Ismael appointed Watford Head Coach

[Shadrack the Red]

A lot of ducks came together in a row during Ismael's season here to Ismael's/ Barnsley FC's benefit and I am sure playing behind closed doors in an empty stadium was one of them. The young players had no pressure on them from the crowd, particularly at away games in big stadiums. It was a practice game atmosphere at every game.
The players could hear Ismael shouting out a number to tell them which formation to take for pressing, set pieces etc. There was no pressure from the crowd on the ref about our time wasting and sh1thousery tactics. There was no disapproval/ booing over the awful hoofball stuff being served up.
But I admit the second half at Bournemouth was wonderful.

What you are basically saying SB is that season was a level playing field, conditions and circumstances were the same for all 24 teams , they could all hear their coaches & not be subject to booing or hostile atmospheres etc , there was no advantage or disadvantage , no getting on players backs when they got caught playing tippy tappy football from the back etc etc , it was the same for every single team & that is why in my opinion we proved we did exceptionally well under Val as we ended up in the play offs , we were not quite good enough to get over the line but it was still one of the best seasons in our history & I enjoyed it , I just wished we could have been in the ground to see the matches .

[animallittle3]

Val can't lose can be , even the sack after five games isn't going to blemish his career seen as every bugga gets the sack at Watford quick sticks and that's without mentioning the pay off for a month's work .

Don't think he'll last any longer than anybody else before him to be honest at Watford .

He was the right manager at the right period in history for us and had the nous to set his team up a certain way in order to win games of football with average championship talent .

Different ball game with better players , very well paid players too which Watford will no doubt have .

A questionable man management style doesn't work further up the football league in my opinion .

Worked here because he took that group of players to a place in the championship they probably didn't believe they were good enough to get to , his methods couldn't be questioned here .

Players with millions already in the bank and can easily get a move away at the drop of a hat will just tell him to feck off .

[SBRed48]

What you are basically saying SB is that season was a level playing field, conditions and circumstances were the same for all 24 teams , they could all hear their coaches & not be subject to booing or hostile atmospheres etc , there was no advantage or disadvantage , no getting on players backs when they got caught playing tippy tappy football from the back etc etc , it was the same for every single team & that is why in my opinion we proved we did exceptionally well under Val as we ended up in the play offs , we were not quite good enough to get over the line but it was still one of the best seasons in our history & I enjoyed it , I just wished we could have been in the ground to see the matches .

There was little money about for the big teams to spend in January. Most were taking out Covid loans. It was a siege mentality for Barnsley. Us, the underdog, against the rest. It worked right up the final month when Ismael's methods were sussed and overcome by the better coaches and most of our players were burnt out, even with the introduction of five subs that season which aided Ismael's methods.
It reminded me of Wimbledon when they were on the rise. Limited talent at that level, hoofball, loads of sh1thousery and a siege mentality that saw them win games against better quality players. The football was unwatchable at times but all was forgiven because it brought more wins than losses. It wasn't sustainable and the fall came quickly.

[Shadrack the Red]

There was little money about for the big teams to spend in January. Most were taking out Covid loans. It was a siege mentality for Barnsley. Us, the underdog, against the rest. It worked right up the final month when Ismael's methods were sussed and overcome by the better coaches and most of our players were burnt out, even with the introduction of five subs that season which aided Ismael's methods.
It reminded me of Wimbledon when they were on the rise. Limited talent at that level, hoofball, loads of sh1thousery and a siege mentality that saw them win games against better quality players. The football was unwatchable at times but all was forgiven because it brought more wins than losses. It wasn't sustainable and the fall came quickly.

We will always disagree over this which is fair enough but in the last month of the season we did not fall away , we lost one game & the introduction of 5 subs was the same for every team , Val should be applauded for his use of the subs but every other manager in the league had the same opportunity & as for the football I really enjoyed it, to me it wasn"t hoofball , we got the ball in to the opponents half as quickly as possible but in the last third where it really matters we played some quality football & scored some great goals . It is obvious that you dislike Val with a passion which is fine therefore you are going to be critical of everything he did but no one can take away the fact that we had one of the best seasons in our history & I really enjoyed it & I know I have said this before but the only downside was the fact that we were not allowed into watch it, but it is all about opinions , you have yours & I have mine & I will leave it at that.

[SBRed48]

Fair enough Shads.

I can never get past the fact that Ismael was happy to cheat on his fellow football clubs, players and fans in Austria. Not my kind of guy.

Winning a few football games does not alter that.

We will agree to differ.

[SBRed48]

18 4 21 Coventry L 0-2
21 4 21 Huddsfld W 1-0
24 4 21 Rotherham W 1-0
1 5 21 Preston L 0-2
8 5 21 Norwich D 2-2

17 5 21 Swansea L 0-1
22 5 21 Swansea D 1-1

Last month 2020 /21 W2 D2 L3

[Shadrack the Red]

18 4 21 Coventry L 0-2
21 4 21 Huddsfld W 1-0
24 4 21 Rotherham W 1-0
1 5 21 Preston L 0-2
8 5 21 Norwich D 2-2

17 5 21 Swansea L 0-1
22 5 21 Swansea D 1-1

Last month 2020 /21 W2 D2 L3

I did not count the play off matches as I thought you were referring to the league & us getting found out ,I took the last 4 matches as a yardstick for the end of the season , if you look earlier in the season you will find a far worse sequence of results but the stat that counted was finishing 5th , alas we did not get over the line but to me it was a fantastic achievement .

[SBRed48]

in the last month of the season we did not fall away , we lost one game .

It's not worth debating Shads as it has long gone but we do need to have the facts correct. Otherwise it becomes like listening to Sunak and Hunt twisting the stats.

However you define the "last month" of the season we lost more than once.

It's Huntesque to introduce "the last four games" rule to remove the Coventry defeat.

[Acido]

Like I said Shad, your wasting your time with
this pathetic so called fan, who thinks he's clever on here.
He's made his mind up about the pre-Barnsley stuff that Val did, which is fair enough, ok.
But to then keep dismissing what he did for us that season, and to keep slagging us off as fans who chose to support him, well that sums up this moron. 👎

[pass_and_move]

Tha well art o order Acido.

SB is red to the core and a top blowk who stands by his principles.