It sounds like a typical BR game. Good until going 1-0 down, disappointing second goal, scoreline flattered, yadda yadda...
However they are the league leaders so it would be foolish to expect much else. Thank goodness we got the result on Tuesday night otherwise the table would make extremely depressing reading rather than just quite depressing reading.
Obviously it makes next Saturday's match against Southampton HUGE, even more so if the Saints beat Sheffield United on Tuesday. We really need a favour Darius!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Robbo card rescinded
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_bromwich_albion/7856556.stm
Even when you've not played for Watford for six years Styles still can't help getting out his red card.
Even when you've not played for Watford for six years Styles still can't help getting out his red card.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Getting to know you- Watford 3 Burnley 0
Tonight was definitely more like it. BR is getting to know us. He's realised 4-4-2 is the way to go, Jay DeMerit is having a mare at the minute and you can't trust us to just sit on a lead and defend.
We were lucky not to be a goal down straight from the off as Scott Loach made a mess of a clearance but then we broke rapidly playing beautiful football until McAnuff ballooned his shot but managed to make contact with it again to put us one up in the first minute.
But after that for 65 minutes we were the same old BR Watford. Keeping possession, lacking much penetration and looking for all the world that if Burnley equalised our heads would drop and we'd be fortunate to escape with a point.
Luckily though this was a completely knackered looking Burnley who clearly had been partying too much with the big boys. Martin Paterson gets a special mention for spending the whole evening adopting the character of a mouthy 7 year old who is up way past his bedtime. Even so, Chris Eagles, phew. What we wouldn't give to have him back in a yellow shirt. He didn't have the best of nights but, despite this, just has that constant aura of being able to make things happen every time he gets the ball. Its a quality our side just misses out on at the moment. Tommy has it a bit, but not quite in the same way that an Eagles or an Adam Johnson has.
Therefore huge plaudits should go the way of Mr. Lloyd Doyley who did such a good job keeping Eagles at bay all night. It was a man of the match performance. Doyley is by no means our best player and there are some things he gets wrong time and again. But those things he does well, he does really really well. He gives 110% every time he plays and I reckon he'd bleed yellow, red and black. I'd say he's a contender for Player of the Season, although I might be saying that just to wind the bloke behind me up who hates him.
He also hates Priskin and greeted the Hungarian with a shout of 'Sharpen Up Priskin' before he'd even got on the pitch. So it was with great glee that all of us who hate the man behind us celebrated Priskin's first neatly taken goal.
At 2-0 Burnley looked like they'd given up in the same way we did against Sheffield United. We also looked ready to leave things the way they were, but not Priskin who scored an excellent second, holding the ball up and picking the narrowest angle to squeeze it home in.
Wow. 3-0. A totally unexpected result. I'm no convert yet. Just as BR has argued our heavy defeats could've gone either way, I think the same thing could be levelled by Owen Coyle at us tonight. But this was the most I've enjoyed myself since BR took over and there were more good performances than bad. Notably Mike Williamson seems to be the no-nonsense man we've been looking for at the back and Jack Cork continues to put in calm assured performances in the middle. Only Scott Loach had a truly iffy night. His kicking is becoming like Richard Lee's and he seems to make as many blunders as he does good saves. Luckily none went punished tonight.
Maybe we've just got to get to know Brendan in the same way he's getting to know us. Under him the majority of the match will be tense and evenly matched with some frustrating lows where the ball does go all the way back to the keeper from an attacking position. But there will be sudden, unexpected tremendous highs as we 'push on in' and everything does come together like tonight. The trick is to keep conjuring up more highs than lows.
We were lucky not to be a goal down straight from the off as Scott Loach made a mess of a clearance but then we broke rapidly playing beautiful football until McAnuff ballooned his shot but managed to make contact with it again to put us one up in the first minute.
But after that for 65 minutes we were the same old BR Watford. Keeping possession, lacking much penetration and looking for all the world that if Burnley equalised our heads would drop and we'd be fortunate to escape with a point.
Luckily though this was a completely knackered looking Burnley who clearly had been partying too much with the big boys. Martin Paterson gets a special mention for spending the whole evening adopting the character of a mouthy 7 year old who is up way past his bedtime. Even so, Chris Eagles, phew. What we wouldn't give to have him back in a yellow shirt. He didn't have the best of nights but, despite this, just has that constant aura of being able to make things happen every time he gets the ball. Its a quality our side just misses out on at the moment. Tommy has it a bit, but not quite in the same way that an Eagles or an Adam Johnson has.
Therefore huge plaudits should go the way of Mr. Lloyd Doyley who did such a good job keeping Eagles at bay all night. It was a man of the match performance. Doyley is by no means our best player and there are some things he gets wrong time and again. But those things he does well, he does really really well. He gives 110% every time he plays and I reckon he'd bleed yellow, red and black. I'd say he's a contender for Player of the Season, although I might be saying that just to wind the bloke behind me up who hates him.
He also hates Priskin and greeted the Hungarian with a shout of 'Sharpen Up Priskin' before he'd even got on the pitch. So it was with great glee that all of us who hate the man behind us celebrated Priskin's first neatly taken goal.
At 2-0 Burnley looked like they'd given up in the same way we did against Sheffield United. We also looked ready to leave things the way they were, but not Priskin who scored an excellent second, holding the ball up and picking the narrowest angle to squeeze it home in.
Wow. 3-0. A totally unexpected result. I'm no convert yet. Just as BR has argued our heavy defeats could've gone either way, I think the same thing could be levelled by Owen Coyle at us tonight. But this was the most I've enjoyed myself since BR took over and there were more good performances than bad. Notably Mike Williamson seems to be the no-nonsense man we've been looking for at the back and Jack Cork continues to put in calm assured performances in the middle. Only Scott Loach had a truly iffy night. His kicking is becoming like Richard Lee's and he seems to make as many blunders as he does good saves. Luckily none went punished tonight.
Maybe we've just got to get to know Brendan in the same way he's getting to know us. Under him the majority of the match will be tense and evenly matched with some frustrating lows where the ball does go all the way back to the keeper from an attacking position. But there will be sudden, unexpected tremendous highs as we 'push on in' and everything does come together like tonight. The trick is to keep conjuring up more highs than lows.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A game of two (uneven) halves- Watford 4 Crystal Palace 3
After 70 minutes I reckon we're all thinking, maybe, just slightly, we've got this Rodgers guy wrong. Maybe he is turning things round a little bit.
That first 70 still wasn't perfect by any means. It showed how very important it is under BR to get the first goal because, luckily, until that point Palace matched us for ineptitude and ineffectiveness. Had the goal gone against us I reckon it would've been Reading and Sheffield United all over again.
But DeMerit volleyed in a corner and suddenly we looked the better side. It was Palace's heads who dropped and we 'pushed on in' as BR would call it to score a fantastic second goal. Although Cork scored it and Rasiak and McAnuff did the majority of the work the assist should really go to Will Hoskins for having the desire to win a ball he never looked likely to and then turning his man again before releasing Rasiak. If only there was a bit more of his energy in the team.
At half time clearly Colin had given his side a right rollocking for they came out looking possessed and duly scored from a free kick following a foul by DeMerit. Don't let the fact Jay scored kid you that he had a good game. Yet again he made too many mistakes and was culpable for at least two, if not three of the goals we conceded. How he is still given the captain's armband when his is the last example any of the rest of them should follow is beyond me. Although to be fair who would get the armband? I wonder if the imminent arrival of Mike Williamson will mean we'll find out against Burnley.
Surprinsingly we didn't then capitulate but instead, rather wonderfully, scored another two. Will Hoskins flicked in a corner that was made even more entertaining by the moronic Palace fans who invaded the pitch and were sythed down by several stewards. Could we arrange for this to happen every week, maybe to replace Harry's 50/50 draw at half time because it was much much more interesting?
The fourth was as good as the second. We broke devastingly quickly, Rasiak cleverly held the ball up just outside the area and calmly fired it into the top left corner. Delirium followed in the Upper Rous. When was the last time we'd scored 4? How wonderful to do it against a Colin side. We'd all be leaving the ground with a very wide grin on our faces.
Except actually we wouldn't.
Brendan's substitution policy confused me last week when, at 2-0 down, he didn't bother to bring on Priskin. If I thought that was bad, this week he surpassed himself and completely shattered any thoughts that maybe he was just beginning to get the hang of this Championship manager lark.
For a start he didn't include a striker amongst the 7 subs! He took off both Hoskins and Rasiak and put a clearly tired (and never exactly fast) McAnuff up front. As we do when being defensive under BR we played far far too deep. The last 20 minutes looked like a training session of 10 attackers against 11 defenders and even Palace keeper Speroni decided it was safe to abandon his goal and take any free kick won by Palace in their own half.
All season our problem has been that we can't defend and today proved that even with the entire team helping out we can't. We were so so lucky that Palace had, what appeared to be, a perfectly good goal disallowed. Had it been given I reckon the best we would've escaped with was a replay back at Selhurst. By the time they scored a legitimate goal they'd left the comeback a bit too late. But there was still time for them to get a third, albeit, almost right on full time. Had BR made the substitutions any earlier, or had the ref allowed more than 5 minutes of injury time we would've drawn, if not lost.
Tactically it was completely wrong. I've no doubt had Priskin and Smith been on the bench and come on instead of O'Toole and Bridcutt we would've seen out the game without conceding any more and maybe have even made it 5. If Chelsea Reserves were 4-1 up with 20 minutes left I'm sure they'd have the silky skills to shut up shop and play an extremely boring game of keep ball. Until BR realises that we are NOT Chelsea we're still in very serious danger of going down.
So, despite our manager, we find ourselves in the 5th round of the cup. Shame yesterday wasn't the league match against Palace because we need the points and I reckon they'll come and stuff us in a month's time. As I walked out of the ground Richard Short was announcing Sheffield United's win over Charlton. I thought it wouldn't surprise me at all if we get another visit from Darius, Webber and co come mid February.
That first 70 still wasn't perfect by any means. It showed how very important it is under BR to get the first goal because, luckily, until that point Palace matched us for ineptitude and ineffectiveness. Had the goal gone against us I reckon it would've been Reading and Sheffield United all over again.
But DeMerit volleyed in a corner and suddenly we looked the better side. It was Palace's heads who dropped and we 'pushed on in' as BR would call it to score a fantastic second goal. Although Cork scored it and Rasiak and McAnuff did the majority of the work the assist should really go to Will Hoskins for having the desire to win a ball he never looked likely to and then turning his man again before releasing Rasiak. If only there was a bit more of his energy in the team.
At half time clearly Colin had given his side a right rollocking for they came out looking possessed and duly scored from a free kick following a foul by DeMerit. Don't let the fact Jay scored kid you that he had a good game. Yet again he made too many mistakes and was culpable for at least two, if not three of the goals we conceded. How he is still given the captain's armband when his is the last example any of the rest of them should follow is beyond me. Although to be fair who would get the armband? I wonder if the imminent arrival of Mike Williamson will mean we'll find out against Burnley.
Surprinsingly we didn't then capitulate but instead, rather wonderfully, scored another two. Will Hoskins flicked in a corner that was made even more entertaining by the moronic Palace fans who invaded the pitch and were sythed down by several stewards. Could we arrange for this to happen every week, maybe to replace Harry's 50/50 draw at half time because it was much much more interesting?
The fourth was as good as the second. We broke devastingly quickly, Rasiak cleverly held the ball up just outside the area and calmly fired it into the top left corner. Delirium followed in the Upper Rous. When was the last time we'd scored 4? How wonderful to do it against a Colin side. We'd all be leaving the ground with a very wide grin on our faces.
Except actually we wouldn't.
Brendan's substitution policy confused me last week when, at 2-0 down, he didn't bother to bring on Priskin. If I thought that was bad, this week he surpassed himself and completely shattered any thoughts that maybe he was just beginning to get the hang of this Championship manager lark.
For a start he didn't include a striker amongst the 7 subs! He took off both Hoskins and Rasiak and put a clearly tired (and never exactly fast) McAnuff up front. As we do when being defensive under BR we played far far too deep. The last 20 minutes looked like a training session of 10 attackers against 11 defenders and even Palace keeper Speroni decided it was safe to abandon his goal and take any free kick won by Palace in their own half.
All season our problem has been that we can't defend and today proved that even with the entire team helping out we can't. We were so so lucky that Palace had, what appeared to be, a perfectly good goal disallowed. Had it been given I reckon the best we would've escaped with was a replay back at Selhurst. By the time they scored a legitimate goal they'd left the comeback a bit too late. But there was still time for them to get a third, albeit, almost right on full time. Had BR made the substitutions any earlier, or had the ref allowed more than 5 minutes of injury time we would've drawn, if not lost.
Tactically it was completely wrong. I've no doubt had Priskin and Smith been on the bench and come on instead of O'Toole and Bridcutt we would've seen out the game without conceding any more and maybe have even made it 5. If Chelsea Reserves were 4-1 up with 20 minutes left I'm sure they'd have the silky skills to shut up shop and play an extremely boring game of keep ball. Until BR realises that we are NOT Chelsea we're still in very serious danger of going down.
So, despite our manager, we find ourselves in the 5th round of the cup. Shame yesterday wasn't the league match against Palace because we need the points and I reckon they'll come and stuff us in a month's time. As I walked out of the ground Richard Short was announcing Sheffield United's win over Charlton. I thought it wouldn't surprise me at all if we get another visit from Darius, Webber and co come mid February.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Classic Cup Encounters
My wife was out tonight so I resisted the temptation to watch the final of Celebrity Big Brother (although going O/T for a moment, how the hell did Ulrika win???????) and instead watched the 'Classic Cup Encounters' DVD I got for Christmas.
It is absoultely brilliant showing Watford coverage from the BBC archives. It's the best club video/DVD I've ever seen. Its great to see how much the ground has changed, going from being pretty unrecgonisable in 1970 through until the classic days of the Family Enclosure and Terrace in the 80's. Two of the best games I've ever seen are included, Kaiserslautern (H) and Arsenal (A) as well as some games I wasn't even really aware of like the wins over Man Utd (H) and West Ham (H) in 81/82.
The only oddity is why the DVD then leaps twenty years and includes our quarter final win over Plymouth from 2007. I can think of many better candidates such as Plymouth (N) in 1984, Leeds (H) in 1992, Sheff Wed (H) in 1998 and Sunderland (A) or Burnley (H) in 2003. It's as if they had a spare five minutes left over that they decided to fill up with the first thing that came to hand. This was the only game I didn't watch in full.
Maybe its a bit of a cliche but most of the old action seems like a different game, let alone just being a different era. I doubt many of the pitches the games were played on would get the go ahead today, especially the Grimsby away match played on a mud bath. The tackling is hard and brutal, the aftermath of which results in the ref having a couple of words and then walking away, rather than the player walking down the tunnel. There are injuries aplenty and the play just continues however badly hurt the player appears.
The goals are fantastic. Luther's brace against Man U at Old Trafford, Callys cheeky backheel against West Ham and John Barnes sublime chip against Birmingham among the best. In fact that Barnes chip is as good as Glenn Hoddle's swivel and chip when he beat Sherwood at the Rookery end.
Fantastically bits of the original MOTD/Sportsnight broadcasts have been left in, so you get to see Jimmy Hill and Harry Carpenter's post match comments. You even hear a rare bit of Des Lynam actually commentating on a game and rather badly too. I can see why he was quickly moved to a studio job.
Interviews and footage of Elton and Graham are also included. In the current context the most interesting bit for me is an interview Graham gives in response to criticism of Watford's direct style of play. He says he hates sophisticated football and that the man on the street is not going to pay to watch a team put together 15 or 16 passes. I only hope he still holds that view and has a bit clout on this new board he's just joined.
This is a brilliant DVD and there is definitely scope to do another one. Also what about a league version? Maybe highlights of our time in the old Division One? It would be the first thing on my Christmas list for 2009.
It is absoultely brilliant showing Watford coverage from the BBC archives. It's the best club video/DVD I've ever seen. Its great to see how much the ground has changed, going from being pretty unrecgonisable in 1970 through until the classic days of the Family Enclosure and Terrace in the 80's. Two of the best games I've ever seen are included, Kaiserslautern (H) and Arsenal (A) as well as some games I wasn't even really aware of like the wins over Man Utd (H) and West Ham (H) in 81/82.
The only oddity is why the DVD then leaps twenty years and includes our quarter final win over Plymouth from 2007. I can think of many better candidates such as Plymouth (N) in 1984, Leeds (H) in 1992, Sheff Wed (H) in 1998 and Sunderland (A) or Burnley (H) in 2003. It's as if they had a spare five minutes left over that they decided to fill up with the first thing that came to hand. This was the only game I didn't watch in full.
Maybe its a bit of a cliche but most of the old action seems like a different game, let alone just being a different era. I doubt many of the pitches the games were played on would get the go ahead today, especially the Grimsby away match played on a mud bath. The tackling is hard and brutal, the aftermath of which results in the ref having a couple of words and then walking away, rather than the player walking down the tunnel. There are injuries aplenty and the play just continues however badly hurt the player appears.
The goals are fantastic. Luther's brace against Man U at Old Trafford, Callys cheeky backheel against West Ham and John Barnes sublime chip against Birmingham among the best. In fact that Barnes chip is as good as Glenn Hoddle's swivel and chip when he beat Sherwood at the Rookery end.
Fantastically bits of the original MOTD/Sportsnight broadcasts have been left in, so you get to see Jimmy Hill and Harry Carpenter's post match comments. You even hear a rare bit of Des Lynam actually commentating on a game and rather badly too. I can see why he was quickly moved to a studio job.
Interviews and footage of Elton and Graham are also included. In the current context the most interesting bit for me is an interview Graham gives in response to criticism of Watford's direct style of play. He says he hates sophisticated football and that the man on the street is not going to pay to watch a team put together 15 or 16 passes. I only hope he still holds that view and has a bit clout on this new board he's just joined.
This is a brilliant DVD and there is definitely scope to do another one. Also what about a league version? Maybe highlights of our time in the old Division One? It would be the first thing on my Christmas list for 2009.
God News
What great news to wake up to on a Friday morning. GT returns, the Salad's are back and, um, Stuart Tipperley as well. As long as he hasn't got Jack with him that's fine (actually, I'm not even sure Jack is still alive??) Two more people coming along as well to be announced later. Tim Shaw hopefully. I wonder if Howard Wells is linked in any way given that he no longer does the chief executing for Northern Ireland.
Is there going to be some sort of announcement before the Palace game? One would hope so. The ticket office must be chuffed because I would imagine this has added a couple of thousand onto the gate of a not very interesting cup match. I wouldn't have been surprised if the gate was under 8000 prior to this news.
Its also good that the club and WO have reached an agreement to be nicer to each other. The 'Winds of Change' are clearly blowing out the previous regime's beliefs in an Obama type way. However, I do feel that the WO has a bit of a job to do at the moment in reflecting the fans concerns about what is happening ON the pitch. I would imagine these would give the truce an early test.
In amongst all of this is the surprising news we've signed a goalkeeper. Is BR hoping that maybe we'll be allowed to have two of them in goal? I don't really think Stuart Searle was the signing we've been looking for. A big Shittu like defender maybe but not a fourth stopper as Poom must surely not be far from getting back now. Surprise surprise we've signed him from Stamford Bridge! If Brendan continues in this vain we're probably only three transfer windows from changing our name to Chelsea Reserves.
Is there going to be some sort of announcement before the Palace game? One would hope so. The ticket office must be chuffed because I would imagine this has added a couple of thousand onto the gate of a not very interesting cup match. I wouldn't have been surprised if the gate was under 8000 prior to this news.
Its also good that the club and WO have reached an agreement to be nicer to each other. The 'Winds of Change' are clearly blowing out the previous regime's beliefs in an Obama type way. However, I do feel that the WO has a bit of a job to do at the moment in reflecting the fans concerns about what is happening ON the pitch. I would imagine these would give the truce an early test.
In amongst all of this is the surprising news we've signed a goalkeeper. Is BR hoping that maybe we'll be allowed to have two of them in goal? I don't really think Stuart Searle was the signing we've been looking for. A big Shittu like defender maybe but not a fourth stopper as Poom must surely not be far from getting back now. Surprise surprise we've signed him from Stamford Bridge! If Brendan continues in this vain we're probably only three transfer windows from changing our name to Chelsea Reserves.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
We can beat anyone!
http://www.watfordfc.com/page/TVNews/0,,10400~1517520,00.html?target=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.watfordfc.com%2Fpage%2Fsub%2FTVNews%2F0%2C%2C10400%7E1517520%2C00.html%3F
Yet again I've no idea what this is referring to but it didn't half make me laugh when I saw it on the OS today. I may have to start subscribing to Watford World.
Yet again I've no idea what this is referring to but it didn't half make me laugh when I saw it on the OS today. I may have to start subscribing to Watford World.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
God Returns- Watford 0 Sheffield United 2
The main news from today, which the WO seem to have missed and the club decided to completely ignore for some reason, was that Graham Taylor was there. Only those of us in the Upper Rous seemed to notice. You might have seen a wave of applause that started in the centre of the stand and grew outwards as more people worked out what was going on. He grinned and waved, looking slightly embarrassed at the reception he received.
What was he doing there? One can only hope that the rumours of a return in some sort of capacity (manager would be nice) are true. All week I've looked expectantly at the OS hoping to see his beaming smile, only to be greeted by offers of corporate hospitality or the slightly worrying news that the Buzz Store is closing less than two years after it opened.
Why oh why wasn't a bit more made of the fact GT was at the ground? I can't fathom it at all. It would've given the supporters a big boost which, in turn, would've helped the team.
Instead the club tried to give us a boost by employing a couple of drummers. Rodgers said he wanted a marching band to match the Wilmington lot we had against Scunthorpe but, presumably, funds didn't quite stretch to a brass section. I don't know if they were the same ones we had to endure during the 2-0 playoff loss to Hull but they were just as annoying. If you're employed to help the atmosphere then try and get in tune with what is happening on the pitch and in the stands. Don't start your own drum solo when the Rookery is in the middle of a 'Yellow Army' chant. Just drum along with it. Similarly when the physio runs on to treat Gavin Hoyte's shoulder it isn't the time to start an Indian war dance. Or when Sheffield United are attacking. I think both their goals were scored to accompaniment. Once it was 2-0 they disappeared, hopefully never to be heard from again.
Darius received a heroes welcome and even got a chorus of Henderson from the Rookery. Webber got booed which I always find strange. He was great for us on loan and then chose to sign for us at a time when we were still financially struggling after the ITV/Vialli fiascos. Given he came from Man U he probably could've gone anywhere. He always did well, most memorably in the 5-2 demolition of Coventry. Apparently we could only afford his wages because they were being paid for by a director. Eventually this arrangement had to come to an end so we sold him to Sheffield United. We sold him. He didn't ask to go. Yet he gets booed every time he returns. Whereas Bromby who publically stated he wished he'd never left Bramell Lane got a hearty round of applause when he came on as a sub. Strange.
The game played out in the same way as the Reading match, with the exception that we actually looked vaguely threatening a couple of times. This was mainly down to Tommy Smith who was superb and never stopped trying all day. But once Webber scored early in the second half we never looked remotely like getting back into it.
When Henderson made it 2-0, the black humour from the Mad Stad returned, as Darius was saluted with more chants of his name. To his credit he didn't celebrate his goal.
You'd have thought Rodgers would've then tried to change things slightly. Okay he did bring on Hoskins for Williamson, but that was it. Surely it was worth bringing Priskin and Bridcutt into the game then. All the players looked tired in that last 20 minutes (some had for the full 90) and another couple of pairs of fresh legs might have made a difference. But the manager either thought otherwise, or was prepared to accept a 2-0 defeat.
If we carry on like this we will go down. Its time for the board to be brave and act now. Rodgers must go. Yet again he reckons this "was yet another game that with a few little adjustments we could go and push on in." He talks about the fragile defence. But can't he see the problem is more up front at the moment. We've not 'pushed on in' against anyone lately.
I understand where he is coming from and what he wants to do. But I don't think its feasible considering he joined us languishing at the bottom of the table. If he'd joined us in pre-season it might have worked. But we've needed wins from the day he started and so far he has only delivered two in the league. We haven't got the time its going to take to completely overhaul how we play. We'll end up in League One where we haven't got a hope of then attracting the sort of players required to play Rodgers game. Its a vicious circle that requires someone God like to get us out of. Graham!!!
What was he doing there? One can only hope that the rumours of a return in some sort of capacity (manager would be nice) are true. All week I've looked expectantly at the OS hoping to see his beaming smile, only to be greeted by offers of corporate hospitality or the slightly worrying news that the Buzz Store is closing less than two years after it opened.
Why oh why wasn't a bit more made of the fact GT was at the ground? I can't fathom it at all. It would've given the supporters a big boost which, in turn, would've helped the team.
Instead the club tried to give us a boost by employing a couple of drummers. Rodgers said he wanted a marching band to match the Wilmington lot we had against Scunthorpe but, presumably, funds didn't quite stretch to a brass section. I don't know if they were the same ones we had to endure during the 2-0 playoff loss to Hull but they were just as annoying. If you're employed to help the atmosphere then try and get in tune with what is happening on the pitch and in the stands. Don't start your own drum solo when the Rookery is in the middle of a 'Yellow Army' chant. Just drum along with it. Similarly when the physio runs on to treat Gavin Hoyte's shoulder it isn't the time to start an Indian war dance. Or when Sheffield United are attacking. I think both their goals were scored to accompaniment. Once it was 2-0 they disappeared, hopefully never to be heard from again.
Darius received a heroes welcome and even got a chorus of Henderson from the Rookery. Webber got booed which I always find strange. He was great for us on loan and then chose to sign for us at a time when we were still financially struggling after the ITV/Vialli fiascos. Given he came from Man U he probably could've gone anywhere. He always did well, most memorably in the 5-2 demolition of Coventry. Apparently we could only afford his wages because they were being paid for by a director. Eventually this arrangement had to come to an end so we sold him to Sheffield United. We sold him. He didn't ask to go. Yet he gets booed every time he returns. Whereas Bromby who publically stated he wished he'd never left Bramell Lane got a hearty round of applause when he came on as a sub. Strange.
The game played out in the same way as the Reading match, with the exception that we actually looked vaguely threatening a couple of times. This was mainly down to Tommy Smith who was superb and never stopped trying all day. But once Webber scored early in the second half we never looked remotely like getting back into it.
When Henderson made it 2-0, the black humour from the Mad Stad returned, as Darius was saluted with more chants of his name. To his credit he didn't celebrate his goal.
You'd have thought Rodgers would've then tried to change things slightly. Okay he did bring on Hoskins for Williamson, but that was it. Surely it was worth bringing Priskin and Bridcutt into the game then. All the players looked tired in that last 20 minutes (some had for the full 90) and another couple of pairs of fresh legs might have made a difference. But the manager either thought otherwise, or was prepared to accept a 2-0 defeat.
If we carry on like this we will go down. Its time for the board to be brave and act now. Rodgers must go. Yet again he reckons this "was yet another game that with a few little adjustments we could go and push on in." He talks about the fragile defence. But can't he see the problem is more up front at the moment. We've not 'pushed on in' against anyone lately.
I understand where he is coming from and what he wants to do. But I don't think its feasible considering he joined us languishing at the bottom of the table. If he'd joined us in pre-season it might have worked. But we've needed wins from the day he started and so far he has only delivered two in the league. We haven't got the time its going to take to completely overhaul how we play. We'll end up in League One where we haven't got a hope of then attracting the sort of players required to play Rodgers game. Its a vicious circle that requires someone God like to get us out of. Graham!!!
BR's Hillsborough Moment?
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/localsport/4050922.Watford_manager_s_patience_plea_over_new_style/
Oh mannn.
BR's not been here that long and I think we've already reached a Vialli Hillsborough moment.
No doubt the report on the WO site this morning is in part taken from the 'look beyond the result' report from Watford World and it reads exactly as I feared.
We are apparently all to be patient whilst Brendan gets us playing a style of football that will see us survive SHOULD we get up to the Premier League.
Well blimey mate, I don't know if you've checked the table recently but you might want to think about getting us playing a style of football that will see us survive in the Championship first.
Last week is talked about in shockingly positive terms.
Brendan says...
“It is one where our game is progressing and it is clear that Friday was not a 4-0 game, but when you concede goals like we did then it is difficult to take.
“My job this week has been to ensure we do not forget the positives from the game – we showed great positives on the ball but there has to be more penetration in the final third.”
Great positives?? I thought we played okay for the opening half hour if we were looking for a nil-nil. Once we were one down we might as well have conceded the whole game as its was so obvious we weren't going to score.
Brendan has turned us from a team scoring a lot of goals but with a leaky defence into a team that rarely scores and still has a leaky defence. Good work fella.
He reckons “you can play football in this division and what I am trying to do is prepare for not just now, but when we get promotion to the Premier League.
“That is about the education of the players and it is important that fans understand what we are trying to do.
Yet he admits were are at least three transfer windows away from getting a squad he is happy with. I'd think it would make sense to play a style of football that suits the people we've currently got. If we continue playing the way we are at the moment I really can't see BR being manager in three transfer windows time.
Apparently “the best thing in football, other than scoring goals, is when your side has possession, but what would be great for the players, is the understanding of the supporters that we want to play creative and attacking football with discipline. It is important that the supporters buy into that.”
If we aren't going to score goals does he really think the supporters are happy to pay over £20 a game to watch us playing keep ball whilst getting beaten every week?
You've lost me Brendan. I feel like going along this afternoon and chanting 'do do do do, Aidy Boothroyd' or more hopefully 'Elton John's Taylor Made Army'. Disappointingly the rumours of a third coming that did the rounds of the Mad Stad last week haven't materialised. And blimey, how we could all do with seeing GT at the Vic right now.
Oh mannn.
BR's not been here that long and I think we've already reached a Vialli Hillsborough moment.
No doubt the report on the WO site this morning is in part taken from the 'look beyond the result' report from Watford World and it reads exactly as I feared.
We are apparently all to be patient whilst Brendan gets us playing a style of football that will see us survive SHOULD we get up to the Premier League.
Well blimey mate, I don't know if you've checked the table recently but you might want to think about getting us playing a style of football that will see us survive in the Championship first.
Last week is talked about in shockingly positive terms.
Brendan says...
“It is one where our game is progressing and it is clear that Friday was not a 4-0 game, but when you concede goals like we did then it is difficult to take.
“My job this week has been to ensure we do not forget the positives from the game – we showed great positives on the ball but there has to be more penetration in the final third.”
Great positives?? I thought we played okay for the opening half hour if we were looking for a nil-nil. Once we were one down we might as well have conceded the whole game as its was so obvious we weren't going to score.
Brendan has turned us from a team scoring a lot of goals but with a leaky defence into a team that rarely scores and still has a leaky defence. Good work fella.
He reckons “you can play football in this division and what I am trying to do is prepare for not just now, but when we get promotion to the Premier League.
“That is about the education of the players and it is important that fans understand what we are trying to do.
Yet he admits were are at least three transfer windows away from getting a squad he is happy with. I'd think it would make sense to play a style of football that suits the people we've currently got. If we continue playing the way we are at the moment I really can't see BR being manager in three transfer windows time.
Apparently “the best thing in football, other than scoring goals, is when your side has possession, but what would be great for the players, is the understanding of the supporters that we want to play creative and attacking football with discipline. It is important that the supporters buy into that.”
If we aren't going to score goals does he really think the supporters are happy to pay over £20 a game to watch us playing keep ball whilst getting beaten every week?
You've lost me Brendan. I feel like going along this afternoon and chanting 'do do do do, Aidy Boothroyd' or more hopefully 'Elton John's Taylor Made Army'. Disappointingly the rumours of a third coming that did the rounds of the Mad Stad last week haven't materialised. And blimey, how we could all do with seeing GT at the Vic right now.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Cutting Of Cloths (again)
http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/localsport/4050921.More_departures_likely_for_Hornets/
BR sounds like he is right on message from the old regime. Of course it depends on who we cut. Can't say I'm that bothered about Bromby or Avinel. Henderson looked like he might benefit from an extended run in the team but his chances seem to have got less and less since Brendan took over. I doubt he is going to ease the wage bill much. Its the Kabbas, Eustaces and Sadlers I think we need to trim. Definitely not the Smiths or JJOTs.
On the OS there is an article entitled 'Brendan focusing beyond the score'. As I'm not a subscriber to Watford World I've no idea what this is about but I do find the title of it ominous. I hope we're not trying to beat Sheffield United on artistic merit. But then again, I can't see us beating them on goals.
Be interesting to see the reception the various ex 'Orns get tomorrow. I reckon Darius will get the full Mooney treatment, Webber will get his usual bit of both with the boos just edging it and Bromby will get a slating for saying he didn't want to leave Sheff United in the first place. He has the Watford Observer to thank for that.
BR sounds like he is right on message from the old regime. Of course it depends on who we cut. Can't say I'm that bothered about Bromby or Avinel. Henderson looked like he might benefit from an extended run in the team but his chances seem to have got less and less since Brendan took over. I doubt he is going to ease the wage bill much. Its the Kabbas, Eustaces and Sadlers I think we need to trim. Definitely not the Smiths or JJOTs.
On the OS there is an article entitled 'Brendan focusing beyond the score'. As I'm not a subscriber to Watford World I've no idea what this is about but I do find the title of it ominous. I hope we're not trying to beat Sheffield United on artistic merit. But then again, I can't see us beating them on goals.
Be interesting to see the reception the various ex 'Orns get tomorrow. I reckon Darius will get the full Mooney treatment, Webber will get his usual bit of both with the boos just edging it and Bromby will get a slating for saying he didn't want to leave Sheff United in the first place. He has the Watford Observer to thank for that.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Elton John's Taylor Made Army- Reading 4 Watford 0
All the reports I'd heard about the 'Mad Stad' was that it was easy to find but hard to get to. Reports of traffic jams starting at Jct 10 on the M4 which could take at least an hour to get through. Usually in my ultra cautious way this would lead me to arrive before the team coach probably has. But I had no choice other than to chance a late arrival as I didn't finish work until 5pm before starting the trek across from the wrong side of London.
I know Watford on a night when its meant to be minus 4 and the game is on Sky isn't the biggest draw but there were no jams at all and, heavens above, the Madejski is a new stadium with parking!!!! What an innovation. Okay it cost £8 to park which usually would make me baulk but after recent experiences at Swansea and Derby I was happy to part with my hard earned cash for the legitimate chance to park less than half a mile from the ground.
Nice ground too, but as always with the new ones, lacking much character or tradition yet. The sponsoring of the team by Waitrose doesn't help, not really a football sponsoring company I would've thought but I think they go together rather well.
We had a minutes silence before the start in memory of Roy Tranter, the Reading director who succesfully fought off Robert Maxwell's crazy 'Thames Valley Royals' plan to merge Oxford and Reading back in the early 80's. He received a very well respected minute which he thoroughly deserved.
The referee for the occasion wasn't Stuart Atwell but the man Atwell replaced at No.2 in my all time hated refs list Andy D'Urso (Rob Styles remains at No.1). Unsurprinsgly there were several appeals for ghost goals to be awarded by the away end but to no avail. D'Urso was okay in that at least he didn't send any 'Orns off.
For the majority of the first half we played well, matching Reading, and having the majority of the possesion. Jack Cork looked brilliant holding the ball up well for us to get into many different attacking positions. This we did very well. The trouble is we look like a team who are just interested in getting into attacking positions without actually using them. Once we've established we can attack down the left wing, we stop, pass the ball back to around the half way line and then try to see if we can attack down the right. For each new attack we go through the same routine every time.
We remind me of a workman I had round to put up a Sky dish once who insisted on trying about 10 different positions for the dish to go even though they all produced exactly the same picture. In the whole game no-one ever seemed interested to try a shot on goal. Just as against Derby we looked like the best we'd do was 0-0.
Of course that was blown apart by some very poor defending. Scott Loach didn't have a good game and certainly should've kept the first one out as it hit his near post before going in. We looked no different when we came out in the second half and it was just a question of whether Reading would add to their total which, depressingly, they did another three times.
The Watford End still had fun though. We celebrated the Reading goals as if they were our own, and yet again the Nicky Wright Wright Wright chant was heard. Is he now a regular at away games? If he is, I've still not seen him.
Another chant which made a comeback that I hadn't heard for at least 7 years was 'Elton John's Taylor Made Army'. Rumours were flying round the stand that there is a press conference planned for Monday where Elton and GT will announce they are returning to the club. In what capacity no-one quite seemed to know. But after this performance we could certainly do with a bit of the old Taylor magic again. The trouble is I don't see his style fitting in with BR's at all. Although maybe that's why BR's stated he's going back to the drawing board in his post match comments.
I know Watford on a night when its meant to be minus 4 and the game is on Sky isn't the biggest draw but there were no jams at all and, heavens above, the Madejski is a new stadium with parking!!!! What an innovation. Okay it cost £8 to park which usually would make me baulk but after recent experiences at Swansea and Derby I was happy to part with my hard earned cash for the legitimate chance to park less than half a mile from the ground.
Nice ground too, but as always with the new ones, lacking much character or tradition yet. The sponsoring of the team by Waitrose doesn't help, not really a football sponsoring company I would've thought but I think they go together rather well.
We had a minutes silence before the start in memory of Roy Tranter, the Reading director who succesfully fought off Robert Maxwell's crazy 'Thames Valley Royals' plan to merge Oxford and Reading back in the early 80's. He received a very well respected minute which he thoroughly deserved.
The referee for the occasion wasn't Stuart Atwell but the man Atwell replaced at No.2 in my all time hated refs list Andy D'Urso (Rob Styles remains at No.1). Unsurprinsgly there were several appeals for ghost goals to be awarded by the away end but to no avail. D'Urso was okay in that at least he didn't send any 'Orns off.
For the majority of the first half we played well, matching Reading, and having the majority of the possesion. Jack Cork looked brilliant holding the ball up well for us to get into many different attacking positions. This we did very well. The trouble is we look like a team who are just interested in getting into attacking positions without actually using them. Once we've established we can attack down the left wing, we stop, pass the ball back to around the half way line and then try to see if we can attack down the right. For each new attack we go through the same routine every time.
We remind me of a workman I had round to put up a Sky dish once who insisted on trying about 10 different positions for the dish to go even though they all produced exactly the same picture. In the whole game no-one ever seemed interested to try a shot on goal. Just as against Derby we looked like the best we'd do was 0-0.
Of course that was blown apart by some very poor defending. Scott Loach didn't have a good game and certainly should've kept the first one out as it hit his near post before going in. We looked no different when we came out in the second half and it was just a question of whether Reading would add to their total which, depressingly, they did another three times.
The Watford End still had fun though. We celebrated the Reading goals as if they were our own, and yet again the Nicky Wright Wright Wright chant was heard. Is he now a regular at away games? If he is, I've still not seen him.
Another chant which made a comeback that I hadn't heard for at least 7 years was 'Elton John's Taylor Made Army'. Rumours were flying round the stand that there is a press conference planned for Monday where Elton and GT will announce they are returning to the club. In what capacity no-one quite seemed to know. But after this performance we could certainly do with a bit of the old Taylor magic again. The trouble is I don't see his style fitting in with BR's at all. Although maybe that's why BR's stated he's going back to the drawing board in his post match comments.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Scunthorpe SquarePants- Watford 1 Scunthorpe United 0
'Dad, why are the Scunthorpe fans singing about SpongeBob?'
I took my 5 year old son to the game today. I don't do this as a rule usually because I know that I will be subject to a thousand distractions, including the quote above which was clearly the best of the day. Today though I was delighted to have his little insights into the game and constant requests for food because they considerably livened up an extremely tedious affair.
Throw in the Wilmington Barack Obama Band (or something) and, despite the football, it was quite a good afternoon even though it was ridiculously cold. I ate more than I ever have done before at a football match and we tapped our feet to keep warm at half time. It was especially good when towards the end of the second half the band started adding their own accompaniment to the proceedings. Suddenly it felt more like we were at a US College Football Bowl game than a dull cup tie at Vicarage Road.
My son asked me a couple of times who I thought our best players of the afternoon were and I struggled to answer. Hoyte and Cork both looked quite good but I felt that they added to the boredom as they are experts at playing the passing possession game that made this afternoon so boring. I ended up saying Scott Loach as he looked solid all day. Jay DeMerit had his best game in a while. Jenkins and O'Toole both did well, the latter being an undeserved substitute. We booed this but can't complain in hindsight given that Raziak blasted the ball in, something Priskin never looked like doing today.
'The band and the goal, that was all that was worth seeing' I heard a bloke on the way out say and he was right. Still, its nice to be in the next round.
I took my 5 year old son to the game today. I don't do this as a rule usually because I know that I will be subject to a thousand distractions, including the quote above which was clearly the best of the day. Today though I was delighted to have his little insights into the game and constant requests for food because they considerably livened up an extremely tedious affair.
Throw in the Wilmington Barack Obama Band (or something) and, despite the football, it was quite a good afternoon even though it was ridiculously cold. I ate more than I ever have done before at a football match and we tapped our feet to keep warm at half time. It was especially good when towards the end of the second half the band started adding their own accompaniment to the proceedings. Suddenly it felt more like we were at a US College Football Bowl game than a dull cup tie at Vicarage Road.
My son asked me a couple of times who I thought our best players of the afternoon were and I struggled to answer. Hoyte and Cork both looked quite good but I felt that they added to the boredom as they are experts at playing the passing possession game that made this afternoon so boring. I ended up saying Scott Loach as he looked solid all day. Jay DeMerit had his best game in a while. Jenkins and O'Toole both did well, the latter being an undeserved substitute. We booed this but can't complain in hindsight given that Raziak blasted the ball in, something Priskin never looked like doing today.
'The band and the goal, that was all that was worth seeing' I heard a bloke on the way out say and he was right. Still, its nice to be in the next round.
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