Staying up (GONE WRONG)
Watford’s chairman has revealed that Ben Foster was fined for continuing to produce vlogs on his YouTube channel, despite being told to stop.
Foster initially created his channel, The Cycling GK, during lockdown in 2020 to offer fans an insight into the world of professional football behind the scenes.
Given its resounding success, Foster continued to produce vlogs as the world returned to normality and published videos last season – including chest cams in games such as Liverpool to film goalmouth action.
‘He promised he would, but he didn’t. He was fined.’
But Foster’s vlogs coincided with a disastrous season for the Hornets, as they were relegated following a series of poor performances and the hierarchy at the club were left frustrated with his decision to continue vlogging despite being told to stop.
Chairman Scott Duxbury even admitted that the 39-year-old, who is now a free agent after leaving Vicarage Road at the end of last season, was fined for breaking his promise.
“I think some of the videos were disappointing,” he told the Watford Observer.
“Our sporting director, Cristiano Giaretta, met with Ben and asked him to stop. He promised he would, but he didn’t. He was fined.
“We want a culture of excellence at Watford. Those videos were not that.
“I wanted to say publicly at the time that the videos were utterly wrong and we had fined the player and asked him to stop, but it just wasn’t something I could do.”
Duxbury also criticised former Watford boss Hodgson
Duxbury also slammed former Hornets boss Roy Hodgson after he ignored the travelling support away at Crystal Palace on the day they were relegated.
Hodgson refused to acknowledge the away fans at Selhurst Park but instead blew a kiss to the home fans at his former club – something which Duxbury said made him ‘speechless.’
“I did try, after that had happened, to allude in my programme notes to things that had happened which were beyond my belief,” he added.
“Even if, as a person, your heart belongs at another club, you are still the coach of Watford. You’ve just finished a match which has seen you relegated and you ignore your own fans? No, you must go to your own fans and your own players. Words failed me.
“I’ve known Roy for many years and I was surprised and disappointed, but I suppose we must accept, if not truly understand, his explanation.”
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