Ollie Watkins

[Banksy]

We will get big wonga for this one in the next six months or so.Look at the publicity Ollie is starting to get. Saw an advert on Sky just ten minutes ago advertising the Brentford v Swansea game on over Christmas .Lots of clips with Ollie’s face appearing half a dozen times.All we need is a nice little bidding war , you know what the Premiership is like when it gets its hooks into something. Come on Ollie , score a couple of pre Christmas goals.
And Ampadu still sits on the bench while we wait for any crumbs from that deal!

 

[Anonymous]

To be fair, even while they were here Watkins really did the business for us while Ampadu just kind of waved his arms around. If I were a premiership manager I know which one I would spunk 25 million quid on and it ain't a defensively minded player whose name could fit neatly into the Aga-Doo song.

 

[Boyo]

To be fair, even while they were here Watkins really did the business for us while Ampadu just kind of waved his arms around. If I were a premiership manager I know which one I would spunk 25 million quid on and it ain't a defensively minded player whose name could fit neatly into the Aga-Doo song.

That's harsh on Ampadu. He was 15-16 years old when he played for us and was often one of the better players on the pitch. He was fully committed and always tried his hardest for us. It was no surprise he attracted interest from some of the best Clubs in the country. The ridiculous transfer rules are not his fault and by all accounts he and his family did their best to ensure ECFC received as much compensation as possible. When Chelsea come calling and they offer you wages that are 10+ times higher than what you are currently earning, then no one realistically is going to say 'no'.

Ampadu is 19 now, has played a few times for Chelsea and for Leipzig, and is a regular for Wales. When Ollie was 19 he was on loan at Weston Super Mare.

 

[John William]

Ollie Watkins will be 24 in a week or so's time. Coming to the peak time for him to make the move up.

Ethan Ampadu at 19 has plenty of time, though I do share the nagging doubts of many that the wrong choices have been made (and are being) made over his career. Time will tell.

 

[Billy The Fish]

I still think that we should forget all about gaining any more revenue from Ethan Ampadu. I wish him well in his future career and hope he never forgets his roots but as far as him being some kind of cash cow - we'd be well advised to write him off.

Really hope I'm wrong and he earns us a few quid one day.

 

[AL_Yates]

Being brutal to our Brentford friend on here, he would be crazy to stay with the Bees. He is also in small part a City fan and knows the statue is already in the blue print for when we receive the sell on clause. No doubt the covered pitch for the Academy is already being prepared for the training ground and the new suite of rehab rooms all designed. The multi-million pound car park redevelopment for the 'Fiddle' is already prepared as well. Monies will be put aside to cover us for the next 10 years and we will maybe see a loan signing from Peterborough for the squad, we may even see a striker bought from Chesham. (Tongue firmly in the cheek)

 

[Long Lost Bee]

Being brutal to our Brentford friend on here, he would be crazy to stay with the Bees. He is also in small part a City fan and knows the statue is already in the blue print for when we receive the sell on clause. No doubt the covered pitch for the Academy is already being prepared for the training ground and the new suite of rehab rooms all designed. The multi-million pound car park redevelopment for the 'Fiddle' is already prepared as well. Monies will be put aside to cover us for the next 10 years and we will maybe see a loan signing from Peterborough for the squad, we may even see a striker bought from Chesham. (Tongue firmly in the cheek)

He will move on, undoubtedly. But as I’ve said before, not this window. If we are lucky to go up ( tomorrows game will see how good we are ) I think he might just stay with us for another season at least.

 

[IndoMike]

Being brutal to our Brentford friend on here, he would be crazy to stay with the Bees. He is also in small part a City fan and knows the statue is already in the blue print for when we receive the sell on clause. No doubt the covered pitch for the Academy is already being prepared for the training ground and the new suite of rehab rooms all designed. The multi-million pound car park redevelopment for the 'Fiddle' is already prepared as well. Monies will be put aside to cover us for the next 10 years and we will maybe see a loan signing from Peterborough for the squad, we may even see a striker bought from Chesham. (Tongue firmly in the cheek)

The multi-million pound car park development at the Cat & Fiddle? What's that about? A Park & Ride, do you mean?

 

[grecian-near-hell]

Although Ollie's goals are important to Brentford I would have thought them having the second best record for cllean sheets in the division is more so, so you would think they would be keener to hold onto their goalie. You can have someone that scores but still lose, if you don't let them in you start with a point and can only get better

Also unlike earlier in the season when Ollie was the only goalscorer they have now got players coming through that are finding the back of the net as well like Mbeumo (goal every 159 mins compared to Ollie goal every 152 mins), https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/teams/brentford/top-scorers so if a 25m bid came in for Ollkie I think they would snap it up

 

[BerksBee]

... so if a 25m bid came in for Ollkie I think they would snap it up

Maybe, maybe not. It depends entirely on how the club views the likelihood of promotion this season.

You're wrong (in my opinion) in looking at the goal scorers and drawing any conclusions from that. We play 4-3-3, which in essence means goals can and will come from any one of that front three and occasionally from one of the middle three. The role Watkins plays isn't 'just' to score goals but also to find and create space both for himself and for the two either side of him. It doesn't matter who scores the goal—it's a team game. It's this area of the game (the No 9 role) creating space, forcing defenders to mark you, drawing defenders away and hold up and link up play that we most missed when Maupay left and Frank has worked very hard with Watkins in developing this area of play into his game. It's also one of the reasons (again in my opinion) that we started the season so slowly—we really missed that role that Maupay played and Watkins just wasn't experienced enough in playing it.

Coincidence now that Watkins is more experienced in that role and we're scoring more and winning a lot more games? Not in my opinion. You can't sell a player like Maupay and carry on as if nothing's changed and expect the same level of performance.

The last thing we'd want now, when making a very real promotion push is to lose pretty much the only player we have capable of playing in that role. If they sold Watkins in January, that would be the end of their promotion chances this season, for the simple reason—they don't have a ready replacement for him.

It would take a massive offer from a top London Prem side for Watkins to move in January and I just don't see it happening.