You'll have heard this many times already in many different reports but, yet again, today emphasized just how important Thomas William Smith is to Watford. He was brilliant for the whole game, always trying, always causing problems, scoring one goal and making the other. If he goes we'll be half the side we currently are.
Looking back through my 25 years plus of watching Watford the only other player I can think who was so consistently a class above everybody else, both in comparison to his own team and the opposition, was Ronnie Rosenthal and his Watford playing career was in the 'Third Tier' and lasted less than six months.
I hope Tommy understands that the huge cheer his name gets when announced and the many renditions of his song that were sung today are our way, the only way we can try and get across to him how much he means to us. How desperate we all are that he won't go anywhere at all, let alone bloody Reading. We need you Tommy!
As for the rest of the 11 it was the first time I've seen us this season when we truly impressed. In fact, we played so well it was difficult to accept we were coming away from the game without all three points. I wouldn't quite go as far as to say we dominated the game, but we were far more inventive than Blackpool. We've rediscovered some of the slick moves we played under Judas and used them to good effect today. We probably deserved another 4-2 scoreline after Cowie and Eustace both hit the bar with superb shots.
I'd struggle to pick anyone who had a truly bad game. The Blackpool goals were very scrappy affairs where it was difficult to tell if anyone was in the wrong. The first one possibly didn't even cross the line. But the ref seemed to feel he had to make up for our first in which the Blackpool defence thought Graham had committed a foul when he won the ball before laying it off for Tommy to open the scoring. Our second came from a Smith cross who'd done wonderfully getting down the line which Tom Cleverley slotted home. He looks a good find, not quite as impressive as Adam Johnson, but with some of the tricks and a lot of the same desire.
Ian Holloway has already moulded Blackpool into his sort of team, moaning and aruging their way through the match, confronting the ref both at half and full time and after both our goals. He was constantly on at the fourth official, waving his arms around and showing his displeasure even if we won a throw in. Malky on the other hand, always seems to be an oasis of calm, just gently encouraging the team and occassionally consulting with Dyche.
I feel Malky's only mistake today was, yet again, with the subs. Severin for Eustace was definitely a good move as Eustace just looks like he's got more about him than Scott. He also gives our team a necessary bit of bite which otherwise is quite lacking in a Robbo sort of way. But Cowie for Harley was just wrong as Jon came on and was instantly far slower than Don had been. Then bringing off Cleverley who already looks like he's settled in, for Henri Lansbury who looked like he hasn't (and fair play he's only been with us 24 hours) just disrupted us even more during the four added minutes when we were searching for a winner.
We greeted the final whistle with the kind of noise we usually make if we've won. The whole team deserved it, but we were giving that extra bit more in appreciation of one man. I do hope the small wave he gave us in return was nothing more than an acknowledgement of the applause he was getting.
