Loans allow Watford to dream of the high life | The Times
Some we know, but adds info on PL rules etc.
Some we know, but adds info on PL rules etc.
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Interesting piece on Watford - free to view (for now) on The Times
- Thread starter Wozza
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ees complicated no?
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Shuggie
Well-known member
Not that it matters ... they ain't going up.
But I know a team that is
Loans allow Watford to dream of the high life
Gary JacobApril 19 2013 11:04AM
Watford’s transfer policy has caused plenty of controversy this season but the rumpus is likely to get a lot more heated very soon. Essentially, the club have packed their squad with loan players who have carried them to a whisker of being promoted to the Premier League. Ten of these players come from Udinese and Granada, the same club owned by the Pozzo family, who bought Watford in June last year.
But scratch a bit deeper and you find that Watford could be promoted to the top flight via the play-offs and be unable to sign players. The club were handed a transfer embargo in March for financial misconduct by the previous owner, which will last until after the end of the transfer window this summer.
The problem is acute. Watford’s playing staff will be roughly halved, leaving the club with about a dozen players, because they will not be able to re-sign the 13 players currently on loan.
Watford would need special permission from the Premier League to be able to bring in players and it is reasonable to assume that those teams threatened by the drop from the top flight next season will be unhappy if consent were to be granted. It could be a spicy argument.
Clubs are already angry at Watford and the Football League plans to change its rules on loans at the summer conference. Clubs will be asked to vote on allowing teams to name only five loan players in an 18-man match-day squad. At present, a Championship club can sign five players on loan from rivals in this country and an unlimited number of players on temporary deals from overseas. The latter are called “temporary transfers”, not loans.
The change in the rules will mean that the two types of deal are effectively merged. The League feels, based on its past experience, that it is better to limit the number of loan players that can be played in a game rather than restricting the total number at a club. The thinking is that, realistically, a team will not carry a load more loan players than are able to play. Additionally, there were more stringent rules on the number of loans in place in the past, but they were relaxed.
If the new rules are passed and Watford are not promoted, they can persist with their approach, but they will not get the same advantages they have done this season.
Things are different if they go up, however. Premier League rules allow clubs to sign four players on loan, and two at any one time, from another team in this country (“domestic” loan) but there are no limits on the overseas “temporary transfers”. See section V7, page 180, of the League rules.
Will the Southamptons and Wigan Athletics be happy if the Premier League waive the transfer embargo and Watford are flooded with temporary transfers? Doubt it. And will Watford, if promoted, become a target for better players to arrive from Udinese and Granada with a view to being sold on? Or have the owners found a quick way to the top, giving them the opportunity to sell a “Premier League franchise”, even if the team need a lot of rebuilding?
Watford have not broken the rules by importing so many loan players, but they are in breach of the spirit. Other clubs are unhappy that Watford’s wage bill is lower than it should be because Udinese and Granada are paying some of the salaries of the players on loan.
However, they are not the first club to have used loan players to be challenge for promotion. Cardiff City tried and failed in recent seasons – until now.
Counting the cost of the transfer market
Despite widespread perception, agents were involved in only 19 per cent of all transfers in the world last year but the proportion jumps to 44 per cent when a transfer fee was paid. They acted for a player in only 15 per cent of all deals in the world but the proportions have jumped sharply from 2011 and clearly the picture is skewed by countries and divisions. Agent fees were highest in England, at £38.6 million, nearly one-and-a-half times as much as Italy.
They are among some of the statistics produced by Fifa this week. Also surprising, maybe, is that Italian clubs paid the highest average annual salary $720,000 (£470,000), compared with in England $680,000 (£444,000).
Some 70 per cent of transfers in the world are for players who are out of contract. The comparison figure in the Premier League last summer was 21 per cent, according to statistics produced by Bill Edgar and myself in The Times.
Only 10 per cent of moves involved a player moving for a fee. It was about 70 per cent in the Premier League last summer, according to Times statistics.
There were 11,552 transfers worldwide, a 1 per cent increase. Brazilian clubs took part in 11 per cent of all deals; English clubs in 8.5 per cent.
But I know a team that is
Loans allow Watford to dream of the high life
Gary JacobApril 19 2013 11:04AM
Watford’s transfer policy has caused plenty of controversy this season but the rumpus is likely to get a lot more heated very soon. Essentially, the club have packed their squad with loan players who have carried them to a whisker of being promoted to the Premier League. Ten of these players come from Udinese and Granada, the same club owned by the Pozzo family, who bought Watford in June last year.
But scratch a bit deeper and you find that Watford could be promoted to the top flight via the play-offs and be unable to sign players. The club were handed a transfer embargo in March for financial misconduct by the previous owner, which will last until after the end of the transfer window this summer.
The problem is acute. Watford’s playing staff will be roughly halved, leaving the club with about a dozen players, because they will not be able to re-sign the 13 players currently on loan.
Watford would need special permission from the Premier League to be able to bring in players and it is reasonable to assume that those teams threatened by the drop from the top flight next season will be unhappy if consent were to be granted. It could be a spicy argument.
Clubs are already angry at Watford and the Football League plans to change its rules on loans at the summer conference. Clubs will be asked to vote on allowing teams to name only five loan players in an 18-man match-day squad. At present, a Championship club can sign five players on loan from rivals in this country and an unlimited number of players on temporary deals from overseas. The latter are called “temporary transfers”, not loans.
The change in the rules will mean that the two types of deal are effectively merged. The League feels, based on its past experience, that it is better to limit the number of loan players that can be played in a game rather than restricting the total number at a club. The thinking is that, realistically, a team will not carry a load more loan players than are able to play. Additionally, there were more stringent rules on the number of loans in place in the past, but they were relaxed.
If the new rules are passed and Watford are not promoted, they can persist with their approach, but they will not get the same advantages they have done this season.
Things are different if they go up, however. Premier League rules allow clubs to sign four players on loan, and two at any one time, from another team in this country (“domestic” loan) but there are no limits on the overseas “temporary transfers”. See section V7, page 180, of the League rules.
Will the Southamptons and Wigan Athletics be happy if the Premier League waive the transfer embargo and Watford are flooded with temporary transfers? Doubt it. And will Watford, if promoted, become a target for better players to arrive from Udinese and Granada with a view to being sold on? Or have the owners found a quick way to the top, giving them the opportunity to sell a “Premier League franchise”, even if the team need a lot of rebuilding?
Watford have not broken the rules by importing so many loan players, but they are in breach of the spirit. Other clubs are unhappy that Watford’s wage bill is lower than it should be because Udinese and Granada are paying some of the salaries of the players on loan.
However, they are not the first club to have used loan players to be challenge for promotion. Cardiff City tried and failed in recent seasons – until now.
Counting the cost of the transfer market
Despite widespread perception, agents were involved in only 19 per cent of all transfers in the world last year but the proportion jumps to 44 per cent when a transfer fee was paid. They acted for a player in only 15 per cent of all deals in the world but the proportions have jumped sharply from 2011 and clearly the picture is skewed by countries and divisions. Agent fees were highest in England, at £38.6 million, nearly one-and-a-half times as much as Italy.
They are among some of the statistics produced by Fifa this week. Also surprising, maybe, is that Italian clubs paid the highest average annual salary $720,000 (£470,000), compared with in England $680,000 (£444,000).
Some 70 per cent of transfers in the world are for players who are out of contract. The comparison figure in the Premier League last summer was 21 per cent, according to statistics produced by Bill Edgar and myself in The Times.
Only 10 per cent of moves involved a player moving for a fee. It was about 70 per cent in the Premier League last summer, according to Times statistics.
There were 11,552 transfers worldwide, a 1 per cent increase. Brazilian clubs took part in 11 per cent of all deals; English clubs in 8.5 per cent.
Good article
Might just be me but have no problem with it . They operate within the rules so anyone can and prob will try to replicate .
We don't really need to try this but I know if 2 years ago someone said we would do this but be 3 rd in league , do you accept ? To bloody right I would .
Might just be me but have no problem with it . They operate within the rules so anyone can and prob will try to replicate .
We don't really need to try this but I know if 2 years ago someone said we would do this but be 3 rd in league , do you accept ? To bloody right I would .
Not just you, i think the owners have been very shrewd & clever. Granada were in 3rd tier of Spanish football when they took them over & are now in La Liga. Should Watford get promoted, they'll have a team in each of the top 3 leagues for a fraction of the investment usually required.
Mind you, if they don't go up this year and the FL change the rules, they will be shafted next year with the transfer embargo. They'd have to bring in 5 very good loan signings and hope they stay fit!