Mooching and Bovril- Watford 2 Queens Park Rangers 4

What a thoroughly depressing afternoons viewing this made. I arrived at the ground ridiculously early and enjoyed mooching round the Rookery Store and then having a warming cup of bovril watching all the comings and goings by the stairs at the end of the Rous Stand. I can honestly say I enjoyed this more that the actual game.

It boded ill that Aidy had finally decided to dispense with Marlon and put in Ellington. Things happen when Marlon is on the pitch. Even if he doesn't score he can create chances for others (despite him sometimes being greedy) and I'd rather have him there than on the bench. Ellington meanwhile just looks like he is desperate to score that first goal and as a result is totally ineffective helping the team. In midfield he'd gone for Francis and Williamson and left John Joe on the bench meaning we'd neutralised our midfield without the opposition having to do anything. In defence Jackson was yet again chosen ahead of Shittu. Ainsworth was warming the bench again. Let him start!

The start was one of the most ludricous I've ever seen. Ellington and Henderson kicked off and Stewart was waiting to boot it into touch down the QPR end as is the standard Watford kick off. However they all kind of looked at each other which allowed the QPR striker to steal it, possibly illegally if no Watford player had touched the ball, but there should be no sympathy for us. If you cann't even kick off properly you don't deserve anything.

To be fair after that we did okay for the first 12 minutes and looked much better than them. In fact QPR looked awful and I anticipated that this was the afternoon we would finally take someone apart as Aidy had promised a while ago. (Thinking back, he promised this last season and it never happened). However in their first venture into our penalty area someone tripped or fell over (I couldn't honestly say and haven't seen The Championship yet) and the ref pointed to the spot. 1-0 QPR. Again we mucked up the kick off and then we just fell apart a little like we did at the Walkers back in August. We didn't do anything wrong or anything right really. QPR just got lucky with another 2 goals and it was half time and we were 3-0 down.

Aidy brought on big Shits at half time which was welcome and we managed to nap one back which looked like an own goal to me but was given to Francis. For a while it looked like we were back in it and I started remembering the famous 4-3 win over Bolton some 14 years ago.

However then we outdid ourselves in the stupid depart. Aidy brought on John Joe, and gave him a note to bring on as well. It was a confusing sub as he took off Jordan Stewart. He handed the note to Tommy Smith who looked like his was having trouble reading the gaffers writing. He attempted to reorganise the troops and no one in yellow looked like they knew what was going on. Whilst this was going on a gap the size of Watford opened up in our defence and QPR duly took advantage to ensure we wouldn't get back in the game, 4-1.

There was time for Shittu, who acted as a kind of defending attacker, to get one back but we were never going to make up the difference. The worst thing to be said about the whole game is that the 4-2 scoreline actual flatters us more than it does QPR and they were one of the worst teams I've seen this season. The fact we are still second is a miracle of biblical proportions.

At the final whistle there was much shouting of 'Sort it out Aidy' and similar and a lot of booing. Walking away from the ground I wondered how much longer AB will be our manager. After all Graham Simspon was ruthless in axing Lewington after stating publicly that if Ray left it would be because he wanted to rather than being asked to. Yet despite getting us to the Carling Cup Semi Finals two months previously Simpson obviously felt our Championship status was in danger and acted accordingly. I wonder if he now feels that what had looked like our fairly certain Premiership status for 08/09 is fast going down the plug hole whether he will act to try and save it whilst its still in our own hands.

Who would he get in? Billy Davies springs to mind unless he gets the Scotland job. John Ward, although Carlisle aren't doing as well as they were. GT? He was at the game yesterday apparently. Although it all must have been de ja vu for him. Kenny Jacket seems to be sorting out Millwall. Another unheard of Aidy type character?

All this was totally overshadowed a bit later by the terrible news that Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell died after collapsing in their 5-3 win at home to Dundee United. R.I.P Phil. My thoughts are with your family and the Motherwell fans who must be feeling that same terrible helplessness we felt 4 years ago.

The Most Important Half Time in Our History- Watford 0 Plymouth Argyle 1

Today the match was very much secondary to the action involving Al Bangura who is still threatened with deportation after losing his appeal to seek asylum.

It was probably the most important half time in the clubs history (not often you get to say that) as the worlds media awaited the appearance of Al who was going to do a lap of honour, Graham Simpson our chairman and Claire Ward MP for Watford, who were both going to say a few words.

Graham, in my mind, always sounds terribly pompous when he speaks. I know he is an actor cum travel agent but he doesn't really do our image much good. Worse though was to follow when he introduced Claire Ward who got booed by the Rookery end. I know any politican has to be expect this from a football crowd but she is the main person spearheading Al's campaign to stay so it was a little embarrassing to say the least.

Far more successful was the lap of honour for the main reason that the Plymouth fans applauded Al along with the rest of us which was very sporting of them. I don't know why Ian Holloway chose to walk out on Plymouth when their fans are so decent and so many of them had made the long trip up from Devon. Al was then moved enough to make a speech in-between his tears which the TV cameras all picked up on. I think it all went well and watching on Sky a good case was made for him to stay and it looked like he had all of our support.

Far less successful from the afternoons point of view was the match itself which we looked in control of for the first 10 minutes or so, but we gradually let them come back into it. We had no attacking prowess to speak of despite Marlon playing and it was no surprise to anyone when, with about two minutes remaining Argyle scored to win 1-0. We are no longer top, neither do we deserve to be having been complete pants since the end of October.

Bogey Letters- Watford 1 Bristol City 2

I do hate these 5.20pm live on Sky kick offs. I know I get fed up with my Dad for moaning about odd kick off times but even I think this one is silly. When are you meant to eat?? I did have a quick sausage roll at the ground before it started. The slowness of our catering staff in the far end of the Upper Rous has to be seen to be believed. Why it takes three people to get one sausage roll and a bottle of water heaven only knows. Please Graham Simpson. Sort it out! The sausage roll was alright though.

Everyone seemed very positive at the beginning considering we were coming off two straight defeats and for the first ten minutes or so we played quite well. But the loss of our loanee Adam Johnson back to Middlesborough has had a terrible effect on the team. Before he came to us I kept thinking how we really didn't look anything special but somehow kept managed to get results. We were found out a couple of times before Adam came, at Leicester and Southend, and now he has gone we are being found out every game.

The teams went in at half time level which was fair enough although the ref had made some awful decisions including changing who got a throw in because the City players complained without consulting anyone else. Okay, it was only a throw but it was all very odd and he managed to get worse in the second half making numerous mistakes.

During the second half Marlon hit the post but we never really looked like taking the lead and mid way through they scored from a simple cross and header. The crowd got on Watford's back and kind of roared them on at the same time. Aidy brought Darius off for the hopeless Nathan Ellington and the hopeless Mahon off for the brilliant John Joe O'Toole. Despite still being of school age O'Toole got our goal with about five minutes left and everyone went a bit too mad considering if we really are as good as the league suggests Bristol City at home should be a win. We went in search of the winner looking like the only team who would get it. However right at the end we let our guard down and to their surprise as much as ours City played an identical move to that from which they scored the first goal and sure enough they scored again. The boo's sounded around the ground a minute later as the ref blew full time.

Three games in a week, all against teams who begin with a 'B' and three losses. Considering 'B' is the most popular letter for teams to start with in our division this really isn't the one to choose as our bogey letter. Can't we chose 'X' or 'Z' instead?

As has been noted on other Watford web-sites this season is suddenly horribly resembling the 2000/1 season. I wondered this back in August as I noticed that just as 7 years ago we had a nasty looking home fixture against Sheff Weds on a Tuesday night. Back then this was the game we lost to start our run of just 30 points from 30 games. This time we overcame Wednesday in that fixture 2-1 but the similarities have suddenly started nevertheless.

One moment we are clear at the top and getting plaudits from everyone, generally expected by the country at large (and especially all managers in our division) as being THE team in the division that will get automatic promotion. The next moment we can't buy a win and all the hope has evaporated. The atmosphere and crowd yesterday resembled that of a team battling against relegation. Its only taken a week for that mindset to creep in.

Will Aidy still be our manager next season? Will we even make the playoffs? I think the odds have lengthened on both.

Two points very much lost- Watford 2 Colchester United 2

Home to Colchester. It started really well with Adam Johnson scoring after 2 minutes and we looked like we'd thrash them as we had endless chances in the first 10 minutes or so. However, normal service was resumed and it became scrappy for the rest of the first half until a nice move by Colchester resulted in them hitting the post and then following up by hitting it past Richard Lee.

The second half had barely got going when Colchester scored a second from another nice move and suddenly we were in danger of getting nothing from a game we should have wrapped up in the first 10 minutes. Adam Johnson won a penalty which Marlon missed and things were getting desperate. Marlon suddenly had a determined look on his face and eventually forced the ball in with an overhead kick from a corner. We battled hard in the last 10 minutes and Darius had a great chance which the keeper was lucky to save but nothing doing. Two points very much lost.

Stewards- Norwich City 1 Watford 3

Another day off work. Took Dad to see Watford play Norwich away. Got to Norwich about 5 and drove round the city a couple of times trying to work out the best place to park for both the football and somewhere to eat. We struck gold by finding a multi storey a handy distance between both.

In fact the multi storey was right next to the Norwich night spots so we went into a busy Wetherspoons pub for something to eat. The pub was the spot to drink in before football but was very friendly and interesting watching all the Norwich fans congregating before the game. We stayed for a couple of hours as it was warm and interesting and we didn't leave for the ground until nearly 7.

It was even closer than we thought and so we spent another happy half hour having coffee underneath the away section. Having been to a good few away games now there were plenty of people that I recognised. The ground and its staff seemed friendly with a real sense that this was the main attraction in town. It was very busy considering Norwich were bottom of the league (although they have just changed their manager to former Watford boss Glenn Roeder) and we weren't surprised to learn the attendence was over 24,000.

After our coffee we found our seats and were right at the end of the stand on the goal line which suited us quite well really. We were in front of a really nice friendly chatty bloke who reminded me of Mark Dolan (in voice, not looks) and the people around us were true supporters rather than young hooligans.

However this didn't stop the Norwich stewards treating us all ridiculously. There were signs up before hand telling people to remain seated, but of course, no one did, especially during exciting bits. All the Watford fans kept being told to sit down despite the Norwich fans all standing at the same time. This caused people to get wound up and so they start standing up on purpose. It was no surprise during the second half that some people got turfed out, and the whole thing was crazy because no one was doing anything dangerous. It was quite entertaining however!

The tannoy was the loudest I'd ever heard at a football ground and meant you were unable to speak to the person next to you. This was only at certain times however when they tried to get the ground going such as for the 10 minutes before kick off. It didn't sound as desperate as at Coventry but was still a bit pathetic. Worse than Richard Short, although he has got loads better recently.

We started the match really well but it still took us a good half hour to score from a Doyley cross which Henderson tapped in. The second goal came quickly when Mariappa's shot hit the post and came back to hit their keeper on the back before going in. In the second half we looked less bothered so, of course, eventually Norwich scored to make everyone wake up. Luckily Marlon scored late on to secure the points.

Football or Shopping?- Coventry City 0 Watford 3

A day off work to go and see the GB's play Coventry away. Took about an hour and a half to get up the M40. The stadium is placed around a lot of retail parks and it wasn't clear if you were allowed to park in the them or not. I went into Tesco and was met with two officials at the car park gate asking me if I was 'football or shopping'. Seeing how I had no football stuff on me or on the car I risked it by saying shopping and they let me in for free. I parked in a quiet bit well away from the shop and hoped my car wouldn't be clamped when I came back to it. Luckily it wasn't!

The Ricoh is another nice modern ground similar to Leicester. Good access into and out of and easy to walk all the way round. Entering inside I was impressed with how many Watford fans had made the trip. Even so we still fitted comfortably in the area under the stand and the toilet and catering facilties were good and numerous.

Numerous isn't a word that could be used for the Coventry fans. The Ricoh holds around 30,000 and the attendance was about 18,000 of which probably 2,500 were Watford fans. Every side of the ground looked half full with lots of blue seats visable. This lead to two great chants 'Your grounds too big for you' and 'Why don't you all sit together'.

In fact the whole matchday experience at Coventry is a bit sad and desperate. There are daily press reports about how much debt Cov are in and everything about the club comes across as 'we are desperate for money'. Both the manager and chairmans programme notes were asking fans to bring friends and family to games and a common theme throughout the programme was 'lets fill the Ricoh'. Well you could start by not making it so big! Also the stands were just shamefully called 'The Jewson Stand', 'The Coventry Telegraph Stand', 'The something else I can't remember stand' and worst of all 'The Tesco Stand'. Now, okay as I've already pointed out there is a Tesco nearby but the Tesco stand isn't the stand next to Tesco so presumably this is a sponsorship deal. The whole thing was just desperate. I'm glad that as yet we haven't gone down this road. Eventually I guess we will one day but it does make everything a bit sordid.

What made this all much more palatable was the match. We were fantastic and were all over them. Once we got the first goal the match was never in doubt. Adam Johnson tapped home, Marlon then got a second shortly afterwards and to really kill off the game Darius scored just after half time. Coventry were awful. Truly terrible. But we deserve the credit for making them look so bad. We looked like one of those teams from last season who could score at will and were just enjoying playing with the opposition but didn't feel it was fair to make the score too embarrassing.

Needless to say the amount of blue seats got more and more visible during the game and we had great fun echoing 'we are top of the league' and 'Dowie Dowie what's the score' round the empty stadium.

The woman next to me- Watford 1 Hull City 0

We won 1-0 with Marlon getting our goal after 20 minutes. It was a really good game. We deserved to win but it was exciting at the end as Hull tried hard to get a point.

The man behind me wasn't too annoying and the strange woman next to me appeared at the beginning only to disappear before kick off and never return. She usually lasts until half time before disappearing. I do wonder where she goes?

The man behind me- Watford 1 Blackpool 1

Home to Blackpool and drew 1-1 in a game we really should have won easily. Adam Johnson scored a great free kick just before half time but Blackpool scored a penalty with about 15 minutes left.

My mate Laurence made the comment after he used my ticket to go to the Southampton game that the man behind me was very annoying. I was surprised because whilst being loud I like the man behind me as he is quite funny.

However I soon saw what Laurence meant. Another man, who does now sit right behind and next to the funny loud man, has appeared and will only shout to yell abuse at the Watford players. His targets yesterday were King (!), Doyley and Mahon. I clearly wasn't the only one who got fed up as a couple of women near me turned round to stare at him. I really hope he isn't going to be there again but the fact he has had that seat for two games in a row doesn't look good.

Compact- Queens Park Rangers 1 Watford 1

Drove to South Ruislip and got a very fast Central Line train to White City. I was at the ground by 1.50 as the station is less than half a mile away.

I liked Loftus Road a lot. For a start it had the biggest loo's I've ever seen inside a football ground and it was also very compact. You feel like your seat is right on the pitch. I was amazed that the capacity is around 18,000 as everything is so close you'd imagine you could only get about 5000 in there.

I was wearing my San Francisco 49'ers sweater and a steward came and had a chat to me because he used to live in San Fran when he was in the marines and had been a 49'ers Season Ticket holder for two years. I was very impressed! He also said he did stewarding at Wembley and so was going to see the Miami v NY Giants game there in October.

The chatting continued as I sat next to an older lady call Phyl who had 3 children and whose husband had died last year. She had been a Watford supporter for years and it was the thing she did on her own. She was very chatty about Watford and families and was a good person to sit next to.

The game was one we should have won easily but we just didn't get the luck and ended up drawing 1-1. Adam Johnson scored our goal early in the 2nd half but QPR equalised within 10 minutes. It didn't even help when they had a man sent off for two bookable offences late on.

I left the ground quickly and there was a train in the station when I got there. I got back home by 5.40! Only slightly later than if I'd gone to the Vic.

Everybody Wear Sunscreen- Leicester City 4 Watford 1

So much for it all being peachy! However Martin Allen speaking on ITV1's The Championship still reckons that we'll be going up as champions. Not something you usually hear from the opposing boss who has just won 4-1.

To be honest I couldn't really comment despite being at the Walkers on Saturday. I was in the unfortunate position of being in the very front row. At a concert this would be fine but at a football match I find it probably the worst place to be. Especially directly opposite the corner flag when there isn't a cloud in the sky.

Apart from this unfortunate position (oh and the result) I've only got good things to say about the Leicester experience. I parked easily and nearby, despite all the signs telling you that there was no matchday parking the nearer you got to the ground.

Why, oh why do all councils insist on the doing this sort of thing now? Rather than celebrating the fact they have a football club and encouraging people to come and watch and making it easy to get to, they insist on making it as difficult and unwelcome as possible for the motorist, even at grounds where the parking is okay! Leicester had various business parks around it but you never would have found these had you believed the road signs from the M1.

Wandering around outside before hand I was really impressed at how Leicester were trying to appeal to families. There was loads for kids to do outside including a bucking bronco, a football target practise, face painting and various mascots.

Leicester are fortunate at the amount of room they have outside the ground to do this (I'm not sure we'd be allowed to do it on Vicarage Road) but they should get credit for the fact they do it at all. I certainly don't remember anything like it at Arsenal or Man U last year and they've certainly got the room.

I'd heard the ground was an identikit new stadium but I liked the way Leicester had made it there own with the montage of pictures hanging down from the roof. The facilities were good and there was even a telly showing Sky to watch Sunderland v Liverpool on beforehand.

I've also got to give credit to the programme. Usually I buy the programme as a souvenir and spend about 5 minutes skimming through it. However Leicester was rare in that it actually held my attention for a while. It took our idea from around 1999/2000 of having lots of short easy to read questionnaire type features and interviewing fans and players a like. Its was much easier to get through than our current 'long swathes of text' magazine.

Because of the sun I couldn't really tell you much about the first half other than Leicester's goal was fantastic, the stewards didn't really know what they were doing not letting the disabled helpers sit with those they were there to help, Baz Luhrmann knew what he was taking about and I wished I hadn't left my baseball cap in the car.

Half time came and I decided if I didn't want to get sunstroke it would be best to move and so I went and sat right at the back pleased that, once again, we were unable to sell out our ticket allocation.

The downside of this was I was sat nearest to the Leicester fans behind the goal who unsurprisingly got loudly and more exuberant as the second half went on. They even stole our e-i-e-i-e-i-o Marlon King song. However I'm sure most fans would agree that their behaviour was fair enough and only what we would have done had we been winning so convincingly.

I was more offended by the pathetic and bad tempered complaints to the nearby steward made by a couple of middle aged Watford fans near me. If you are going to get wound up by the Leicester fans gesturing at you then don't encourage them by spending more time looking at them than you do actually watching the game!

The two goals shortly after half time both looked unlucky, but we can't complain given some of the deflections we've had go for us over the last few games. Once it was 3-0 the game was pretty much over although it was good to see that Marlon was one of the few who never gave up even when they'd made it 4.

James Chambers got a good reception when he came on (better than the one Jordan got from the Leicester fans) and kindly gave us an undeserved penalty late on. Unsurprisingly there weren't many Watford fans left to see this.

So what conclusions can be drawn? Against Wolves and Sheff Utd we never played well but got the result. From what I could tell during the sun baked first half against Leicester we played well and heads understandably dropped in the second half once it was 3-0. The only game I'd say we've played really well was Gillingham in the cup with 10 different players than who started at the Walkers on Saturday.

The one definite I can say so far is that I'm really not sure Mart Poom is the Ben Foster replacement we've been looking for. He seems to have serious communication problems with his back four. This is something that I think is just about forgivable in the first game of the season but by now really should have been sorted out.

He has also inherited the Ben Foster trick of having one seriously dodgy blunder per game although luckily for him none of these so far has resulted in a goal. However it won't be long I fear.

Poor Richard Lee. He was great against Gillingham and was pretty faultless in his Premiership appearances last year. He really really deserves a spell in goal to prove himself to Boothroyd. It seems he is forever judged on the three losses when he was in goal at the very start of the Aidy regime. If the likes of Steve Kabba can come back from the wilderness I feel Rich definitely deserves a go. I hope he has a good one against Southend on Tuesday.

Speaking of Kabba he started. Henderson was nowhere to be seen and I think we can assume he's going to become a Cottager. A front line of King and either Kabba/Priskin isn't quite what I think Aidy had in mind before the season started. It was frustrating to see DJ Campbell play well for Leicester when he could've easily been lining up for us.

Aidy reckons this result might do us some good and I'm inclined to agree. Certainly on the performances so far we haven't deserved the plaudits we've got. Hopefully now we'll see we've got to improve if we are going to to prove Martin Allen even half right.

Hendo'

Do Fulham think we are their feeder club or something? Or like us have they got something about strikers with H at the beginning and 'son at the end of their surnames?

How times change. A couple of weeks ago its looked like Doris was on his way out because he wasn't wanted and so he was being touted around the usual Championship suspects.

Priskin doesn't perform at Wolves (although he can do it against Italy) and so Big D is back in.

Next thing Hameur puts his arm out and Fulham are on the phone.

Were they watching last year? Do they really think the man who called his son Hogan can cut it in the Prem?

On that point, is Darius a WWE fan, does he just enjoy watching Hogan Knows Best or did he just want his son to have a memorable name like his?

Back to Fulham, is there a less likeable manager than Lawrie Sanchez? As a Bucks resident I hated him at Wycombe, as every week he was moaning about something either to do with the club or the players in our local paper the Bucks Free Press. He even criticised the supporters on occasions. Maybe we are lucky at Watford as I can never remember Aidy, Ray or GT ever doing something like that.

Now Sanchez seems to think he can cherry pick our players I truly loathe him and his silly club. To mis-quote Roy Castle 'Relegation Relegation, Relegation that's what you need'. And if you got it three times at least you'd be back to the level your stadium and support deserves.

Home

I thought about going to football on Sunday and Monday of this week. I wondered about going to see the girls in their first ever Premier League Match against Birmingham.

However on closer inspection the home games are in Letchworth (look out for the guns!). This is closer to 'the lot up the road' than it is to the Vic! So I'm afraid I didn't bother in the end. I will try and get to one game. Preferably when we play Everton to see the gorgeous Rachel Unitt (great name, great girl). Or maybe away to Arsenal as at least that will be slightly closer to home!?!

Talking of Borehamwood that was the venue for Mondays reserve game against Aldershot Town. Again I thought about going but the slog round the M25 from Buckinghamshire eventually persuaded me against.

I really do wish that Watford home games were played at the Vic. Had the ladies and reserves been there I would have gone both times. I know Borehamwood isn't miles away but when you're coming a bit of a distance anyway those extra miles end up making the decision for you.

If I was in charge I'd chuck Saracens out of the ground (sorry rugby fans but you'd survive, just look at Wealdstone!!) and put the reserve games back at the Vic and invite the ladies to play there too. If I could find a way I'd even have the academy games there. It is our home after all and playing anywhere else just doesn't feel right.

Peachy- Watford 1 Sheffield United 0

Well its all looking rather peachy isn't it. Three wins out of three, two of them against so called promotion favourites. Although personally I don't think any team managed by Bryan Robson can be given that tag.

Its all feeling very '2000'. Especially when you throw into the mix an early in the month Tuesday night fixture against a poor Sheff Wed team. Admittedly we met them in November last time rather than October and I'm probably too superstitious. However if we get Man Utd home in the 3rd round of the League Cup I'll be worried!

Yesterday was good old traditional 'Division Two' fare. We certainly didn't look like the two teams who had just been relegated from the Prem. It was a slog and probably fairly dire for the neutral (but if you're a neutral you can't expect anything else from Sheff Utd) but if you had a vested interest it was great stuff.

The whole thing started well as the teams emerged from the tunnel to Z Cars. It was played at the quietest I think I've ever heard it but more of that later. Thank God we appear to be sticking with it this season although I won't hold my breathe. Funny to note that in this weeks Watford Observer's 'On this day in history...' type feature the piece from 1987 was about Elton deciding the club should ditch Z Cars and run out to Superman.

Old habits die hard and by this I mean the habit of the club trying to get rid of something the supporters hold so dear. I couldn't image it happening at Anfield with 'You'll Never Walk Alone' neither at Goodison which I suppose it a better example! Tradition is an important part of football so please lets stop tampering. It still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as we run out to it and its one of the most played songs on my ipod.

One thing I'd never thought I'd say was that at least we've got Richard Short as main mc. I used to hate him and I can still look back and cringe at some of his classics from the past ('we've got an exciting result from the Premiership for all you Man Utd fans...' during a football league game for example).

However he has improved a lot over the years and he and Tim (the other bloke who seems to stay very much in the background but is very good at what he does) have become a good team.

Yesterday however Tim was off. Doesn't happen often. Can't remember last time it did. But I don't know who the bloke was they got to do it instead but he was TERRIBLE. Now okay, I'll admit I speak as someone who works in radio so I have a vested, possibly verging on anoraky, interest in such things but he was bad.

Unfortunately if you are Richard Short's Ernie Wise equivalent it means you not only have to read the away team, birthdays and half times but also you get to be in charge of the mixing desk which means you control the level of the microphone and the music, hence the difficult to hear Z Cars.

I couldn't honestly tell you who was playing for Sheff Utd as I couldn't hear him at all. Obviously Kenny was in goal and Danny Webber and James Beattie were up front but other than that I've no idea. Incidentally I'm sure I can remember Kenny being in goal when I saw us play them back in the late 80's. How old is he??

If it was your birthday yesterday and you'd ask to have it mentioned over the tannoy you'd have been disappointed and it was only half way through the half times that Ernie (or whoever he was) finally worked out how to use the volume control on the mic.

Finally he quite hilariously played the music the team runs out to for the second half far far too early so that we got the whole thing rather than just the rousing bit at the beginning.

Another man having a bad day was Alvin Martin. He was reporting on the game for Sky and really could have picked a better spot to stand than directly above the Sheff Utd fans. 'Stand up if you hate West Ham' and 'Cheap suit from Matalan' were among the chants during his broadcasts. We responded with 'there's only one Carlos Tevez'.

Full marks earlier on though for the Sheff Utd fans who pretty much to a man all appaluded Don Fraser getting his throughly deserved Barclays Supporter of the Year award.

To the game itself and worryingly for us Mart Poom and his back four look as much a group as Hear'say were in their latter days. He certainly seems to spend a lot of time getting cross with them although he and Jay DeMerit seemed to have reached an understand that if one cocks up the other doesn't have a go. Maybe they figured this out before they got into Dyer-Bowyer territory. I don't feel nearly as comfortable with Poom in goal as I thought I would. However he is still better than early era Ben Foster!

Lee Williamson was very good again. His goal was another of this seasons speciality, the deflected shot. I'd really like to see a midfield paring of him and Will Hoskins. Sorry Gav. I do like you. I just wouldn't have you in my current starting XI.

Tommy Smith was superb and earned us the win by clearing off the line when it looked 95% certain that Sheff Utd had equalised. Funny how we used to boo him when he came back to the Vic. I do think the Danny Webber boo boys should bear this sort of thing in mind. Its one thing to do a Lee Cook but another just to happen to move on. I certainly won't be booing Clarke Carlisle when he returns with Burnley later in the season.

Bryan Robson made the mistake of subbing Webber for Luton Sheldon who did deserve to be booed for obvious reasons.

The game was one of those that I couldn't tell you who was going to win whilst it was 0-0 but once we were in front I never really imagined us losing (although the clearing off the line was heart stopping in the extreme).

So we were top for two and a half hours and only drop one place on alphabetical order. Its certainly peachy at the moment. Even more so if we can beat 'promotion favourites' Leicester next weekend.

The South

My favourite bit of graffiti around Vicarage Road.

It just begs the question why? And who? And what point is this person trying to make?

Is it meant to be factual? Is it in support of us or against us? I'd really like it if someone could add Watford 8 The South 2 to it in remembrance of our cup heroics in 2005 against Southampton and Portsmouth.

Facey- Watford 3 Gillingham 0

It was a slightly odd feel to the start of the competitive season at the Vic tonight. The League Cup First Round is never going to bring the crowds out in their droves and tonight was no exception so the build up felt very 'friendly'. In fact, for a while it looked like we would have less people through the new flashy electronic turnstiles than we did against Willem II.

I liked this new way of getting in to the ground, in the same way I get childish pleasure out of using my Oyster card on the tube. However I wonder about the sense of being asked to swipe your card for purchases from the food bars. Tonight they were woefully under staffed and the queue especially at half time was ridiculous. Everything should be done to ensure service is as quick as possible and asking people to swipe their card has the potential to be as annoying as Tesco Express checkout staff asking for your clubcard if you are just buying a couple of things.

Given that we in the Upper Rous now have the pleasure of the directors sitting with us I do hope that Graham Simpson or Mark Ashton might occasionally venture to the concourse below them just to see how bad and slow the service at the catering facilities is.

Magically I managed to avoid the cascading rain both on the way in and out, odd considering that for most of the game it poured. Special mention must go to the bloke who sat completely alone in the Gene Kelly stand for most of the game under an umbrella. He wouldn't have found it hard to find a seat in any other area of the ground!

The game didn't really get going until Gillingham were awarded a penalty which Richard Lee saved and the game got going. Is our luck finally changing? Two games, two penalty incidents both going our way!

Watford's Matt Jackson had a great debut doing nothing for 25 minutes before committing a stupid foul which resulted in him getting a nose bleed. He disappeared off down the tunnel and never came back!

Tamas Priskin glanced in a wonderful header and Douglas Rinaldi made it two with a Jordan Stewart-esque deflected free kick.

Just after half time Gillingham had a player sent off and rather than deciding the game was over and treating it like a training session we really went for them with Anthony McNamee looking dangerous every time he got the ball. Will Hoskins was good as well in the centre of midfield. Jordan Parkes then was stretched off with what looked like a nasty injury before Alex Campana scored late on from an excellent McNamee cross.

Best comment of the night came from the kid behind me who was taunting Delroy Facey about his silly name and then said 'It could be worse. He could have been Delroy Faeces'.

All in all it was a thoroughly unexpectedly good match and a much more convincing win than against Wolves, and with 11 changes from the side that played on Saturday. If these are indeed our reserves then the future looks hopeful.

Jimmy Davis

The last time we started our home campaign in the League Cup was 2003 after the tragic death of Jimmy Davis on the eve of what was meant to be our first League game against Coventry. I know events since have revealed that poor Jimmy played a large part in his own downfall and so maybe the club don't want to highlight him but I am always surprised that no mention is made of him, especially at the start of the season.

At the beginning of every season now I always think about that sunny day that meant football was back and the excitement of driving to the Vic looking forward to seeing us play a team that we had easily dispatched 5-2 the previous year. I was listening to 5 Live only to hear the very odd news that our game was postponed and then I re-tuned to 3 Counties to hear Simon Oxley eventually reveal the dreadful truth.

In the aftermath it was said that Watford would put some lasting tribute to him but to the best of my knowledge this has never been done. However I still think it should especially given the clubs very active role in community and youth programmes. An anti-drink drive campaign named after Jimmy would have instant credability for those who it was aimed at and be a fitting way to ensure something good came out of that terrible situation.

Opener- Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 Watford 2

It was one of those days that only sports fans would ever experience and even then only sports fans of particular sports.

I choose the park and ride metro option to get to Wolverhampton which was a slight mistake given the amount of Wolves fans on the train. Its odd how you can spend only two hours in the car and be in a place where you are so obviously a stranger.

Luckily no-one spoke to me either on the train or walking to the ground (unlike Old T earlier in the year when two people separately asked me for advice about the Manchester Metrolink).

I was impressed with Molineux for being a new modern stadium that has simply been developed on the site of the old one. Much like the Vic it still feels like a real football ground having four separate stands and none of the identikit-ness of newly built grounds.

Stupidly I didn't buy a programme outside and once I was inside realised you couldn't get programmes inside. I asked a steward and he very very kindly said he'd go back out and get me one. I was very impressed! Even the Wolves catering staff were friendly and cheery and not like the usual 18 year old ASBO kids you get at most grounds. I especially enjoyed the chicken balti pie I had at half time.

My seat was one of the best I think I've ever had at an away ground. Right on the half way line in the lower tear of the Steve Bull Stand. A bit like being in the lower Rous but quite raised up.

The game flowed from end to end but as ever at an away ground it took a while for me to really get into the game as you are still taking in watching in a different environment. Add to that the singing and cheering is always a lot more prominent and important this all adds up to a lot of distractions. I was sitting in amongst a lot of singers which was a good thing.

The first half we looked like we played well but went 1-0 just before half time.

As the second half wore on everyone started getting fed up with Jordan Stewarts dire free kicks and there was near mutiny when Steve Kabba replaced Tommy Smith. However Jordan Stewart then scored a sublime free kick with just 5 minutes to go and we all went mad. With three minutes gone of injury time Steve Kabba ran into their penalty area and was clearly brought down and the ref pointed to the spot. More madness from the Watford end. Marlon King took one of the calmest and best penalties you are ever likely to see and we all went more than mad. It was just the best. One of those times when you know why you are a football fan because its just the best thing ever in the world. There are no moments I have like the second goal going in today that I have anywhere else in life. Nowhere that the emotions could change so quickly.

It really was one of those games where throughout the second half you were really really hoping for an equaliser but you knew that your hoping was completely pointless. We were fairly rubbish in the 2nd half and it was going to be a depressing trip back down the M40. And then the first miracle happened and suddenly we were all smiling. A draw would be a great result. And we were all cheering and urging the team on in a way we hadn't for the whole of the 2nd half. There was belief in the stand, the whinging had gone to be replaced with encouragement. And then it happened and it was just the best.

There was just time for Mart Poom to slip and nearly allow the ball to roll into our goal and we all breathed a huge sigh of relief (again to highlight the changing emotions of football, had that gone in we would have gone from being depressed to happy to ecstatic to depressed again in less than 10 mins) and then the ref blew for full time and we all went crazy again. Marlon was coming over shirt off grinning and then Aidy came clapping us and punching the air and all was right with the world.

Walking out of the ground all the Watford fans suddenly started singing 'There's only one Stevie Kabba' and everyone was grinning at the irony of it all.

Got safely back through the hordes of fed up Wolves fans. Managed not to grin too much and pretended to be deaf when the train conductor spoke to me.

It was a fine day out. One of the best opening days I can remember. Possibly the greatest one of all. It was as good as Barnsley (h) in 2000 when we won 1-0 with the last kick of the game and similar in that then the much maligned Dominic Foley scored. However that was the home opener and was the second game of the season as we'd already won at Huddersfield so I guess it doesn't count.

In the end it may well even be up there in the Top 10 or 20 games I've been to. Certainly the Top 20 moments. It reminded me of Steven Glass scoring the 2nd against Burnley in the Cup QF in 2003. The feeling was that good.

Expectations

So here we go then. It all starts tomorrow and I'm off to Molineux.

I have absolutely no expectations whatsoever. I have various scenairos in mind about what could happen but if you asked me which one will happen I've not a clue. I guess I'd say I'd be surprised if we went down, surprised if we went up automatically but any finish between 3rd and 21st wouldn't be a surprise at all.

If Aidy manages to keep us at the higher end of the table for the majority of the season he should be fine.

If we spent much of it in the lower half then there will be a sliding scale of how far down we are and how long Aidy might survive.

He should be under no illusion though that in a very short time Ray Lewington went from being a manager we were surprised we'd managed to hang on to for such a long time to being shown the door.

Any bad patches and the success of two seasons ago and the FA Cup Semi Final place will soon be forgotten and Graham Simpson will start to wonder if he can get himself another Aidy with the same results.

God- Lincoln City 1 Watford 2

GT was at the friendly with Lincoln yesterday. If only this had been publicised on the club website prior to the game I (and I'm sure many others) would've bothered to make the trip. Bugger. We won 2-1.

Kids- Watford 1 Willem II 0

Went to see us play Willem II at the Vic yesterday. Odd name for a team especially at half time when Tim (Richard Short's co-announcer) had to say 'At half time its Watford nil, Willem Two nil'.

Took my kids to see their first ever football match. Wasn't sure a pre-season friendly was a good idea for them but it turned out to be perfect. They liked the fact we could move around the Rookery so easily and it was no hassle taking them to the loo during the match. They went to say hello to Harry the Hornet at half time and generally had a great time.

It is different taking your kids though. You have one eye on the game and one on them the whole time. Again, though, this is where a pre season game is perfect. I wasn't bothered what I missed and as it happened we all saw the goal so they got their wish of standing up and cheering. They were also taken very much with shouting Pooom every time Mart got the ball.

I wouldn't want to take them to a League or Cup match yet but it was a good first experience for them.

Buzz

Went to the new shop called The Buzz today. Bit of a waste of time to be honest. Its smaller than both The Rookery and the old World of Watford shops were, and they had all the same predictable stuff. I say this as someone who was not wanting to buy the new away shirt or any of the new lovely clothing they had on display but was looking for something that only cost a few quid. So for once I was good and just window shopped.

The team flew out to Germany today to play a Czech team and either Napoli if you believe the Watford Obs or Macaabi Haifa if you believe the offical website. Aidy has started a column in the Obs which should be interesting seeing how the club and paper seem to fall out every 5 minutes these days.

H'son

Shame we failed to get Heidar back from Fulham. For all the obvious reasons that he's a bit of a legend and also 'cos it would have been great to occasionally have Helgusson and Henderson battling up front. A commentators nightmare.

Rain- Borehamwood 0 Watford 3

Never got to Borehamwood. The fair weather fan in me has struck again. It did rather throw it down this afternoon and the fact the kids were off to a party meant that I had the inviting prospect of some quiet time in the house alone. Predictably I sleep probably the entire time the match was on (and the kids were out).

We won 3-0 with a sublime Marlon King strike the best of the goals.

Still debating whether to go to the Buzz tomorrow. I really haven't got any money. I can't really be bothered with the Watford crowds on a Sunday but for a reason I can't explain I feel I'm being drawn there!

'Stones- Wealdstone 0 Watford 4

Good 4-0 win against Wealdstone last night at Harefield. Didn't go because I had to work. I was impressed that LBC's travel man Alan Joyce featured the match on his bulletin! Marlon played and scored which was good to hear.

I look forward to going to Borehamwood on Saturday. I very much like the new away kit and the new training tops. I have no money to buy these with but there is a voice in my head already saying 'buy buy' and I plan to go to see our new Charter Place store The Buzz on Sunday. My wallet doesn't stand a chance.

Is there anything more boring on sports bulletins at the moment than bloody Carlos Tevez. Okay, so the whole Sheff Utd thing was vaguely interesting up until the point it was obvious nothing was going to happen (actually that was probably always obvious) but now the whole thing going on between Man U and West Ham that has been referred to FIFA. No one cares! Yawn yawn.

Raids

So Newcastle, Portsmouth and Rangers have been raided by police investigating alleged corruption.

Is there any-one in the country really surprised by the first two on the list???

Franchise

Predictably there has been an outcry amongst certain supporters that the club have had the nerve to organise a pre-season friendly against MK Dons.

In some ways I understand this. What happened to Wimbledon was completely completely wrong. No-one involved in the decision either on the council or clubs side can come out with any credit. The council suck for not helping to find a suitable ground in Merton, whilst the club officials who were there at the time suck for not hanging about and waiting for what would be an inevitable change of heart.

They might have had to wait some time, yes. The fact that AFC Wimbledon play in the Borough of Kingston is testimony to that but eventually these things always seem to work themselves out. I could even criticise AFC for putting permanent roots down outside the borough of their name. Wasn't that originally the whole point?

Looking back through some of my old programmes, one of the more striking ones is the one against (ironically) Brighton and Hove Albion from the 82/83 season which in place of the usual picture of footballing action has an article headed 'WE WILL APPEAL'. In it the club details their frustrations with the local council for refusing them a planning application to re-develop Vicarage Road.

Fast forward 25 years and we are re-re-developing the ground.

Any-way the thrust of this isn't to slag off MkDonalds for moving. What is done is done now. The advent of a new stadium kills off any thoughts the current board could have ever had of turning round and heading back to South London (and given attendance's and performances there must have been at least one director who thought it). The advent of AFC also ensured the hearts and minds of those in Merton moved on. Rather than re-hashing the arguments lets just enjoy the prospect of the two eventually meeting in competitive football.

No, the point of this already lengthy article is the determination of some Watford fans never ever to travel to MkDons and some even more die hards, nay extremists, to actually try and get the fixture called off on moral grounds.

Now as I've already made clear I hate what happened to Wimbledon. It shouldn't be allowed.

However is this enough for me to vow to never ever set foot in the place? Or to ring the club demanding the game is cancelled?

On what grounds would this be? I don't like the way the club is run or what one of its old boards did? Or what about a simple 'actually I don't like them'. And I can say this of the team formerly known as Wimbledon.

Memories of Dave 'or is it Harry' Bassett, the FA Cup QF of 1988, and the opening day and Boxing Day games against them in the Premiership are enough to have them down as a club I wouldn't mind seeing relegated. Add in fake Watford men Vinnie Jones and Joe Kinnear and I think the case is closed.

But that isn't a reason to not go else there wouldn't be many grounds to visit at all.

Go on the 'I don't like the way the club is run' argument. Leeds, Man Utd and Notts Forest instantly spring to mind as clubs that would be off the list.

Problems with old boards. The lot up the road, Darlington, Brighton, Wrexham, Man City, Carlisle, Newcastle, Leeds (again), QPR, Charlton, Southampton, Swindon, Reading, Wrexham, Boston Utd, Oxford, Aston Villa and Arsenal spring to mind. And why, Arsenal. Well as already pointed out in the Watford Observer they are the other club to have done a Wimbledon, albeit back in 1913.

Finally clubs I don't like. The lot up the road (again), Leeds (again again), Millwall, Palace, Spurs, Arsenal (again), Chelsea and Sheff Utd.

So I'd have written myself out of visiting at least 24 grounds already. And I'm sure I could come up with plenty of others for plenty of reasons.

If I had taken the philosophy that the anti Franchise brigade take I'd have already missed some classic matches. Arsenal 1 Watford 3 FA Cup Q-Final in 1987 for example.

And that really is the crunch. Its very easy to say we won't go to MkDons whilst they are in League Two and we are just playing them in a pre-season friendly. Similarly it was also easy and novel to not go back in 2002/3 when the protests were in full flow. Going to AFC instead sounded fun and interesting.

However how many would be prepared to not go to an FA Cup 6th Round Replay against MK? Or the second leg of a playoff semi-final. Or to see Watford crowned champions. I'm sure there would be very few dissenters then.

I do hate MkDons. I don't like the idea of giving them money. But I don't really like the idea of giving any fellow club money. However the dilemma is giving them money and supporting my team, or not giving them money and missing out on helping to be the 12th man. I know which I'd rather do.

Fixtures

Its been over a month now since they came out and I still feel a little disappointed. Having ensured that I'm off work for the first two and a half weeks of the season I was looking forward to a Plymouth or Preston away. The kind of trek that involves being out all day and not coming home until everyone else has long since gone to bed.

Wolves away on the opening day isn't one I'm particularly excited about. I haven't been to Molineux but do feel I've driven up and down the M40 more than enough lately. Also the fact the game has been moved by Sky to 5.15 somehow lessens the excitement further.

I get cross with my Dad for moaning about games never being played anymore at 3pm on Saturday afternoon, but on the opening day there is something magical about playing at that time. Maybe its simply that along with the last day of the season, it seems to be the only time you can get away with just wearing a football shirt on your top half. The liberation of not having to take a sweater to football!

5.15pm is a horrible in between time for football supporters. For a start, what time do you eat? Big feast at lunch time or starve yourself until enjoying a late supper?

I understand this season that the 5.15's have been introduced purely as a spoiler for Setanta. They'll show their Premiership game at this time and as a non incentive to switch, Sky promise to show a match at the same time so you don't feel your missing out. I can sort of see the logic of this but at the same time I'd prefer a game on Sky to be just that, ooh we're on Sky, rather than we're trying to tempt people away from Sunderland v Blackburn.

After opening day we have a familiar foe returning to the Vic in the shape of Gillingham. A team we seem to play far too often and this season we're not even in the same Division.

Two games against them stick in the mind. A 2-0 loss in 1998 that was my fiancee's 2nd ever football match played out ironically on Sky. It was dismal.

Also the 3-2 loss on the last day of the Vialli season which included that super goal from McNamee and Nigel Gibbs last appearance in the yellow shirt. One of the few good things Vialli did was ensuring Gibbo got 5 minutes in front of his home faithful.

This is, of course, a League Cup game. A competition that Aidy says he wants to take seriously after the FA Cup run to the semi's. In an odd way I actually prefer the League Cup to the FA now. I like the immediacy of the League Cup in that you know whatever happens the game will be decided on the night. The FA Cup's habit of holding the replays a week and a half after the first game makes the whole thing too disjointed. I was a big fan of unlimited replays and would like to see them brought back. If not the tie being decided on the night, or the afternoon (imagine how exciting 5pm on FA Cup 3rd Round day would become) is the way to go.

After the Gills its Sheffield Utd at home. If Warnock was in charge I'd be depressed about this prospect. However with Bryan Robson in charge the whole division must feel they've got a chance.

Then Leicester away. Another fixture that doesn't really do anything for me. Maybe I'm odd but I prefer the alternative sort of games. Leicester, Wolves and Palace are such predictable Championship games. Scunny, Blackpool and Colchester will be far more interesting.

Then the 2nd round of the cup if we are still in. I hope so cos I've even taken an extra 2 days off to accommodate what I assumed would be a Bank Holiday Monday League fixture. I'll be very fed up if we get through but end up playing on the Wednesday as is indicated in the fixture list at the moment as that's when I'm due back at work.