inflated fee. The trouble for Watford is that the Prem is not the best place for shop windowing second tier footballers, so a permanent berth in the Championship would be perfect.
I have read the genral response from Watford fans and I don't altogether agree with them as a Watford fan for many years.
First point is that I believe your interest in Watford stems from the appointment of Nani, Duxbury and Zola, and the obvious experience you have had with these guys running your club. That I can totally understand.
In terms of the Academy situation the issue is not about the Pozzo family although I have concerns which I will touch upon first.
Lets get it straight, Watford have always been a family and community football club which have done brilliantly over the last 30+ years to compete generally in the top 30 to 35 clubs in England. For a club of our size we have been punching above our weight for many years. What we have is very special and I wouldn't expect anyone outside of our club to fully understand what makes us tick. We have had some great Managers and players within our club both bought in and developed from within during that time, especially in the first 10 years of GT's reign when John Barnes, Nigel Callaghan, Kenny Jackett and too many to mention came through our Youth program. Any trip to the Premier League for us is very difficult because even with Elton's fortune, that would not be enough to compete at the very top now. Our enjoyment stems from the fact that we are close to the club and our disappointment in defeat is measured as our expectations are below that of West Ham let alone Chelsea and Arsenal. But we have a great soul and enjoy being what we are.
I would also suggest that West Ham are above our level but nowhere near being able to compete with the top 6, at least not at the moment.
In terms of the Academy situation, it is not the Pozzo's decision to pull out of the new EPPP Cat 1 program but more the program itself. I have worked in Academy football for many years and have taken Watford teams to play West Ham at all age groups.
The problem is with the EPPP program itself which is very devisory. The fact is that it is pointless for Watford to produce top players now because the bigger London clubs can come along and nick our best players for nothing so why should we bother. This is being mainly driven by Chelsea who have money to blow, but that is not the case with the rest of the clubs including West Ham.
The Premier League and mainly Chelsea have this totally wrong, and in the main the best players came through because of all clubs not despite of. We only have to look at the great work Carr has done at West Ham over the years and it was good coaching and development that produced the players not money. He didn't need the comprehensive system and expenditure that the Premier League are now requesting. This to me is moving the bigger clubs away from the roots of the game and it is very sad. Wycombe and now Crawly have already abandoned their Youth programs totally and I believe many will follow. So in my opinion the PL and FA have this totally wrong once again.
In my opinion we need to bring back a love of the game and stop trying to continually strive for further commercial revenue. It is bleeding everyone and is driven by greed. The football in England is special because of our heritage and our roots which are gradually getting weaker. At Watford I feel we have just sold our soul and that concerns me more than anything. A club of our size cannot chase a rainbow that we will never reach. Maybe the Pozzo's will do it following the strategy they have implemented in Udinese and Granada, but to be honest I would rather have our club back and retain our soul.
There has been a worse time, yes.
I think you'll find it was few years ago now. can't quite remember who was running the show at the time, though sure it will come to me in a bit.
Things are getting even worse. Harefield Academy NOW, under review.
Will the last supporter of this new regime, turn out the lights when its all over.
Bassini must be laughing drinking his champagne!
What is your obsession with Watford may I ask? Is there nothing going on at Wet Spam for you to write a blog about?
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