Struber to Watford ?

https://theathletic.com/1962403/202...i-tel-aviv/?amp#click=https://t.co/IzKk7ChhWB

Article is written by one of the Sky Sports News presenters who’s a Watford fan so he’ll probably have some credible sources.

Wouldn’t blame GS if this job interested him just hope he sees he can build something special with the Reds !

 

He will be on the list I would guess but twitter thinking that the other name mentioned Vlademir Ivic is the favorite currently, will have to hope we can hold onto him.

 

We'll we do sell our decent players, so the coach also must be fair game..

 

Be sacked by Xmas there! Good luck to him though if Watford willing to pay release clause and he wants to go!

 

The Athletic can reveal two of the candidates who have been approached by Watford to take over as head coach: Barnsley manager Gerhard Struber and former Maccabi Tel Aviv and PAOK head coach Vladimir Ivic.

Watford first contacted Struber about replacing Nigel Pearson before their final match of the season against Arsenal. The Austrian — who it is understood would be interested in the position — took over at Oakwell in November 2019 and managed to guide Barnsley to safety in the Championship on the last day with victory at play-off finalists Brentford.

Struber’s contract at Barnsley includes a release clause in the region of £1-2 million, which Watford would have to pay if they wanted him to take over. The 43-year-old has also had other offers: one from an unnamed club in the Championship and two in Holland’s Eredivisie, which are also being considered at the moment, as well as the option of staying at Barnsley and building on what he started.

After ending his playing career in 2008 and getting a job in software systems, Struber rose up through the coaching ranks at Red Bull Salzburg, with roles with the under-15s to under-19s. His first head coach role came at Liefring in his native Austria in June 2017 before moving to Wolfsberger in the top division in the summer of 2019.

Struber moved to Barnsley last November and kept them up against the odds with an attractive style — winning their final two games against Nottingham Forest and promotion-chasing Brentford, a last-gasp victory on the final night of the season.

Ivic and his representatives have also received an approach from Watford and held initial talks with a view to taking over at Vicarage Road. The Serbian, who has won back-to-back league titles with Maccabi Tel Aviv and has experience of managing in the Europa League and Champions League, left the club earlier this month, despite the offer of a contract extension. He is currently at his home in Greece with his family, waiting to see if that initial contact develops into more formal negotiations in Italy or London with the Watford hierarchy this weekend or early next week.

Having finished his playing career in Salonica in 2012, Ivic had a promising youth-coaching role prior to stepping up to manage the senior team in 2016-17. He took over from Igor Tudor, who was recently in charge of the Pozzo family’s other footballing interest, Udinese. In Ivic’s first season, PAOK won the Greek Cup for the first time in 14 years.

Even though Watford are now a Championship club, it’s understood that Ivic, who demands his teams to be organised and disciplined whilst being happy to promote youth, views the job as an opportunity to make a mark in English football for the first time. He has recently turned down lucrative offers from Turkey, understood to have included Trabzonspor. The former attacking midfielder played the majority of his football with Partizan Belgrade before spells at Borussia Monchengladbach and AEK Athens — where his older brother Ilija is director of football — before spending nine years as a player then coach at PAOK.

Gino Pozzo and his scouting network has been tracking Ivic for a while and the Italian owner is once again taking a hands-on approach to appointing a new head coach to ensure Watford have the best chance of bouncing back to the Premier League at the first attempt. The appointment of either Ivic, Struber or other candidates on the club’s radar is likely to see an acceleration next week, with Watford keen to have someone in place before the players return from a three-week break in mid-August.

The process of restructuring the environment around the new head coach is also progressing, with talks continuing with a potential new sporting director Cristiano Giaretta. Eric Roy — who previously held the role — is now understood to have vacated that position. It’s unclear at this stage whether technical director Filippo Giraldi will remain in his role or be moved to a different position, perhaps concentrating purely on scouting, after the reshuffle is complete.

 

10/1 with sky bet

 

If we let him go today, there is a chance he will be back by August. Win / win.

 

If he goes he'll last eighteen months, at the very maximum. No doubt he'd receive a life changing sum of money, so I genuinely couldn't fault him if he did move.

 

I'm sure any money under a release clause would be a pittance to watford. If he went there he'd be paid more by xmas than he would in 3 years at Barnsley. Well worth the sacking

 

So as it stands then we don't know what division we will be in next season. One assistant not returned after lock down, the other supposedly returned to Austria in another coaching role. Watford supposedly in for Struber, Murray for head coach it is then

 

If he goes he goes with my best wishes. If Wigan lose their appeal he will be hailed as the Head Coach who masterminded the great escape and at least we got some compensation. If Wigan win their appeal in some quarters he'll be lamented as the foreign manager who presided over our relegation to League 1 and no better than Jose Morais in terms of footballing achievement.He played Woodrow out of position...yadda yadda

 

The revolving door of the Watford manager’s office can be summed up by the fact that one show on Talksport had a “Watford manager of the year” award.

If he plays it right he could get 3 years pay for 6 months work.

 

If they do steal Struber, lets go for the other guy they have in the running Ivic. Been doing some googling about him after seeing him linked to Watford and he has a good record and the more I read about him the more I think he sounds ace. If he doesn't get that job and we lose GS lets get him.

 

Yeah, that sounds realistic.

 

He'd be mad to imo. Basket case owners and served them right being relegated after sacking Pearson

 

Watford must be thinking they are in for a relegation battle next season - so they going for experience

 

I wonder if he'd give another Oscar winning performance if he got them up.