Iwelumo in Chesting Ball Down Shocker

The OS used this picture of him today, showing off his special move.  Can he actually do anything else?

New Shirt Unveiled

Elton gave a sneak peak at the concert but finally a pic has appeared on the official site.  I think it looks good.  Kind of a updated reverse of the 97/8 stripe.

New Hornblogger Poster Unveiled

Thanks to my mate Laurence for creating this on Andy Barefoot's excellent site.  I wonder how much it would cost to put it up on the poster site opposite the Vic?  To make one yourself click here

Will Buckley

A mate texted me to say we'd signed Bill Buckley, which made me think Malky had gone for the former That's Life presenter.



The Williams Buckley. We've signed the one on the right.

Pics from Clarence Park

Pics from Grosvenor Vale

Pics from Meadow Park

Kids- Tottenham Hotspur Academy 2 Watford Academy 1

Partly in an effort to put off the ending of the football season for a couple more days and partly because I'd never been there I couldn't resist the temptation to watch the academy boys play at White Hart Lane.

The marketing for the game had clearly gone well because there must have been a good couple of hundred through the door. Most were schoolkids who weren't always as interested in watching the football as mucking about with each other but it still made for a better atmosphere than at some Carling Cup games I've been to.

Whilst outside of the ground isn't anything to write home about I did like White Hart Lane a lot. You get the sense of it always having been there with the local community growing and changing with it, rather than the new Arsenal or Wembley that seem to delibrately cut themselves off from their locality in the same way Legoland or Thorpe Park do. Inside its kind of like a bigger Loftus Road, with the stands very close to the action.

The pitch looked magnificent in stark contrast to how the Vic has looked recently. The pitches at Ipswich, Donnie, Coventry and even Marlow are far better than our own which on Sunday looked like my garden does in February. Sorry Sarries but under a boss who wants us to play such nice football as Brendan I really don't think we benefit from having you ground share. Spurs pitch looked how I remember ours used to look at the beginning and end of a season. A beautiful green carpet rather than a churned up farmers field.

Spurs came out with all guns blazing determined to impress their young crowd and within a minute we were 1-0 down. A very hard hit shot from just outside the area beat the wonderfully named Bo Antal in the Watford goal. Ten minutes later it was 2-0 from the spot after one of our defence brought down a Spurs forward. It looked like they might run up a cricket score but Bo made some fine saves and we managed to get back into it. Our reply came after about half an hour in the typical fashion of the seniors. A quick break down the right and Matty Whichelow resisted the attentions of the Spurs defenders to fire high into the top corner.

That was how it stayed despite us always looking threatening on the break and them firing some very fierce shots that Antal did well to stop. There was something a bit Edwin Van de Sar about him and I'd say he looks a good prospect for the future. The same with Whichelow who I've seen score twice in two matches. Lee Hodson captained the side and played well in the centre of defence rather than down the flank as he did on Sunday.

As with the reserve game I saw recently there were two very obvious pretend injuries midway through each half that were clearly just being used as a refreshment break. Both last night and at Marlow I was struck that the referee waited until the players had returned from the touchline ready for the restart rather than hurrying them to restart as soon as the 'injured' player had left the pitch. I do wonder if there is some unofficial experiment going on that will eventually see a sanctioned break for drinks midway through each half. I'm sure the sponsors would appreciate it but maybe from a dehydration safety point of view it is a good idea. However if it is going to be part of the game lets make it official rather than going through the charade of a player needing treatment.

The second half was made additionally interesting by some dire stewarding. You can't expect to let kids in for a quid and then not for them to behave like, well, kids. But one steward took exception to the occasional banging of seats and general not paying attention and kept hassling one group of teens. I even heard him say to his colleague "I like annoying people, that's my job". But in annoying these lads things got a little tense for a few minutes and it was totally the fault of the steward. Had he just ignored them like everyone was doing nothing would've happened. Luckily nothing really did but it was all unnecessary and his comment just confirms the fact that there are some stewards out there who really don't have the best interests of the crowd at heart.

At the end I was pleased I'd made the effort. I was impressed with our youngsters. Okay, they lost but apart from the opening ten minutes they'd been a match for the Premiership youngsters. Add in their victory at Chelsea on Saturday and we may have some ready made replacements should we need to sell in the summer.

Don't Want To Go Home- Watford 3 Derby County 1

I always feel a bit melancholy on the last day. The prospect of no football for three months looming large, especially in an odd numbered year.

But this was a thoroughly enjoyable heart warming game, kind of like a feast Harry Potter would enjoy before returning to the Dursleys for the summer. You don't really feel like celebrating the end but you can't help but get carried along with it. Credit especially should go to the Derby fans who appeared to be treating the day how we treated the last away game at Middlesborough in our first Premiership season. It didn't matter what the result was, they were just here to have some fun and even brought various inflatables along with them to give the Vicarage Road end a very 90's appearance.

The retro feel continued with Luther Blissett receiving a deserved award from the 'Kick Racism Out' campaign. It felt good to resurrect the old 'Loooofer' chant again. He was in very good spirits and looked exactly the same as always. Not for him the fast food eating John Barnes type of lifestyle.

The opening quarter of an hour was very even. Robbie Savage tried to impose himself in the middle of the park and got booed with every touch. He succeeded for a while with John Eustace battling along side him, not a pairing to meet late at night down a dark alley I would imagine. But as we've done so effectively all season, despite Derby having the better of the opening exchanges, we suddenly broke very quickly as Raziak found McAnuff in the area and we were one up. In one of the best celebrations of the season Jobi poleaxed the corner flag and rather like Ricky Hatton it needed quite a lot of attention to get back up again. Surprisingly Jobes wasn't booked but then the ref was totally unpredictable all afternoon. He allowed some nasty challenges to go unpunished but booked an innocent Doyley for failing to get out of the way of a quickly taken free kick. Bizarre.

It wasn't long before we made it two with a bit of Harlem Globetrotter football. Jobi's free kick was superbly headed by Priskin but hit the bar and came back out. Mariappa tried a splendid over head kick to put it in but alas it hit a Derby defender so Raziak struck it home.

From then on the result never really looked in doubt. I think Nigel Clough had a point when he said the opening goal was going to be important, but I don't think we would've given up quite as easily as Derby seemed to. Every time we attacked we looked dangerous and it was no surprise when Raziak got his second following excellent work by Tommy Smith.

Predictably we didn't add our lead in the second half. It would've been so nice to win by four or five. It wasn't for want of trying though and we hit the post, Priskin and Smith went close and Raziak had a good couple of chances for his hat-trick. At the other end Scott Loach did superbly to keep Derby frustrated until John Eustace headed in Derby's consolation. He grinned embarrassedly and returned the polite applause of the Watford faithful. In some ways I guess you could say we scored four.

One player who, alas, didn't get on the scoresheet was Lloydinho. But he kept up his recent record of going very close. It was shame he didn't take the free kick we got just on the edge of the box during the second half, or abandoned his usual defensive post to go up for a corner. Its going to happen one day and the place will go mad when it does.

Rodgers, tellingly I think, chose to substitute all three of our current loanees to give us the chance to show our appreciation. Gavin Hoyte was first off, only playing because of an injury to Mike Williamson which required Mariappa to move into the centre of defence. He has never quite shown the greatness you expect from someone on the books of one of the big four but his efforts are appreciated none the less. Hoyte was replaced by Lee Hodson from our academy who despite looking so young (although I find this more and more with footballers as I get older) did really well and was confident enough to get forward and help out Tommy Smith on several occasions.

Danny Rose was next off. I described him as a fatter Anthony McNamee in our game at Doncaster but actually I think he's nearer Nordin Wooter. He looks like he's going to be good but actually he is just frustrating as he constantly makes the wrong decision. 'Sacha' Cauna who replaced him probably did enough in the 10 minutes he was on the pitch to make it possible that we might see him in a yellow shirt again.

Finally Jack Cork came off to a standing ovation just before the end. He has been fantastic. He puts in all the hard work, with no fuss and often is the catalyst for making things happen that result in goals, whilst unfairly getting none of the credit because no remembers it was him who released the ball in the first place. Thanks fella. If there was an award for Loanee of the Season you'd have won by a landslide.

Before the traditional end of season meander round the pitch there was a touching reception for several very elderly looking matchday employees who were carrying out their duties for the last time today. The Russo's were on hand to thank them which was a nice indication of how things have changed upstairs. Would it have happened with Simpson or Cashton?

The pitch walk seems to get bigger every season. Children of all ages accompanied the players this year rather than just babes in arms. It won't be long before aunties and uncles are soaking up the applause too. I felt sorry for Mart Poom, going round in his suit. He'd done so well early in the season before injuring himself in the infamous Reading game. Had it not happened I think he probably would've been going round in his kit this afternoon and maybe looking forward to a third season with the 'Orns. As it is, I wish him all the best and am just sorry we never got to see him more often.

I walked away with the very apt "Hoist Up the Watford flag" going round in my head. I wondered how many of those who'd just done the lap of honour would be back next season to hear it. With us needing the money, sadly I think those who we most want to keep are the ones most likely to be on their way. Whatever happens though I'll be there to sing it and am already counting down the days 'til the fixtures come out.

Empty Seats- Coventry City 2 Watford 3

I know I could be partly accused of actually writing a blog about football parking but as I've said previously, unless you go on the coaches or a non-existent football train then it is a very big part of your day. I think I've also made the point that I can't imagine any other local amenity being subject to the same conditions. The local council accepting a planning proposal from Tesco but then saying 'oh by the way, no-one is allowed to park with 2 miles of the store unless they've pre-registered or are prepared to pay a whopping £10'.

The excuse at Coventry is environmental. I wonder what it'll change to when cars are eventually all green. I mention Tesco deliberately because there is an enormous one next to the Ricoh Arena with free parking for two hours. They have security people at the car park entry asking you 'Football or Shopping'. I was aware of this having been to the Ricoh before. My tips if you want to get away with parking in the Tesco are saying 'shopping' obviously but also to go in civvies with no obvious football paraphernalia on show.

One thing I wasn't expecting was then to be checked on the way out whether or not I'd been to the football. Luckily I'd actually got lunch from Tesco and so had a carrier bag with me which I was able to show as evidence to avoid a £50 fine, whilst subtly throwing the programme on the floor.

The Ricoh is the most commercial of all the new grounds. I know this is a bit like saying one type of apple is more apple-y than the others but the Ricoh really tries to squeeze every last penny out of the experience. A big fuss was being made of the fact Take That will perform there in the summer and you couldn't miss the plugs for local band The Enemy who were played both before the start and at half time. The whole experience leaves you feeling slightly grubby.

I shall skip mention of the first half as it was tedious in the extreme apart from a Lloyd Doyley shot which went just wide. The half conjured reminders of our pre-season friendly with MK Dons. You certainly wouldn't have known we still needed a point to be safe.

The second half began in a similar vein and the upper choir of Watford supporters entertained by going through a retro chants montage from the 1999/2000 season. How is it that the majority of singers always sit together? Do they block buy a huge amount of seats or is it just luck. Today they were all housed in a seperate section high in the stand when the rest of us were all seated in the lower part of the 'Jewson' Stand.

Coventry fans either don't get on with each other or like a bit of room to spread out because there is no large concentration of them in any area of the ground. They don't seem to have decided yet which stand is going to house the hard-core of fans and as a result there doesn't appear to be any hard-core. Just a scattering of dis-interested people across a sea of sky blue seats who only come to life for the minute after their team scores. Our best chant of the day was "They're here, they're there, they're every ****ing where, empty seats, empty seats'. The ground was unfortunately built for a Premiership existence and feels cavernous when hosting Championship football. It was probably less than 50% full.

We looked unlikely to get anything out of the game even before Robbie Simpson hit a brilliant free kick past Loach to make it 2-0. Our saviour (as with Man U later in the day) was a penalty (although this one really was) when Priskin was brought crashing to the ground. Despite the crowds shouts for Lloydinho to take it Tommy Smith lined it up and after seeing his initial shot saved managed to bundle the ball home at the second time of asking.

Suddenly there was hope. I think it more started from the crowd than the players as we got going with 'Hoist Up the Watford Flag'. The players piled the pressure on and won two corners in quick succession. For the second one Raziak leapt above everyone else to head superbly into the Coventry net.

We then survived the hacking down of Jenkins, which ended his participation, and the subsequent arrival of Danny Rose to go ahead through an unlikely cheeky back heel from Priskin. Coventry huffed and puffed and tried to find a way back into it but Daniel Fox ended any hope by elbowing Tamas for a straight red. We never looked in danger after that despite the 5 minutes injury time the ref added on.

It was our second double of the season (the other being Charlton) and safety has been achieved. So much for us all thinking after the Sheff United game that we were going down under Brendan. It took a good while but he has achieved his first major goal as Watford manager. It will be good fun indeed if he now achieves the next one that sees us becoming a 'Top 30' club.

Parklife- Doncaster Rovers 1 Watford 2

You've probably noticed a common theme running through these posts is the subject of parking. Nothing to do with football of course, but to the fan who favours the car over the coach one of vital importance.

Well, I'm pleased to announce finally of a club with a new ground that have got it right. Yes, there was parking at Donnie. Loads and loads of it. A dedicated club car park which anyone could park in. A large retail centre next door with lots of parking which didn't discriminate against football fans and was free! There were also various industrial estate parking places too. I got there far too early but even if I'd left it late there were enough spaces to cater for all of us. Heaven.

Not only had they provided places to park, but the ground is built next to a nice park as well. This gives the fan who needs something to do having consumed a KFC the chance to walk it off round a lake and up and down some hills whilst observing the various pre-match rituals of the locals. Before I arrived I had visions of Doncaster being a bit grim and industrial but it wasn't like that at all. It was great. The best new ground I've been to. They've even copied the Ipswich idea of getting people to play the game beforehand as there were several five a side pitches nearby along with an athletics track.

Inside the food outlets were spacious and all manned, something that should but never does happen in the Rous Stand. The toilets were cavernous with no usual half time queue. The stewards were polite and helpful and even allowed you to sit anywhere within the stand we were allocated. These all sound like such small insignifanct things but they make a huge difference to a fans experience. Especaily the stewarding. If the stewards are petty, it only increases the likelihood of trouble. I don't mean trouble in a throw back to the 80's type way but unnecessary rule enforcing just leads to unpleasantness which usually results in the stewards enforcing their authority and throwing people out. Yesterday they were friendly and treated us like human beings and we responded accordingly. If only all clubs could be like Donnie.

Another crucial thing they'd got right was building a stadium that corresponds to the average amount of fans. Coventry especially could learn that there really is no point in building a ground that will cope well when you're playing Man Utd when in reality you going to be facing Sheffield United far more regularly. All the stands were well populated, the ground was compact and I felt close to the pitch even in the back row yet the leg room was spacious.

On the pitch things were obviously good too although I still would've said all that even if we'd lost 4-0. Donnie started more threateningly and looked good in attack all afternoon, but our defence, and especially Mike Williamson was excellent, snuffing out the threat. We coped well with that early pressure and then started to respond in kind. Priskin got the ball in his favourite position where he was ahead of his chasing defender and although he was on the right flank and needed a Donnie defender to turn the ball in for him the result was the same. One nil. A few minutes later we were down the same flank again when the ball was crossed for Don Cowie to head over the despairing Neil Sullivan. From being up against it we'd delivered two quick killer blows and then frustrated our opponents for the rest of the half.

Although I'm never a fan of the Luton hating songs as I feel we waste far too much of our time and energy singing about them, even I joined in with the "Its blue, its square, they're going down to there, Luton Town, Luton Town" chant that got going during the first half. Yes they've been ridiculously harshly treated with the 30 point penalty but this did cause some hilarity in the away end. As did the name of the half time entertainment cheerleading troupe, the Rovers Baguettes. At least that's what it sounded like. The mind boggles. Is it a Northern euphemism a bit like roasting?

We carried on keeping Donnie at bay for most of the second half which was made interesting by our new loanee Danny Rose who James Chambers and the rest of the defence found to be a right handful. Kind of like an Anthony MacNamee with a few more pies inside him I reckon he'll be a lot of fun to watch in the remaining six games.

With five minutes to go an unlikely long range shot from James Hayter beat Scott Loach and suddenly nerves that hadn't been present all afternoon leapt to the fore as one remembered the Cardiff and Sheffield Wednesday experiences. However we saved our best display of the game for the finale. I've been critical in the past of us passing it around for the sake of it and have said I'd rather see us get a third than sitting on a second. However, with Priskin and Cowie taken off and Tommy Smith not having his best game ever we never looked like getting a third today despite Sullivan's dodgyness. So we sensibly passed the ball around and ran it into the corners to run the clock down. Despite the home fans attempting to lift their team for the only time all afternoon we comfortably saw it out.

I wish Donnie well and hope they stay up. With Charlton surely gone and Southampton having a major crisis at just the wrong moment I reckon they, like us, will actually end up more mid table than bottom six.

Thanks Anarchists- Wycombe Wanderers Reserves 1 Watford Reserves 1

Living just a couple of miles from Marlow's impressive sounding Alfred Davis Memorial Ground I'd followed this fixture for months as it got moved back and back through the reserves list. First of all pencilled in for Jan 31st, then moved to Mar 31st I looked forward to a rare chance to see the second string 'Orns in action. Working where I do I just can't get to Borehamwood for 7pm. Then they moved it to April 1st. Bugger. I do a language course on a Wednesday evening paid for by my employer. Not something to miss. Oh, but the programme reckons it kicks off at 2pm anyway so I couldn't have gone. Never mind.

However upon checking the website today it was back on for 7pm. And then about ten minutes later, joy of joys, my class was postponed due to the G20 demonstations. The instructor has to come through Liverpool Street and didn't fancy it. Thanks anarchists. I don't agree with what you're doing but I appreciate you letting me go to football.

So after a very boring week and a half when not much happened other than Jimmy Salad revealed we are facing major challenges, Elton's latest strop came to an end and the FA bought some dodgy rip off football shirts and declared them as the new national kit, I was back watching the Golden Boys in action.

I couldn't think of a nicer place (other than the Vic) to watch it either. A perfect early spring evening and a great view as Marlow's ground must be the only non-league stadium to have a stand that height wise is on a par with the lower bits of the Upper Rous.

The crowd was the usual odd mix at a non first team game of anoraks (of which I proudly include myself), families, WAGS, footballing professionals and old blokes on whom clubs like Marlow must survive. Tonight the old blokes were employed as both turnstile operators and occasional ball boys.

Even odder still was the presence of Peter Taylor, former England caretaker manager and Sven's No.2, who was just four rows in front of me. Okay, maybe not that odd or surprising given that he is Wycombe's manager. Even so, I couldn't help thinking that if things had turned out very different for him he might have actually been managing the national side tonight against Ukraine in front of 87,548 rather than watching a Combination match in a crowd that probably didn't number 87.

It was a young team put out by Sean Dyche and the only ones I felt I knew were Jordan Parkes, Liam Henderson and Lewis Young who looked taller than he does at the Vic and a giant compared to brother Ashley.

Estonian's Andrei Stepanov made his first start in a yellow (well actually red) shirt and did well, proving himself to be another no nonsense Mike Williamson type of player.

Sean Dyche was vocal throughout although not in the menacing kind of way that he played, but encouraging his mainly young squad all the time. He didn't seem that keen on the sideways football we played a lot of in the first half though and at one point shouted 'forward, forward, forwards'. He cut an impressive figure as a coach and I would think he'll eventually make the step up to first team management.

The only goal of the half came right at the end. To be fair our defence couldn't do much with the wicked cross that came into our box which Jordan Lumsden (great name) got his head on to sending the ball arcing over keeper Stuart Searle to put Wycombe one up.

In the second half we were much better and dominated throughout. Within 10 minutes of the restart we were level when a cross caused confusion in the Wycombe defence and Matthew Whichelow, who looked a bit Nordin Wooter-ish, forced the ball home from a couple of yards out. We had plenty of attacking possession after that and produced a few promising chances but never really had the necessary killer instinct to get what we deserved out of the match.

Peter Taylor disappeared during the second half persumably to watch the England game and think of what might have been. I managed to get back to see the second half, but it wasn't a patch on what I'd seen earlier in the evening. I'll always hate international weeks (parly because they are actually fortnights) but a bit of reserve football helped made the wait for Donny on Saturday a bit more palatable.

Supporting Tibet- Ipswich Town 0 Watford 0

In my mind Ipswich isn't that far. Just round the M25 and along a bit. But it take ages to get to being at the end of the nightmare that is the A12. A road that can't decide whether it wants to be a motorway or a country lane.

Oddly on the way I didn't see any fellow travelling 'Orns. They were at the ground. Hundreds of them. But on my journey from Buckinghamshire to Suffolk I did not see one scarf, flag, or car sticker travelling in the same direction as me. It was as if I was driving in some sort of twilight zone. I got so concerned that I stopped to check the ticket to ensure I'd got the right time and day and then put on 5Live to make sure the game hadn't been postponed due to some torrential downpour solely affecting East Anglia.

Talking of which, Ian Holloway mostly defintely wins the award for the worst pundit ever heard on radio. His insights into Portsmouth Everton mainly involved the hairstyles of the players and anecdotes about his wife. He was awful. I have a feeling he'll go the same way as Alan Pardew because he sounded like he could quite easily say something that might be acceptable in the dressing room but not in front of the mic. One can only hope.

If you are planning to go to Portman Road my advice would be leave early, and then a bit earlier still. The traffic queues approaching the ground start before you've even got to the town. As always, once you can see the ground, there are hundreds of parking spaces available, but only if you are shopping in the adjoining retail outlets. In the end I parked a couple of miles away, half over a yellow line and luckily got away with it.

The approach to Portman Road is one of the nicer I've been to. A bit like Villa Park it sits on the side of a park which prior to kick off was full of kids playing football. I can't think of anything more appropriate, or more likely to really give kids the football bug then allowing them to actually play the game before and after they've seen the real thing. But Ipswich go one further and have a training pitch bolted onto the side of the main stand, where they appear to run coaching sessions before kick-off. A quite brilliant idea.

It was a nice idea too to commission statues of Sirs Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson outside the ground. Alas, the sculptor got muddled half way through doing Sir Bobby's face and has given him a very Rodney Marsh-esque expression which I can never recall seeing on the former England manager.

Portman Road is an old fashioned ground and we were in one of the most old fashioned bits. A stand a bit like our East one that was impossible to succesfully navigate. You felt like you could easily end up somewhere you weren't meant to. I loved it. True, we were very squashed in but felt close to the pitch even though we were in the upper tier and our side on position provided a good view.

The Ipswich fans were so passive they might have been supporting the Tibetan National side. Only a small group of about 4 tweenagers tried to out chant us and even then the police went and had a word with them to restore calm. The Football Grounds Guide page about Ipswich did mention that the police presence tended to be over the top and so it proved with four officers watching over our section of the ground for the entire game.

For a nil-nil the game was extremely entertaining. End to end stuff with Ipswich probably just shading the amount of chances on goal. As ever we were very good in possession but frustratingly tried to be a bit too clever every time we attacked. Don Cowie, Priskin and even Tommy Smith seemed to favour holding the ball up even when we appeared to be facing fewer defenders than we had attackers.

The defence, for a change, took the plaudits in this game. Mariappa was outstanding both when playing on the right and after DeMerit went off and he covered in the centre. Scott Loach had his best game for a long while making some stunning saves, especially in the second half when a few times Ipswich looked like they were one on one with him. I was just waiting for the roar (if indeed the Portman Road faithful do manage a roar when their team scores) but Loach flung himself around the area to deny them.

It was a relief we rode out the final four minutes without conceding a penalty. The referee had an okay game, despite looking like Neil Warnock from a distance. He was slightly too lenient with the yellow card but was one of the better ones.

All in all a good afternoon out. Apart from the driving hassles Ipswich is definitely an away day to be recommended. Shame we didn't sneak all three points, but at least we got one and maintain our six point gap over the relegation places. With just seven games to go, and a game in hand over most of the bottom six I'm beginning to think we'll be okay.

Twelfth Man- Charlton Athletic 2 Watford 3

This was my first visit to The Valley for 25 years. Christ, that makes me sound old. Since then, its died and been re-born into a very impressive arena, even if all of the additional facilities for away fans are out in the open. It really wouldn't be much fun queueing for one of the Valiants very weak cups of tea in a downpour.

Back in 1984 all I can really remember is that we got there in the back of my Dad's mate's van and were lucky to escape serious injury as he didn't slow down at all going round bends on account of his live cargo. Also away fans were sat along one of the touchlines and I was lucky enough to be in the front row. It was an odd experience because we were actually lower than the pitch and we were looking straight ahead at the players boots.

Yesterday I happened to be right near the front as well although this time, of course, we were behind the goal. And, yet again, I narrowly escaped injury. I'm not sure who it was that hit a shot directly at the woman sitting next to me but it was very finely struck. Unfortunately she had only just arrived and was clasping a recently purchased full cup of coffee. Well, its not an exaggeration to say that it literally exploded everywhere. A tidal wave of beverage enveloped the few rows around us. I thought it was rather poor that the steward who wasn't too far away and must be paid to notice such things decided it required no further action. He wasn't to know that luckily it wasn't scalding hot but only pleasantly warm. However various fans around and about came to her aid and passed along all the tissues they could lay their hands on. Watford kit man Bob Oteng (at least I think it was him) did notice what was going on and checked she was okay before kindly handing her a Watford FC ball by way of compensation. Top man.

The biggest change I can think of in the last 25 years was nothing to do with Charlton. It was in our support. Back then we were notorious as a quiet set of fans who could just about get a 'Watford (clap clap clap)' chant going but that was it. Yesterday we were absolutely immense. If ever you've doubted the whole twelfth man sentiment you should have seen the support the fans gave the team yesterday. I'd almost go as far as to say we were man of the match because it was only us that didn't stop for the whole 90 minutes.

Unfortunately on the pitch for a ropey 20 minutes spell the players did slip back into old ways. We seemed content to sit on our slim lead whilst our defence took their eye off the ball twice and allowed Charlton easy access through the middle of the park to take the lead.

As I've documentated before one of our failings under Brendan has been our ability to bounce back from going behind. However a half time rollicking put this to rights. We looked more confident in the second half and although its a cliche, once Raziak had scored our brilliant second goal there was only going to be one winner. When Priskin went clear and was one on one with the keeper you knew we'd secured all three points even before the ball hit the back of the net.

All in all it was a very satisfying afternoon out. Exciting game, great singing, good acoustics, easy to get to and the right result. We shall miss Charlton next season. Well, so long as we don't cock it up against Forest on Tuesday night.

Life in a Northern Town- Derby County 1 Watford 0

Pride Park is yet another new ground that conjures up memories of the play (and was it a book too?) the Albatross. Parking parking everywhere, but not a space for the football fan. Even the KFC had a guard minding the entrance. So you are made to park well away from the retail park that surrounds the ground and then trudge through thousands of parking spaces that you could've used, if only you weren't a football fan. Crazy.

Despite Derby reckoning its in the Midlands all the accents were very whippet sounding and the Salvation Army band really were playing before the game. They were a hundred times better than the bloke who worked the PA system at Derby. He put himself up for rubbish announcer of the season with the classic 'And now lets welcome the Derby County ball boys!!!'. They then did themselves no favours by running down the Centre line and then branching out round the Centre Circle. This would have been fine if they were cheerleaders, or maybe primary school age ballboys but as they were hulking great teenagers it looked naff and camp, but mainly just naff. Then we had a Peter Kay-esque mega mix of all the songs you are ever likely to hear teams run out to. The famous bit from Carmina Burana, the Boys are Back in Town and One Vision were just a few of the delights served up. We were even inflicted with two doses of Mariah Carey but luckily not in the opening montage.

Derby included both Stewart and Ellington in their line up. Stewart received a mixed reception whilst Ellington got precisely what he deserved. He didn't dissapoint the away support either. We really shouldn't have given him the three easy chances to score that we did, but each one ended nearer the corner flag than it did the Watford goal. What a waste of money indeed. Interestingly the Derby fans didn't exactly seem to have taken to him either, with no obvious 'Dukes' shouted when he was on the ball.

Jon Harley was brilliant for Watford and even survived getting kicked in the head during the first half. Incredibly our only reward for this was a free kick. Neither Priskin or Mariappa faired as well, both having to come off with knocks.

Its interesting how much of a difference Priskin seems to make to us under Rodgers. He was a constant pain in Derby's side and whilst he was on the pitch we looked like we always had a chance. As soon as he went off, despite all Hoskins enthuiastic running, it always looked like 0-0 was the best we were going to do.

However, our defence still looks shaky at best. Had we gifted those chances to a striker better than Ellington we would've been 3 down by half time. One problem is that when we are attacked we play so deep. We invite teams onto us by only getting tackles in once in the last quarter of the field. This is especially annoying once we've gone a goal down as we did with 7 minutes left when Hulse headed past Loach. To still then be defending so deep makes it look like we've given up.

Special mention should go to Lloyd Doyley who, despite being the least likely player to flourish under BR, looked like his new boss is rubbing off on him. During the second half he received the ball in an awkward position on the wing with two Derby players closing in. There was a slight groan in the away end that turned into a 'Doyley for England' chant as Lloydy turned both of them!

Minutes later though he showed that he is still our Lloyd by accidentally putting the ball out for a throw in when he meant to pass it to the opposing keeper following an injury. This led to the unusual sight of the Derby keeper taking a throw in. Wonder what the odds on that would've been?

I assume Nick Wright was in the Hornets contingent as at one point we broke out into a 'Nicky Wright Wright Wright' chant. Either that or I've missed the news that we are doing a retro chant once a game. Another old boy, Craig Ramage, did the Derby equivilent of Harry's 50/50 draw at half time to lukewarm appalause from all sides of the ground.

Like the song by the Dream Academy the whole afternoon and team had a lacklustre feel about it. Recently on bHappy it has been stated that the we are completely lacking in anyone with the aggressive passion of a Mooney or Robbo. I'd stated previously that I thought Bridcutt might be our version but as the weeks go by he looks more like the rest of them. Where has his arrogant streak gone? He looked totally ineffective when he came on for O'Toole.

Its great that Tommy Smith is currently wearing the armband but I have to agree that we need a cheerleader just to get everyone going, the team and the fans. Wouldn't it be nice if we could bag Helgusson once his loan at QPR finishes.

Marshball- Watford 2 Coventry City 1

"The game passed a pitch inspection at 1.30pm but..."

I arrived to hear a Steward chatting to the people in one of the food kiosks of the Upper Rous and he was clearly preparing them that the chance of going home early was definitely an option. In fact judging by the way he then shrugged his shoulders he was implying it was clearly a matter of when not if.

The pitch didn't look playable. It reminded me of 8 years ago when the Burnley game was postponed a few minutes before kick off due to a deluge. That day the rain fell in one huge cloudburst and I think the only difference with today and why we went ahead was that it was constant rain so the ref had kind of got used to how bad the pitch looked. But to the untrained eye it looked dangerous and it should be a relief to Mr J Moss that only one player, Ross Jenkins, was stretchered off towards the end and doesn't appear to be badly hurt. One wonders had someone sustained a career threatening injury whether the officials could be sued. But after seeing how Stuart Atwell was treated with his 'mistake' earlier this season I'd imagine they'd be awarded the FA Cup Final to officiate and the matter would be quietly dropped.

So the atmosphere at the Vic ironically resembled that of the Marie Celeste for at least the first half hour or so as everyone waited for the referee to come to his senses. There didn't seem much point in getting behind the team 100% when any goals scored would be cancelled by the abandonment.

But it never came. And so the two teams played a new game called Marshball which was entertaining and intriguing but required little of the skills that are usually seen at the Vic. The main thing needed this afternoon was an ability to judge how far the ball was likely to go when passed and how much power it would need. This varied greatly depending on whereabouts on the pitch a player was at the given time. Up near the Vicarage Road end the ball played fairly normally, whereas down by the Rookery/Rous corner flag it didn't move at all.

Oddly the team playing down towards the Rookery seemed to have more of the chances. In the first half we really could have been 2 or 3 up by half time. Whereas the second half was much more even and we had a few scares. But despite having fewer chances in the second we took them and so deserved to win the game.

Priskin should have had a penalty in the first couple of minutes when his legs were taken out from under him by a Cov defender who wasn't anywhere near getting the ball. The ref seemed to decide to put it down to the conditions and nothing was given. He made amends in the second half when again Priskin's legs were assaulted and Tommy Smith duly obliged from the spot.

Cov came back quickly with Clinton Morrison (who else) scoring in a crowded penalty area. But JJOT restored the lead with an excellent strike after he picked up a cross that was meant for Priskin but was too high to reach its target.

The whole team played well, adapting to the conditions and looking more up for it than their opponents. Six points in four days puts us above our next opponents Derby, and we should go to Pride Park with plenty of optimism whether we have to play football or marshball.

Tevez's mum visits Man Utd's training ground...

Welsh Wales Cymraeg Cymru- Swansea City 3 Watford 1

The first match against Swansea in 25 years and suddenly two come along at once. The good news for those going twice (alas not me) is that its one of the more entertaining journeys down a motorway. Sure the English bit of the M4 is dull but after that you've got the Severn Bridge, various mountainous valleys which the road wraps itself round, flames protunding from communist looking power stations, Port Talbot sliced either side of the road where the motorway must act like a kind of Berlin Wall and a tunnel under the Celtic Manor resort (home of the 2010 Ryder Cup as the signs insist on telling you).

Talking of signs pretty much everything once you are in Welsh Wales is in two languages. Even though you know you can't read the Welsh it doesn't stop your brain trying each and every time. This is especially annoying when you have to make last second decisions about which way to go. For example, your brain thinks is it down there, your eyes look at the sign and its says Abertawe, brain thinks where the hell is that, eyes carry on reading Swansea, oh great brain thinks, before your eyes return to the road and inform your brain you've just missed the turning.

Despite the encouragement for the locals to use their own language I didn't hear anyone speak Welsh all afternoon, other than the stadium announcer for a short while (and then I might not have been listening probably). Even so Swansea still feels a bit like Newcastle in that even if you don't wear colours as soon as you open your mouth everyone will know which team you support.

The Liberty Stadium or Stadiwm Liberty (if you're Welsh) is another identikit nice ground. Just as you never go into a McDonalds and think oh this is a bit of a manky rubbish one (the interior I mean, now I'm older I always think that about the food) it's the same with these new stadiums. The Liberty looked impressive both outside and in, gave you a brilliant view even though we were behind the goal, had loads of leg room (better than Wembley) and it was easy to go to the loo and get food at half time. The food was worth getting not from a cusine point of view but because the girls that worked behind the counter were amongst the finest looking catering assistants I've ever seen. It was as the stadium had accidentally advertised for lap dancers.

For this reason I probably enjoyed the couple of minutes of queueing more than the actual game. We started okay and it was very competitive in the first half despite the extremely blustery conditions. When it rains in Swansea its like being in the middle of a car wash. The wetness just envelopes everything around it. There is no escape. Swansea who were obviously used to this played some really nice football. But we coped with it well and made some chances of our own. Eventually after half an hour Lee Williamson slotted the ball home to make it 1-0.

For 60 seconds joy reigned and then Swansea did an obvious thing that I'm surprised didn't happen more often during the game. They hit a long shot at Richard Lee which looked gettable until the wind blew it off course and into the back of the net. That was pretty much it. We then seemed to give up. Swansea's second half goal was always going to come but the amazing thing was that although it stayed 2-1 until practically the last kick of the game we made no attempt to try and get back into it all.

Malky made a couple of odd substitutions. Hoskins was taken off midway through the second half for Eustace?? Why? It wasn't as if we needed to hang on to the result. Raizak came off for Priskin and when it was too late Bromby, who was dreadful thoroughout, finally came off for Theo Robinson. How McAnuff managed to escape not being taken off heaven only knows.

The away contigent got behind Malky for the most part chanting "Malky McKay, he's having a beer and eating a pie". I wondered how long it would be before this turned into "Malky McKay he ain't got a clue, Malky McKay". But this is an unfair comment to make when nothing that happened was in any way different from anything that would've happened under Aidy. The good points from the day were the same as they've ever been (Smith, Hoskins both looked great and Raziak not bad) and similarly the bad points were no different either (the defence).

Other than the Malky chants there wasn't really a great deal of reaction to recent events at the club. A small group of supporters in the corner held up a "Sack the Board" banner at various points during the game. There was some occasional chanting of Aidy's name and a few Simpson's out but that was it.

The trouble with all these is who we aim them at. "Simpson out" and "Sack the Board" seem fairly pointless when they both want to go anyway. "Where's the money gone" might be more appropriate.

If you didn't go to the game but are going on Tuesday then ignore the whole no parking at the ground advice. Its not true, in fact I've never seen so much parking around a football ground. Admittedly most of it is for the retail park which you are encouraged not to park at but there didn't appear to be anyone checking and there were plenty of industrial estates nearby anyway.

American Arses- San Diego Chargers 32 New Orleans Saints 37

I know how lucky I was to get this ticket. Half a million applied for some 80,000 available.

I used to go to see the London Monarchs back in the early 90's when they played at the old Wembley. I always enjoyed it and I realise now this was because I always managed to get a seat side on to the action.

Alas, for this point scoring fest I was behind one of the endzones and so realised a big difference between watching our football and theirs. You cannot enjoy a game in nearly the same way unless you are well positioned in the middle of the pitch. With the position of the ball being everything to understanding and enjoying the game you can't see anything if you are constantly looking for it through 11 enormous American arses (or in this case I guess the correct term is asses).

One small benefit was that early on when the Saints kicked a field goal the ball missed the large net which is supposed to catch it and the bloke next to me caught it. He was generous and maybe a foolhardy in that he then passed it round for everyone to see and I am pleased to report he did manage to get it back.

We all spent most of the time watching the game on the not big enough big screen opposite. Why in these days of widescreen tv's do stadiums still have 4:3 screens? At some crucial points people turned round to the big screen behind (which was much closer) and took pictures of the action. I found this very weird. You wouldn't sit in your front room taking a picture of the telly. So if you are at a live event take a picture of the thing happening live rather than on a screen. Weird.

Also the acoustics were rubbish. Again I'm sure it was where I sat but it was impossible to hear what was being said by the officials which is a big part of the game as the sound echoed from every speaker making it inaudible.

The match was a good one. Exciting and on a knife edge until the last minute. Far better than last years clash between the Giants and Dolphins. Just a shame the Chargers didn't manage to make it go into overtime. A bit like Watford yesterday they seemed to play really well when they were behind but never quite got it together to get in a position to win the game.

The cheerleaders performed exactly the same routine they had at Vicarage Road on Tuesday night. But they made up for it by still being just as gorgeous.

The stadium was good, but as an old traditionalist I didn't find it as unique or enticing as the old Wembley. You are much nearer the pitch for sure, but aside from the arch you could be at any big stadium in the world. I wouldn't even say its as good as the Emirates. The seats haven't got that special padded bit and whilst the legroom was good it wasn't as impressive as 'longer than in the old royal box' sounds. Even the toilets of which there are meant to be many many more still had long queues at half time.

The worst aspect of the day was the merchandise. There had been problems last year apparently and I'd read an interview in which it was promised these problems had been ironed out. Yet when I arrived at the stadium an hour and a half before kick off all the merchandise stands I visited had sold out of every article of clothing commemorating the day that might have fitted me.

They still had plenty of gear for those supporting either team, and some stands even had stuff for all 32 NFL teams but this completely missed the point. Almost everyone you saw was wearing stuff from one team or another. We already had the stuff on sale. They wouldn't sell Man Utd or Chelsea shirts at a Man Utd-Chelsea F.A Cup Final. It would be like selling snow to eskimos. But this is what they tried to do on Sunday

What we all wanted (and I spoke to a few people whilst we pointlessly queued up to be told they'd sold out) was a t-shirt, sweater or baseball cap that told the world we'd been to see the International Series game. Next year, if there is a game at Wembley, someone sort this out! We wanted this stuff and would've paid the ridiculous amounts charged. Someone (the NFL I guess) would make a fortune.

Not Caring- Wycombe Wanderers 1 Darlington 1

I wasn't at St.Marys yesterday partly because it's my wifes birthday weekend but partly because my son had tickets for Wycombe v Darlington, which he got through after school football training (we live in Bucks) so I said I'd take him along.

I've been to Adams Park a good few times as shortly after we moved here the whole Vialli debarcle started. There came a time when I decided I'd had enough. As I'd moved to a new area with a new local team, I'd leave Vialli to it and start going to watch the Wycombe.

I went around half a dozen times even watching them play Brentford one very chilly night in the Auto Windscreens Shield (now Johnstone's Paint Trophy) when the crowd numbered barely more than a thousand. But the trouble is, they just weren't Watford. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get into supporting a team that wasn't wearing the yellow, red and black.

Maybe its the lack of history. When you've watched a team for a long time you can always refer back to other games, or other seasons where similar things have happened.

Maybe its the players. Even in my most concentrated period trying to follow Wycombe I could never remember the names of more than a few. And they meant nothing to me. Whereas I've always been able to recognise most of the Watford reserves, never mind the first XI.

Maybe its the familiarity. I just don't appreciate Adams Park in the same way that I love Vicarage Road. I know the Vic has a lot of flaws but I don't see them. I even love the old East Stand, in fact, its probably my favourite of the lot. Its sad to see it empty but its still nice to see it at all. Whereas going to Adams Park I can see every flaw. For a start its possibly the only league ground actually in the countryside. Sure its just in High Wycombe, but only in the sense that it is the first or last point you come to before endless fields, hills and woods. During a boring bit of the second half I watched three riders on horseback disappearing off into the distance. Because of its location it is THE coldest ground in the country. Also there is only one road in and out so getting to it and home again is a nightmare. I live 6 miles from Adams Park and about 13 from the Vic. Yet I arrived back home at 5.45pm, exactly the same time I usually get home from Watford.

The mascot is stupid. Whereas Harry is clearly a caricuture of a hornet, Wycombe is a caricuture of, um, a person. Yeah, it works really well. Really cute. Think, kind of Its a Knockout crossed with the Adams Family and you've got the idea.

The queues for the loo and food stalls are long, much longer than ours at half time.

I could go on (and on and on). But basically the 'til I die' chant is spot on. Probably I think its in the genes. Trying to support anyone else just doesn't work and I felt no connection for the Chairboys (stupid nickname) at all yesterday, just as I'd failed to do 7 years ago. In fact, I felt more connection with Darlo having seen them once already this season. Their goalkeeper was still in his endearing illuminous orange outfit. And they battled hard and well taking the lead with a nice move in the first half.

The second half provided entertainment of a different kind when there was a punch up and a Darlo player got sent off. In the fall out of this, for no obvious reason, two Wycombe players squared up one hitting the other. He got sent off too. It was the best bit of the game.

We left early. Something I would never ever do at Watford. I can't even understand how people can do it at the Vic (unless maybe they're fans of other teams supporting the 'Orns for the afternoon). But my son was too cold and was asking to go home and not feeling any connection with the team I agreed. Therefore we missed Wycombe's last equalising penalty but I really didn't care.


The Darlo keeper still hasn't quite got the hang of camouflage.