Goalkeeper Ben Foster cost 3.5m and Jose Holebas 2.5m. Date: 27/07/2020 By: Watford FC Statement from Hornets' Owner and Chairman & CEO . Picture: Holly Cant. This is a risky strategy. The secret is that we will move quicker, says Duxbury. A Gannett Company. Comments have been closed on this article. However, in reality the head coach is naturally involved in discussions but the key is he is one cog of the mechanism not the entire engine. For primary use with Football Manager 2021. No matter that the team had recently made a great start to the season, winning their first four games. . Duxbury calls them absolute nonsense. As we chat, ravenous players filter in following a training session. Suggested targets are whittled down to two or three and presented to Duxbury, Giraldi and Pozzo, who are based at the clubs training ground. He worked with former Manchester United director Maurice Watkins at James Chapman and Co and was seconded to the Red Devils. Scott Duxbury speaking after Watford were promoted to the Premier League. Watford have also had their share of regulatory problems. Was a manager in his own right, for HNK Orijent 1919 in Croatia, before linking up with Bilic at Al-Ittihad, West Brom and Beijing Guoan. Their greatest finds include Chilean striker Alexis Snchez, who has gone on to play for European superpowers such as Barcelona, Arsenal and Manchester United. My continued very best wishes, on behalf of everyone here at Watford Football Club, to you and your families. Speaking to the club's matchday broadcast Hive Live after the game, the chairman explained just how difficult things had been throughout the last season with no matchday revenuedue to the coronavirus outbreak and said the achievement meant "everything" to him. We have to be scrupulously honest with ourselves and admit our efforts surrounding the team were not good enough. If we think a players good enough, we will sign him regardless, says Duxbury. "He has done it before. The company made a turnover of $297 billion in 2011. Watford can now afford the price tags attached to better-known players. Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) May 9, 2020 Watford, who are 17th in the league and only above the relegation zone on goal difference, beat runway leaders Liverpool in a shock victory at their Vicarage Road ground in February -- a result Duxbury says was influenced by . Was a goalkeeper in his homeland, playing more than 300 senior games, before moving into coaching with Como and then Udinese, Watford's sister club. If you look at the world in front of you, there is somewhere a better player than [the one] you are chasing., The same approach applies to managers. Qualified as a lawyer and worked in that capacity for West Ham before becoming their chief executive. The Pozzos have faced more serious allegations. Only then can they benefit from a share of the Premier Leagues broadcasting contracts, worth a combined 8bn. To find out what Watford do differently, I travelled to their training ground just off the northern edge of the M25 motorway, Londons ring road. He is the managing director of Vitol, a Geneva-based oil trading company. Born on 1st March 1972. To pretend the league situation is anything other than it is would be futile the stark reality of the Premier League table bears witness to that. Duxbury recalls: I said to Filippo, Is he any good? [Giraldi] went, Yes, hes phenomenal, Scott, but its got to be a joke, how on earth can we do this?, I phone West Ham. The head coach will say, for example, he wants a winger with pace who can play on both flanks and the scouting team will look for someone who meets those needs. Then, Pozzo, Giraldi and Duxbury draw up lists of around four desirable players in each position, as well as tallies of younger targets that could eventually graduate into the side. The company made a turnover of $297 billion in 2011. It is the breadth of Watfords scouts and contacts that allows them to utilise the market so well and find value where others cannot. We use Duxbury responded Sir Elton texts most days and always gets a reply but politely declined the advice. cookies They have bought Watford solely so it can become an established Premier League club. He is the managing director of Vitol, a Geneva-based oil trading company. I have to try to offer the best performance we have and to get better results.. Joined Watford in August 2022. Has one Premier League football club cracked the system for trading talent? We wait until he gets his national qualifying games, and then he can come to us., I never fall in love with a player. Truth be told there is a myth about Watfords transfer set-up. We cannot suggest for one moment you havent tried to play your part. According to their recent accounts, the clubs net spend the difference between outlays on transfers minus fees received from selling players has been about 30m a season since re-entering the Premier League. On Monday, Pozzo and Duxbury added: "Every club wants to be playing at the highest possible level. It's surreal. Overseas players are attracted to Watford as it gives them an invaluable shop window into Europes top leagues, a platform from which they can convince bigger clubs to acquire them. But it will be the trio of Duxbury, Nani and Zola who will run the club, on and off the pitch. If he leaves, he can be replaced and the whole system does not fall apart. Has been at Watford since 2012, when the Pozzo family took over, and is a key figure on both the football and business sides of the club. And only just. However, he was also sacked with just two matches remaining, with under-23s boss Hayden Mullins put in charge, but back-to-back defeats condemned the Hornets to the Championship next season. Instead, Watford appear to deploy a series of trading strategies that mean their recruitment choices are smarter and more bankable than their rivals: At 4.50pm on August9 2018, 10 minutes before the closure of the summer transfer window, a period in which players can be traded between clubs, Duxbury received a call. They try to keep the identity of the club, so I think Watford fans should be really encouraged. The only place youll be able to find fresh content from throughout the club, including behind-the-scenes access at training, interviews with stars past and present and all the best action from each and every Watford FC Premier League game. Duxbury has spent most of his adult life involved in football after qualifying as a lawyer. Get involved in exciting, inspiring conversations. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Watford get a good fee, the player gets his move and the system kicks into life again. How the biggest companies plan mass lay-offs, The benefits of revealing neurodiversity in the workplace, Tim Peake: I do not see us having a problem getting to Mars, Michelle Yeoh: Finally we are being seen, Our ski trip made me question my life choices, Apocalypse then: lessons from history in tackling climate shocks, How data analysis helps football clubs make better signings. British businessman and board member of Watford FC, David Fransen has a net worth of$104.26 million. They leave the management to myself, Gian Luca and Gianfranco, but we know they are always there if we need help and support.. Watford's five-year top-flight stay ended after a 3-2 loss at Arsenal and Aston Villa's draw against West Ham. Yet, there is scant evidence that even the best scouts can guarantee sure-fire hits. Won 44 caps for Croatia and played for clubs including Everton and West Ham. They should not be competing in the Champions League but it is only because of the expertise of the Pozzos and the infrastructure they have developed that they are doing it year in and year out. Sociology graduate student at the Ohio State University. Vicarage Roads 21,000 capacity is little more than a quarter ofManchester Uniteds Old Trafford. That is what we are all working towards.. Their regular defence this season, for example, cost around 6million, with Kiko Femenia, Craig Cathcart and Adrian Mariappa all signed for free. MX23RW : Tuesday, February 14 23:28:01| >> :600:110613:110613: Arsenal . A few weeks ago, SirElton John, international pop star, sent a message to Scott Duxbury, chief executive of Watford football club. Duxbury has spent most of his adult life involved in football after qualifying as a lawyer. These are parts of our football club's daily life too seldom spoken about. Having sold Granada two years ago, the Pozzos are considering the purchase of a lower-league Spanish club to build their network once again. Get involved in exciting, inspiring conversations with other readers. Was U23 physio for a year before becoming Head of Medical at Peterborough in June 2018. Our players and coaching staff have gone into the team hotel earlier than scheduled to take away all other distractions and ensure the sole focus hones in on delivering a performance that our supporters can be proud of this afternoon. Though there is a desire to develop other parts of Watfords business, from expanding their stadium and seeking sponsorship deals, the obsession is trading players. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. One strategy is to use the loan market to their advantage. "There were other clubs they spoke to but none really had the history of Watford and quite frankly the potential. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. A couple of seasons later he was a battle-hardened attacker ready to play in Italy. It is unfashionable and it is small. We have to accept a different challenge.". His time at Upton Park was controversial though, with the club fined 30m because of the Carlos Tevez affair, and he left in 2010 when David Gold and David Sullivan took over. But fortunes changed under Nigel Pearson and the former Leicester boss guided Watford out of the relegation zone with seven victories and 25 points from his 20 games in charge. David Fransen life-long fan of the Championship football club, Watford FC and a non-executive director of the club since 2009. That system is headed up by Duxbury, owner Gino Pozzo and technical director Filippo Giraldi. They watch matches, then attempt to decipher which players have what it takes. I want them to achieve the best that they could possibly do in their career. Over the course of a decade, he held trials for five million children across Africa, Latin America and south-east Asia. Duxbury has assumed a similar role at Watford to the one he held at West Ham, where he was criticised for his part in the Carlos Tevez affair. Duxbury explained: The Pozzos were quite clear that they wanted a London club because they saw that as a real attraction in terms of signing players and growing. A subsequent EFL inquiry found that the owner was unaware of the document and the club had not gained a competitive advantage. But for a club with Watfords limited resources survival is the primary objective (the bottom three teams each season are relegated). The Watford hierarchy have said their "efforts surrounding the team were not good enough" following the Hornets' relegation from the Premier League on the final day of the season. They cannot afford to purchase established stars as fans prefer. By James Walters. Given the clubs faith in their scouting network, they are not fearful of players leaving and as such they can be upfront to them when they join. Simple in theory. Raffaele Riva resigned as executive chairman over the incident. But they also know most players found by scouts will not succeed. Scouts have been used to identify players for decades. Editors' Code of Practice. Watford get a good fee, the player gets his move and the system kicks into life again. Players leaving doesnt concern me, he told talkSPORT. In a chaotic campaign, the club had four different managers. In 1986, his father Giampaolo bought Italian club Udinese with money from the familys toolmaking company. Javier Gracia and Quique Sanchez Flores were both dismissed after they managed one Premier League win in 14 matches between them. Of the 28 teams to have played in the Premier League in the past three years, only four have bought a lower percentage of players from the British Isles, according to 21st Club. The ability to make such speedy decisions stems from extensive planning. . NORWICH CITY Sporting Director Stuart Webber admits his long-term future may not be in football after revealing the abuse he has experienced from some sections of the clubs fanbase in the last year. There is an assumption the head coach just sits there as players come and go like diners at a buffet. The likelihood is that any team that are consistently among the lowest spending in the division will eventually have a bad season. They just want to do a deal because they know theyre going to lose him in January, [so] we have a guy in a car park with 10 minutes to go before the window closes., Duxbury spoke to Pozzo, who instantly gave the green light.