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Taz.
The Pozzo family have completed their takeover of Championship side Watford.
The deal was concluded yesterday, adding the Hornets to the Italians' portfolio of European clubs. Giampaolo Pozzo is the owner of Serie A side Udinese and La Liga club Granada, while his son Gino Pozzo is heavily involved in the operations of the two sides. The younger Pozzo will act on paper as owner of Watford, who finished eleventh in the Championship last season before manager Sean Dyche's departure to Burnley. Former West Ham director-of-football Gianluca Nani will take up the role of technical director at Vicarage Road as part of the takeover.
"We really believe Watford are going to be our top project for the future," Gino Pozzo said in a brief statement. "There is a huge amount of potential success in English football. We will be approaching this as a long-term project and I think this is a club that can grow much further than the Championship. We are bringing people that know England well to the club to help us and we all share a common vision."
The Pozzos' arrival brings Laurence Bassini's turbulent period of ownership to an end after just over two years. Bassini claimed to have rescued the club from going into administration but was criticised for ignoring fans and falling out with life president and club legend Graham Taylor. Watford had one of the smallest wage budgets in the Championship last season and were widely predicted to struggle before Dyche impressively steered the side to a comfortable mid-table finish. The former Hornets centre-back left the club last month to join Burnley.
Udinese and Granada have attracted attention for their close relationship, which regularly sees players loaned between the two clubs. The Andalusian side currently have six first-team players on loan from Udinese and a further five players on loan from other European clubs. This strategy has seen Granada rise from third-tier minnows to La Liga in consecutive seasons, while Udinese once again sealed qualification for the Champions League in May. The Pozzos are reportedly keen to use the model that brought this success at Vicarage Road.
Taz.
Watford FC is delighted to announce the appointment of Gianfranco Zola as head coach.
The forty-six year old has signed a two-year deal with the Hornets running until June 2014. The former Italian international was the unanimous choice of the club's new board. Senior executives were highly impressed by his forward-thinking style of play and positive vision for the future of the club following the arrival of the Pozzo family at Vicarage Road. Zola will be joined at Watford by his newly-appointed assistant coaches Giancarlo Corradini and Dodo Surmani, who have both worked at the highest level in Italian football with Juventus and Napoli.
Zola was most recently in charge of West Ham United, leading the Hammers to mid-table finishes in the Premier League in his two full campaigns at Upton Park. He built a youthful, attacking side during his time in East London, securing finishes of ninth and seventeenth in his two seasons in charge. The two-time FA Cup winner left West Ham in May 2010 after a change in the club's ownership. Prior to his return to English football as a manager, Zola assisted his former Chelsea and Italy strike partner Pierluigi Casiraghi with the Azzurri's under-21 side.
"I want to play the best football possible," the Golden Boys' new coach revealed. "This is the way I was brought up in football, so it's what I know best. I don't want to compromise that. I believe football is not just all about the results. It can be something special and I want to build that here. This is not a short-term project for a quick return. We have one of the best scouting networks in the world and the resources to build a good team over time. It's a new challenge for me but I'm not afraid. I'm confident in my abilities and the staff around me."
"Everyone knows how Gianfranco Zola likes football to be played," new Hornets technical director Gianluca Nani said. "Gianfranco represents this project perfectly and I think Watford fans can expect an exciting and attacking style from his team. He knows English football and has a European mentality. We established an excellent working relationship in our time together at West Ham and I am confident that we will bring the stability and style that this club needs. We have a long-term project here and we want to achieve a lot."
Taz.
Watford have welcomed eight new signings just days after they were taken over by the Pozzo family.
New owner Gino Pozzo is the son of Italian businessman Giampaolo Pozzo, who owns both Serie A side Udinese and La Liga outfit Granada. The Hornets chief has wasted no time in supplying new head coach Gianfranco Zola with virtually an entire starting line-up plucked from the two other clubs in the family portfolio. In an agreement that is sure to infuriate their Championship rivals, Watford announced the arrivals of eight loan signings this morning as they set their sights on challenging for promotion to the Premier League under Zola.
Swiss international Almen Abdi is the highest-profile of the new arrivals. The midfielder has thirteen caps for Switzerland and made over thirty appearances for Udinese last season, scoring against Celtic in the UEFA Europa League. Midfielder Diego Fabbrini also featured in the first-team at Stadio Friuli last season, scoring twice in fourteen appearances in Serie A. Ivorian midfielder Thierry Doubaï joins the Hornets after taking to the field just once for Francesco Guidolin's side, while Czech youngster Matej Vydra has featured twice for the Italians.
Right-back Allan Nyom has been contracted to Udinese for the last two years without making an appearance, having been farmed out to Pozzo's other club Granada. The twenty-four year old was a vital part of the Andalusian side's rise to La Liga. Scottish-born winger Ikechi Anya has enjoyed a nomadic route to Vicarage Road, having played for Wycombe and Northampton before joining Glenn Hoddle's Spanish-based academy. The twenty-four year old earned a contract with Granada, who loaned him out to third-tier side Cádiz last season.
Italian centre-back Gabriele Angella is another new addition to Zola's squad. The twenty-three year old was signed by Udinese two years ago and made eight appearances for the side before spending last season on loan with Reggina. Highly-rated defender Neuton was thrown into the starting line-up to face Arsenal in a Champions League qualifier for his Udinese debut but the Brazilian has struggled to hold down a starting place. Further players are expected to arrive in the coming days as Pozzo looks to build a team capable of challenging for promotion.
Dan
Taz.
Cheers man, it feels like ages since I wrote anything. I do miss the old style of stories sometimes.
Taz.
Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone has joined Watford on loan until the end of the season.
The club has also confirmed the arrival of Benfica left-back José Shaffer on a season-long loan, taking Gianfranco Zola's summer signings to an impressive ten players. Mannone, who also spent the second half of last season in the Championship on loan to Hull, is likely to act as Watford's first-choice goalkeeper in the upcoming campaign following long-serving stopper Scott Loach's departure from Vicarage Road.
Mannone had expected to stake a stronger claim for a place in Arsène Wenger's team after Manuel Almunia was released in May but the twenty-four year old was permitted to leave the Emirates Stadium on loan once again. The Italian played twenty-one times for Hull last season in his second spell with the Tigers. He has made just ten competitive appearances for Arsenal since joining as a teenager in 2005.
Shaffer is another player that has struggled for game-time at one of Europe's biggest clubs. The Argentine defender joined Benfica three years ago after impressing in his homeland with Racing Club but he has made only four appearances for the Portuguese giants. The twenty-six year old has spent the past two seasons out on loan. Shaffer was a regular for União Leiria as they were relegated from the Primeira Liga in May.
Taz.
Another set of Udinese players have joined Watford on season-long loans.
The Hornets confirmed the arrival of another four new signings from their Italian partners today. The relationship between Watford and the two other clubs owned by the Pozzo family has drawn attention after eight players joined from Udinese and Granada. Gianfranco Zola's men have taken full advantage of a loophole in Football League rules and now have an impressive total of thirteen international loans.
Swedish international Joel Ekstrand made eighteen appearances for Udinese last season, playing in both legs of their Champions League play-off defeat to Arsenal. The twenty-three year old joined from Helsingborgs in January 2011 and has two caps for his national team. Tricky midfielder Cristian Battocchio also broke into the first-team at Stadio Friuli last season, playing against Celtic in the UEFA Europa League.
Fernando Forestieri has joined the Hornets after three seasons of being loaned out by Udinese. The number ten has already enjoyed spells with Málaga, Empoli and Bari. Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo will become the first man to play for all three Pozzo clubs when he eventually takes to the field for Watford. The twenty-three year old has made over eighty appearances for Granada in the last three seasons.
Taz.
Watford have won the race to sign highly-rated defender Guilherme Siqueira from Granada.
Siqueira, who had been tracked by several Premier League clubs including Everton, Liverpool and Newcastle, was expected to join Atlético Madrid after a fine first season in La Liga with Granada. In a major coup for the ambitious Championship side, the Hornets announced this morning that the twenty-six year old would spend the season on loan at Vicarage Road with a view to a permanent move instead. The Pozzo family own both clubs involved in the deal and have already allowed Ikechi Anya to trade Andalusia for the Home Counties.
Gianfranco Zola's side also confirmed their first permanent signing of the summer today. Watford have splashed out £925,000 to bring Brazilian starlet Adryan to the club from Flamengo in another surprise deal. The seventeen-year old prodigy rose to prominence with Brazil's Under-17 team, winning the Campeonato Sudamericano and reaching the semi-finals of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.
Despite his international success, the midfielder has only made a handful of appearances for Flamengo. The prospect of regular first-team football in the Championship looks to have turned the young talent's head. Adryan has earned comparisons to Kaká and Ronaldinho for his dribbling skills and outrageous set pieces and reportedly turned down a move to Manchester United last summer.
Taz.
Watford have completed the signing of Wolves duo Nenad Milijas and Richard Stearman.
Ståle Solbakken has presided over a summer clear-out after Wolves were relegated to the Championship, telling several of last season's first-team regulars that they were free to leave Molineux. Wolves finished rock bottom of the Premier League in May, winning just five matches and conceding more than eighty goals in a miserable campaign under Mick McCarthy and caretaker boss Terry Connor.
Gianfranco Zola has opted to add some Premier League experience to his ambitious Hornets side, bringing in Stearman on a season-long loan. The twenty-four year old was played mostly as a right-back by McCarthy but is likely to feature as a centre-back with Watford, who already have Lee Hodson and Allan Nyom on their books. Stearman has already played over one hundred games for both Wolves and Leicester.
Milijas becomes Watford's second permanent signing of the summer after a cut-price fee of £125,000 was agreed by the two clubs. The Serbian international has signed a two-year deal with the Hornets. The twenty-nine year old fell out of favour under McCarthy and was mostly used as a late substitute for Wolves last season, starting just six games of his twenty Premier League appearances.
Shedender
Taz.
Cheers, I'm enjoying the save so I'll try to make it last.
Taz.
Watford have completed the signing of midfielder Roberto Pereyra from Udinese.
The twenty-one year old has agreed to move to the Hornets on loan until the end of the season, joining eleven other Udinese players at the club. Pereyra had been earmarked as a star of the future by the Italian side's manager Francesco Guidolin but has now been sent to Vicarage Road for more first-team experience. The Argentine made eleven appearances for Udinese last season, scoring once against Lazio in April.
Pereyra began his professional career in Argentina with River Plate, coming through their academy to make his debut aged eighteen. He featured forty-three times for the Buenos Aires giants before their shocking relegation to the second tier led to a move away. The Argentina Under-20 international signed for Udinese in August 2011 and has produced flashes of talent in his limited time in the starting line-up.
Gianfranco Zola's side have now signed a remarkable nineteen players since their change of ownership in June. The arrival of new owner Gino Pozzo has led to twelve signings from Udinese and two from Granada, who are both owned by Gino's father Giampaolo Pozzo. The Hornets have also recruited Premier League experience in Vito Mannone, Nenad Milijas and Richard Stearman, as well as Brazilian wonderkid Adryan.
Taz.
Watford FC is delighted to announce the signings of four new players.
The club has completed the signings of Rodrigo Battaglia, Luis Muriel, Carlos Darwin Quintero and Alexandros Tziolis.
Battaglia has joined the Hornets from Argentine Primera División side Huracán in a deal worth around £800,000. The twenty-one year old is a talented young defensive midfielder who has represented Argentina at Under-20 level, finishing third in the South American U-20 Championship that took place last summer. Battaglia made his debut for Huracán aged nineteen and quickly claimed a place in the starting line-up, making over sixty first-team appearances across the previous two seasons. He will spend the season on loan at Granada in La Liga.
Colombian youngster Muriel has completed a move worth £1.1million from Serie B club Lecce. The twenty-one year old was spotted by the Pozzo family's network of scouts playing for Deportivo Cali in his home country, where as a teenager he scored nine goals in his first eleven games. The striker is known for his pace and composure and adapted well to playing in Europe, scoring seven goals for Lecce last season despite suffering relegation from Serie A. Muriel will be loaned out to his former club Udinese for the rest of the season.
The Golden Boys have signed highly-rated striker Quintero from Santos Laguna in a £2million deal. The twenty-four year old already has nine caps for Colombia and has played in Russia and Mexico. Quintero made a superb start to his career with his first club Deportivo Tolima, scoring nineteen goals in his first full season and earning a move to Krylia Sovetov. After a year in Russia, he rediscovered his scoring touch in moves to Deportivo Pereira and Santos Laguna, where he won his first ever title in April. Quintero will be loaned out to Granada this season.
Tziolis has signed a five-year deal after he was released by Segunda División side Racing Santander. The twenty-seven year old is an experienced midfielder who played in the 2009 UEFA Cup final for Werder Bremen and has featured in the UEFA Champions League for Panathinaikos. He has represented Greece on thirty-five occasions and played in every minute of his country's appearance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Tziolis, who has also played in Serie A with Siena and in Ligue 2 with Monaco, will return to Spain this season on loan to Granada.
Taz.
Watford FC have released the final list of squad numbers for the upcoming season.
After a summer of much change at Vicarage Road, the list of first-team squad numbers is as follows:
1. Vito MANNONE
2. Lee HODSON
3. José SHAFFER
4. John EUSTACE
5. NEUTON Piccoli
6. Adrian MARIAPPA
7. Mark YEATES
8. Jonathan HOGG
9. Troy DEENEY
11. Fernando FORESTIERI
12. Allan NYOM
14. Nenad MILIJAS
15. Thierry DOUBAÏ
16. Sean MURRAY
17. Richard STEARMAN
18. Guilherme SIQUEIRA
19. Prince BUABEN
20. Matej VYDRA
21. Gabriele ANGELLA
22. Almen ABDI
23. Ikechi ANYA
24. Odion IGHALO
25. Diego FABBRINI
28. Joel EKSTRAND
30. Jonathan BOND
31. Tommie HOBAN
34. Jack BONHAM
37. Roberto PEREYRA
38. Cristian BATTOCCHIO
44. ADRYAN Tavares
Taz.
Gianfranco Zola is hoping for his Hornets side to play with smiles on their faces tomorrow.
After a busy long summer break, Watford will finally kick off the new season with a trip to Bristol City tomorrow afternoon. The Hornets squad is much-changed since the end of the previous campaign and a new head coach is in the dugout. That man is Serie A, UEFA Cup and FA Cup winner Gianfranco Zola and the Italian is calling for his side to build a strong team spirit in the opening months of the season.
"I have no doubt about the quality of the players," the head coach said after the Golden Boys recruited nineteen new faces over the summer. "The biggest challenge is to become a team. If you have no unity and compactness you will struggle in the Championship and this is my priority. We have a lot of new players coming in and they need time to settle. I want them to be there for each other on and off the pitch."
Zola's only injury concerns are two of the handful of remaining first-team squad members from last season. Long-serving centre-back Adrian Mariappa was ruled out of the opening two weeks of the campaign after pulling his hamstring in pre-season training. Midfielder Mark Yeates is also sidelined with a foot injury, meaning up to nine or ten debutants could take to the field for the Hornets at Ashton Gate.
"This is the very first step of the journey," Zola concluded upbeatly. "It is a long season and I am sure we will do well. We have changed a lot of things at the club and I think that is for the better. It will take a while for things to run smoothly but we have a good chance, both against Bristol City and over the rest of the year. Football is unpredictable and a little crazy. We hope that it will be on our side tomorrow."
Taz.
Bristol City stole all three points late on as Watford began the season with a defeat.
Gianfranco Zola named nine debutants in the line-up for the Golden Boys and his side occasionally strugged to find the attacking fluency that the Italian expects from his teams. The new head coach sent out his eleven in a 3-5-2 shape, with Allan Nyom and Guilherme Siqueira bombing down the flanks. The vastly-experienced skipper John Eustace and striker Troy Deeney were the only two of former Hornets manager Sean Dyche's men to keep their places in a lively-looking side. Zola deployed Almen Abdi playing in the hole behind Deeney and Odion Ighalo.
The hosts began the game brightly and Vito Mannone was twice forced into saves in the opening ten minutes. Cole Skuse ran the strings at times against a Hornets midfield that was playing together for the first time and was instrumental in the opening goal. Skuse found Liam Rosenior out wide and debutant Gabriele Angella was the unlucky man who diverted the cross beyond Mannone and into his own net.
After a shaky first half, Zola reshuffled the pack at the break. Ikechi Anya and Matej Vydra offered some much-needed pace in attack and the Golden Boys refused to roll over. Ighalo tested David James after some fine work from Anya, then Abdi drove the ball narrowly over the crossbar. Vydra drew Watford level in the sixty-sixth minute, prodding home after James dropped Anya's cross at his feet.
Vydra and Anya combined well again on the break minutes later and the Czech could have won it for the Hornets. His shot was straight at James and the home side would ultimately punish the Golden Boys. Liam Fontaine clipped the ball down the wing for Nicky Maynard, who left Angella trailing and slotted home. With nothing to lose, Zola urged his men forward and Angella almost earned redemption in added time, only to see his header blocked on the line by Fontaine. The head coach will hope for far more consistent displays over the next nine months.
Taz.
The career of Vítor Manuel Oliveira is one of football's great curiosities.
Little known outside of his native Portugal, a swift glance at Oliveira's lengthy CV would draw you to believe that he was just another job-hopping journeyman, rarely spending more than a season at a club and never coaching one of the big three Portuguese sides. But his 30-year career in management included something that I'm fairly sure is unparalleled in football.
Oliveira won a staggering 11 promotions to the Primeira Liga, including an extraordinary run of five promotions with five different clubs from 2013 to 2017. He became known as O rei das subidas - the King of Promotions - a wily old manager drafted in by teams in the Segunda Liga looking to reach the top flight, finding success from Moreirense in the north to Portimonense in the south.
In an interview republished in 2020 after his sudden death aged only 67, Oliveira shared his most important principles. He always signed one-year contracts, often staying for only his first season at a club, and avoided joining teams in the middle of the campaign where possible. Oliveira saw his responsibility as fulfilling a club's potential and favoured strong squads that didn't require much rebuilding.
Tactically, he prioritised flexibility and pragmatism, adapting to the challenges of each opponent. Oliveira also made the most of the assets that were already at a club, typically working with the technical team left behind by his predecessor, and kept spending in the transfer market to a minimum. He jokingly referred to himself as the cheapest coach in Portugal for his ability to deliver on a budget.
In this career, my goal is to match Oliveira's incredible tally of 11 promotions to the Primeira Liga. Each season, I'll aim to finish in the top two of a tightly-contested, 16-team league that lasts 30 games. There are no play-offs, which means the margin of error is even lower.
I was lucky enough to catch a game in the Segunda Liga between Marítimo and Torreense while I was on holiday in Madeira last year, but I'm going into a competition I otherwise know very little about. Along with the main goal of the save, I'm keen to immerse myself in the world of Portuguese football and coach a wide variety of teams on this long and challenging journey.
Taz.
Meet João Sousa, the heir apparent to the King of Promotions and my character for this career.
Hailing from the suburb of Sintra around 30km outside of Lisbon, João is a former lower-league journeyman midfielder who has risen through the ranks as a reserve team coach for various sides before taking the plunge into management.
Alongside regular monthly recaps, I'll be updating his progress on the above tracker after the end of each campaign.