Spanish or Italian..?

[Tinrib]

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/ ... next_week/



Watford boss Rodgers off to Spain and Italy to see transfer targets
9:20am Friday 8th May 2009


By Frank Smith »

Brendan Rodgers will be flying out to Spain and Italy in the next week in search of possible Watford signings.

The Hornets manager and some of the coaching staff will leave for Barcelona tomorrow to meet up with a few of Rodgers’ contacts in Spain and have a look at a number of transfer targets.

The Northern Irishman will then be joined by Watford chairman and vice-chairman Jimmy and Vince Russo as they visit Rodgers’ mentor and friend Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan in Italy.

Although Rodgers said he is keen to meet up with Mourinho on a personal note, he will be on the lookout for possible transfer targets.

He said: “It will be good to see how he works out there – that should be interesting to see how he has adapted his work. And his knowledge of players in Italy is obviously very good.

“And I will speak with people there at Inter Milan to see what the possibilities are and to see if the players are good enough.

“Sometimes there are big name clubs but there are not many players who could fit into what you are doing here.

“So it is personal and also there will be some good football chat about the possibilities, if there are any.”

Rodgers was at Chelsea for four years and has previously expressed his desire to take advantage of his network of contacts around the world.

The 36-year-old is adamant though, that the core of the Watford team will always remain British, but due to the lack of funds at the club, he has admitted buying from abroad is an appealing attraction.

Rodgers said: “Economically it is obviously cheaper [to buy from Spain] and that is the market we are in because we do not have a great deal of money to spend.

“So a core of English and British will always be the basis because that is the game here and that is what we need to retain.

“Then it will be about getting in quality players. Because I worked at an international club like Chelsea, I have a lot of contacts, I want to exploit that and look at players.

“Those type of players will know how I work and function because that is how they work in those countries.”

Rodgers is likely to target the loan market once more this summer due to the lack of funds, but the Hornets boss has been given some money to spend on permanent signings.

He praised Swansea City for their transfer dealings and used loanee Jordi Gomez and permanent signing Angel Rangel as examples of the type of player Watford may target.

But he reiterated that fans do not have to worry about a host of Spaniards taking over Vicarage Road.

Rodgers said: “It is about getting the mix right and I believe we will get the mix right here. It is about getting a sprinkling and we have already got a bit of that with players like Tamas Priskin.

“For me it is about getting a balance between artists and soldiers. You cannot have all artists and you cannot have all soldiers.

“So I will be looking to get that balance between the players who can make a difference, because you need that, and the soldiers, who will give you that steel.

“The overall package, like I have said to the players, is that quality is very important and intelligence is important to me and physical speed is important. So it is a case of looking for players in that mould.

“If that is players from Spain, Italy or Hungary then we will do that but the core will always be English and British,” the Watford boss added.

[Deathy]

LOLz at flying out with his Watford staff... and "The Watford manager said..."

Interesting if he keeps those plans. "Jose, how you been mate? Who can I have on loan then my gr8 m8?"

[Barry the bird boggler]

LOLz at flying out with his Watford staff... and "The Watford manager said..."

Interesting if he keeps those plans. "Jose, how you been mate? Who can I have on loan then my gr8 m8?"

Could work both ways, perhaps Jose might want to take Stephen Hunt on loan....

[Deathy]

LOLz at flying out with his Watford staff... and "The Watford manager said..."

Interesting if he keeps those plans. "Jose, how you been mate? Who can I have on loan then my gr8 m8?"

Could work both ways, perhaps Jose might want to take Stephen Hunt on loan....

LOL

[Terminal Boardom]

LOLz at flying out with his Watford staff... and "The Watford manager said..."

Interesting if he keeps those plans. "Jose, how you been mate? Who can I have on loan then my gr8 m8?"

Could work both ways, perhaps Jose might want to take Stephen Hunt on loan....

I am sure that he would want to Cech that out.

[Millsy]

LOLz at flying out with his Watford staff... and "The Watford manager said..."

Interesting if he keeps those plans. "Jose, how you been mate? Who can I have on loan then my gr8 m8?"

Could work both ways, perhaps Jose might want to take Stephen Hunt on loan....

I am sure that he would want to Cech that out.

Would be a cracking deal.

[Ian Royal]

We'd certainly have a knees up.

[SteveRoyal]

Italian for defense, Spanish for midfield and strike. Done.