[NoSkillz]

Wed. July 27, 2022

Preseason Friendly
Watford (England Championship) vs. Dover
Vicarage Road, Watford, UK

Watford have been a Championship constant, having been in the division since 2007/08, with finishes as high as fourth during that period but no promotions to the Premier League since the 2006/07 season.

We'll be starting a bit of a weaker side but still formidable. Striker Paul Moses, who has been on international duty with England's U19 team, is back and will start for the first time today alongside Zoltan Bardi. Mancini will start in the midfield and Kostas Kalfas will play right midfield. Kostas Zagos is playing left fullback and Daniel Traore is in the middle of the defence.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - K. Zagos, D. Traore, P. Tjiuoro, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, Mancini, A. Rocca, K. Kalfas
S - P. Moses, Z. Bardi

Watford 0 - 10 Dover
Goals - Paul Moses 5 (10.0), Zoltan Bardi 3 (9.7), Rogelio Garcia (7.2), Mike Powell OG
Assists - Kostas Kalfas 3 (9.3), Arsene Bamba 2 (9.2), Daniel Traore (8.8), Andrea Rocca (8.9), Mancini (8.8), Paul Moses, Zoltan Bardi
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.3), Salim Loucif (8.5), Paulus Tjiuoro (8.5), Kostas Zagos (8.6)
Attendance - 9,731

I've never seen anything like this. Paul Moses scored five goals in the first 22 minutes alone!!! He is absolutely sensational. We had eight goals by half time and put the brakes on after that. We'd actually only hold 46% of possession but we outshot them 26-2 (15-0). Moses is supposed to be my THIRD STRINGER!!!



Loans OUT

-- It's a little bit risky but after the game, I accept a loan deal that sees third string right midfielder Kostas Kalfas head to Sheffield Wednesday on a season-long loan. The deal was too good to pass up - they are paying me £2 million up front for the loan, paying his wages obviously and also have an £8.5 million buyout clause if they decide to keep him. Kalfas has great intangibles and excellent size but his lack of speed hurts him in our system. I'm a bit worried about only having two right mids on my roster right now in Gianluca Bolis and newcomer Graham Allan but I'm guessing Said Henni can play there in a pinch.

-- We also are happy to see new striker signing Rogelio Garcia accept a season-long loan to Sporting CP in Portugal. Garcia has great pace and talent and he's definitely a candidate to be sold in the future but could also make an impact with our senior team as a backup at some point as well.



-- Our next three preseason friendlies have all been selected for television, as we'll be hosting Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Real Madrid all at Crabble Athletic Ground over the next week.



International Duty

-- One of the young U18's I signed this offseason, Unisa Wright, plays for Sierra Leone's U20 team and does well. Wright also has three caps for their senior club but he's a middling prospect at best.



Season Ticket Update

-- We've officially eclipsed last season's totals, as we reach 4562 packages sold and we still expect to sell close to 4900 before the season begins.



August Update

-- We have four more friendlies this month before opening up our Premier League schedule on the road versus Everton. We have two other Premier League games this month, with a home contest versus Tottenham and a road matchup against Sunderland.

-- DC Claudio Contreras and two reserve team players, MC Jonathan Gauthier and GK Louis Read all trained well in July while Damian Thorne and Phil Whitbread from the U18s also get positive notices. Ingo Wilke and MC Jamie Matthews failed to impress - Wilke should be a bit more motivated with a fine young keeper now threatening his playing time and I have a chat with him about his training room dedication…or lack thereof.



August Board Confidence Update

-- The board are very pleased with my overall leadership of the team. Our stature increase is the positive and the departure of Youssouf Sylla is a slight disappointment.

-- We lost £17.14 million last month. Ouch.



Bonus Clause Buyout

-- We sold U18 midfielder Frankie Taylor to Tranmere in 2020 for £100,000 and we built in a 25% sell-on clause. We're given the opportunity to buy out that clause for £182,000 and I can't push accept quick enough! Free money! Taylor has been pretty good for them, notching 7 goals and 8 assists last year in 33 games.



Next Up

-- We have a three-game home stand start with a matchup against Italian Serie A side Fiorentina as we hit the second half of our preseason schedule.