Maybe in the annuls of time it will go down as an okay season, possibly even a good season if you look at the league table. I was impressed by the bloke on bhappy who worked out it was our 10th best season of all time from a league table perspective.
Comparisons with 2000/1 have, of course, been made. That season we got 39 points from the first 16 games and then went on to get 30 from the remaining 30. The cute pub fact for this season will be that with Adam Johnson playing we won 8 league games out of the 11 he played a part in whilst in the 35 without him we won just 10.
He really was the true player of the season. Not since Rocket Ronnie (Rosenthal, not O'Sullivan for those reading this who got into football post 1997) has a player had such a dramatic and immediate impact on a Watford team.
In the beginning we looked ropey and vulnerable but managed to get results. The memory of Wolves on the opening day was lots of fun. However we all know that two goals in the last 5 minutes dramatically changes your perspective of the game (any-one care to admit they left early that day? In the same way I've often wondered about those who walked out of Bolton at home in 1993/4 and missed Gary Porter's amazing solo rescuing of the 'Orns. Thinking of leaving early kids? Remember Zammo and just say no!)
It may be me but the memory of the first home game of the season against Gillingham in the League Cup was possibly our most convincing display of the entire campaign. We played a team off the park, a team that can be considered equals because it was the Gill's first XI against our second string.
Sheffield United were put to the sword next but this doesn't really count as Bryan Robson was in charge then, a decision of Vialli and Basset like stupidity following the excellent work done by Colin W.
Following that we got found out away at the Walkers, ironic for so many reasons (they sacked their manager afterwards, Gary Megson, they went down...).
The reserve side that had done so well two weeks beforehand then got found out against Southend, and we followed that up with a routine 2-0 win over Ipswich, a team we always seem to beat unconvincingly but without too much effort.
Then in came Adam Johnson and all the worries about playing badly and winning and having been found out were forgotten. Forgotten not just by the supporters, pundits and nation at large but crucially by everyone employed by the football club as well.
Gareth Southgate really didn't help the Manager of the Month curse by recalling (but not using!) his boy wonder and our season fell away, although it took a bloody long time courtesy of every other club in the division trying to match us for inconsistency.
Aidy kept up the mantra of 'it'll be alright on the night' which kind of harked back to the cringe making 'one of these days we'll turn someone over big style' sentiments from the Premiership.
To be fair to him we did eventually turn Portsmouth over in the Prem, but it was a bit late by then.
And to be fair again, once automatic promotion had eluded us, we did eventually secure the playoff place needed to keep us in the hunt courtesy of a pathetic display at Blackpool. One which only improved when we were down to 10 men.
But therein seems to lie the possible solution.
For the last 30 minutes against the 'Pool we were okay. Once we stopped lumping it up to Hendo and started trying to play football we looked quite good.
Then against Hull without the suspended Hendo we played some really nice football. Granted we gave away two stupid goals but Ellington, Jobes and even Priskin-tubing looked good, whilst Ainsworth showed that he has the potential to be lots of fun.
And on Wednesday night was there a neater move all season than the nice one-two play between Big D and the Duke which led to our goal. We can play this nice style of football and still have Doris up front! Okay it all went wrong but finally Aidy seemed to have sussed that lumping it doesn't suit us, is easily defended against and is very very obvious.
So all the predictably optimistic talk on the official site is now of a new beginning and a new way of playing. Given the evidence of the last 210 minutes of the season it's not a brand new way we're after but just more of the same. I never thought I'd say this given how totally miserable the majority of the season has seemed but we really didn't need the season to end when it did. We'd just found that new way of playing and Hull only dealt with it because we gifted them ridiculous goals.
Next season could be all the OS promises and more, but that is very much reliant on Aidy having a good pre-season in the transfer market first.
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