Tbf he has gone no more stick than other players over the years such as cavare, Thiam, Victor, Cole even Jacob brown got alot of stick on here and he was a good player for us.
Definitely not Cole was a scapegoat for quite sometime even on this thread people still having digs at him after finishing top scorer and suggesting we drop him for watters. Still time for watters to turn it round (3 and half years potentially) hopefully he can apply himself and start impacting games more.
Interesting to see Watters has continued with his decent conversion rate - 36% is better than most of the league's top goalscorers Four goals from five shots on target. The obvious issue is he's had 11 shots in 25 games, reflecting how little he seems to get involved.
Look at Rashford this year compared to last when he got 30 goals, the difference between a good and bad player is often mental. Any footballer who has come out to discuss their demons from Aaron Lennon, to Calvert-Lewin to Pogba has linked their poor form to mental wellbeing. I'm not saying Watters is suddenly going to be a superstar, but he does seem to really lack confidence on the pitch. If he can get that sorted and start imposing himself on games we might see a very different player.
To be fair, the clear majority on this thread seemed to be pleased with us signing him at the time. Small sample size admittedly.
And for balance, some of us know what we're talking about https://www.barnsleyfc.org.uk/threads/james-norwood.323789/page-10#post-3156725
I thought he'd do OK to be fair - shows what I know. It's a good job that Cole is having the season he has, otherwise we'd be completely done for. Hopefully he can carry this on, because historically he has never come close to what he'll achieve this season.
I wasn't impressed with his loan spell but felt there was a player in there somewhere. So I wouldn't have personally gone back for him. But then we don't know what targets were available. Far from pulling up any trees and it's difficult to justify the contract length he's been given. But maybe he needs a decent run of games. As it stands neither him or Cosgrove have had that, but we can't be sat waiting around for them to get going either. It's the other end of the pitch that needs addressing first and foremost
As for Cole getting wrote off he had a good season last season and another good one this. He is abit like Alfie May who have both started scoring more regular later in there careers. I doubt either would get many in the championship.
Considering how many good and excellent signings we make, I think a few bad ones (if that's what Watters turns out to be) can be allowed / expected.
There have been more than a few bad ones tbf, particularly strikers. Oulare, Iseka, Shaw, Dallas, Watters. The next ones won’t be until summer but we’re due a couple of good uns for sure….
