A bit of context. I wrote this review on the way to work this morning before I'd heard the news about Brendan. I think its only fair to publish it as it was, because anything I say about him now will be clouded by the action he has taken.
Having read the season review of 2007/8 one thing keeps jumping out at me. Just how much more enjoyable this season was. In the season of our abortive playoff attempt we had a good beginning to the season, made even better by the arrival of Adam Johnson. Once he'd gone apart from a few games, the rest was miserable.
This season just gone we've constantly flirted with relegation, only making ourselves safe in the penultimate match, had a change of board, a change of manager who initially the fans didn't warm too, but some how its all been a lot more entertaining. A series of small triumphs over adversity.
I went into it with very low expectations. Our pre-season form was awful. Never before can I remember the team being booed off in a pre-season friendly, but thats just what happened at Stadium:MK and I'm afraid to say it was well deserved. We had no clue that night. No one quite sure what our new style was supposed to be. Priskin seemingly in the death throes of his Watford career gave us no hint of what was to come, but then I don't think he ever did under Aidy.
So to go to Palace and get a goalless draw on the opening day was a fine result indeed. Rather ironic that it was goalless given the amount of times the ball would go in the net follwing it. The only other 0-0 all season was a similarly impressive 0-0 at Ipswich.
Our record in August wasn't bad four home wins, two in the league, two in the cup and a 3-2 away loss to Forest.
September will be forever overshadowed by the Atwell incident but looking back it was a game that made me tremendously proud to be a Watford fan. The way we used the ghost goal to battle our way back into a game that we would've won if it hadn't been for the penalty right at the end. Following it was another proud performance as we dispatched West Ham in the Carling Cup. Its true that we didn't actually manage to score on the night but thanks to their own goal and some great defending we got through.
October and early November was where it all went wrong for Aidy. Some crazy matches culminating in the 4-3 loss to Blackpool. It still seems a bit of a surprise now that he went when he did. Its not as if we'd lost four or five on the bounce by cricket scores. Even our style of playing wasn't awful, not attacking wise anyway. It was the defence that needed sorting. Which is why I'll always think it was particularly odd that we replaced Aidy in the interim with Malky, the man in charge of our defence. However, he did okay in his spell as caretaker succesfully seeing us past Swansea in the Carling Cup and annilihating QPR which was a lot of fun.
Since leaving Aidy seems to have been some what villified by some fans. I think this is partly due to his link with Simpson, partly down to a perceived lack of humility, and also because the team his permanent successor brought in immediately embarked on a campaign to persaude our hearts and minds that we'd previously been playing football the wrong way.
This grated quite a lot with me, maybe because it went against everything that God, who would be returning himself a couple of months later, had believed during his original campaign of glory during the 80's.
At the beginning the hardcore lets play it on the floor experiment just didn't work. The game against Donnie was an embarassment as we showed Brendan why were aren't as good at football in any sense as those of his previous employers.
But, although I didn't realise it at the time, the second game, a right awkward one against Spurs in the Carling Cup, showed already why Brendan is probably better than Aidy. He changed things so that we actually gave Spurs a decent run for their money. Following that BR had his moment of doubt before we lost away at Birmingham, which given what we know now I think is perfectly understandable. If you'd been told a load of half truths about a new job you'd just taken on I think you'd be more than entitled to reconsider your position.
Two wins in four days over Norwich and Coventry in the wet proved a bit of a false dawn. The Christmas period was grim as Bristol City won the Boxing Day game within about 30 seconds of the start. Not long after came the worst point of the season when Darius and Danny came to town and totally outclassed us leading to ironic cheers for Hendo's goal.
But Brendan kept learning. He kept changing things until he'd got the team playing in his style but within their own limitations. No more so is this apparent than in the change to Lloyd Doyley. I love him but even I'd admit that under Aidy he couldn't pass to save his life and as an offensive weapon was hopeless. Under Brendan he passes with complete confidence and we surely aren't far away now from Lloyd's first goal for the 'Orns.
Priskin too has performed a transformation a kin to a caterpiller into a butterfly. Once the man you always expected to miss any goalscoring opportunity, is now a dead cert when he is 1 to 1 with a keeper even scoring past Petr Cech.
From February onwards things really did look hopeful even though it took until that Coventry away match to make us safe. Good performances against Doncaster, Charlton, Forest, Swansea and even Chelsea pointed that the future is at least hopeful, although it partly depends on how much we have to sell over the summer.
It was a season of inconsistency but I'd rather have that in a way than the consistent way we were good in the opening 15 games or so of 07/08 and then fairly rubbish in the rest.
