"A weak end to a very good season" as I said. There will be a lot of disappointed fans on here this time every season if 50+ points and 10th/11th and a cup final is seen as "disappointing". We'll be back to fighting to get to 40-45 points in future.
I don't really think Deeney's red card, Fosters' two mistakes, Cathcart's mistake can really be considered back luck. It's bad play. Deeney set himself up for a red card and that's down to his big mouth bragging what a hard man he is. Watford players do have a mistake in them, and at the business end of the season they tend to choke. Maybe it's the make up of players (collectively) who are not used to winning, and they get too tense when the stakes are high. The Deeney red card has derailed us, there's no doubt about it, but it just shows we do need to invest in the market as we must be able to be effective with or without Deeney. Without him, or a few other key players we really struggle. I think we'll see that tomorrow at Chelsea without Capoue. 7th has gone now with Wolves' win today, and the West Ham threat is very real. It would be horrid to see Wolves, Everton, Leicester and West Ham overtake us. If we beat City, then all dreams come true and we can laugh at our little slump at the end of the season. But it's really a bit of a dream to expect Watford to beat City.....At least we're there though and we're only one of two sides that can win the FA Cup.
There are currently 6 teams able to win a major trophy this season, and we’re one of them. Had a little moment earlier where it hit me again , we are in the FA Cup final!
Exactly. I got back from traveling this morning, fumbling & stumbling into the house after an overnight flight at 7am. The first thing I saw on the mantelpiece was the Cup Final tickets. Oh boy.
Two minutes of insanity vs Arsenal are probably the difference between 11th and 7th for us now. Shows how, over a long season, every dropped point seems to haunt you if you just miss out, as we are set to do. Having said that, this season, there are a lot of games where we didn't play that well, but ground out a draw or a win that was scarcely deserved. Wolves have kept on winning and deserve to be above us. The most disappointing part is it's mostly our making via easily avoidable mistakes, rather than us being beaten by better sides. Whatever the end position, anyone who doesnt think we've come a long way this season hasn't been paying attention. This season has been a step change in progress, which is why its gutting that it looks like ending in a 10th or 11th finish.
We will never know how high we could have finished had we lost the cup semi, or even gone out in the quarters. And you know what? I’m glad we will never know. Cos that means we are taking part in the final. For all the disappointment tonight at not finishing 7th, remember we could have lost the semi, free of distraction we could have blitzed the end of the season and got 7th place then seen Wolves win the cup and take the European place from us anyway. We are going to Wembley as massive underdogs, but if you believe we have no chance at all against a side who could well be drained because of the exhausting battle they’re in to retain the PL, then I’m sorry for you because to me life should be full of dreams and hopes and occasional triumphs for the underdogs and the smaller people. We are 90 minutes away from a major trophy, entry into Europe by right rather than the back door, we won’t be competitive playing matches in July. We have the chance to achieve greatness a fortnight today, and to me that’s way more special and significant than shedding a few tears over missing out on 8th or 9th in the league.
I don’t think it would take much, and certainly nothing out of our financial reach, to have another season to match this one next year or even go a little better. And I’d love to see it.
The simplest objective benchmark is vs position in the wage bill league. I believe we are 16th in that. Good season. Who has ‘gained more places’? That’s before the Final.
Exactly. We've had a very good season considering our means. It could have been "amazing" had we finished 7th. Long shot but it could still be "absolutely amazing", if we win the cup.
Average wage bills Premier League 2018/19 Rank Team Average annual wage per player 1 Manchester United £6,534,654 2 Manchester City £5,993,000 3 Chelsea £5,020,004 4 Liverpool £4,862,963 5 Arsenal £4,853,130 6 Tottenham Hotspur £3,515,778 7 Everton £3,242,690 8 West Ham £3,189,333 9 Crystal Palace £2,757,000 10 Leicester City £2,710,710 11 Southampton £2,669,333 12 Bournemouth £1,989,520 13 Watford £1,775,172 14 Wolverhampton Wanderers £1,757,600 15 Fulham £1,727,440 16 Brighton & Hove Albion £1,695,040 17 Newcastle United £1,650,133 18 Burnley £1,603,197 19 Huddersfield Town £1,238,000 20 Cardiff City £957,471 Source: Sporting Intelligence Global Sports Salaries Survey 2018
7th is now gone but oddly 8th is not yet out of possibility - not that I think we will beat Chelsea AND West Ham. I would swap a win over Man City for those anyway. It has been a very good season. Finishing half way and in a cup final with 50+ points is not something we would have refused at the start of the season. It is only the bitter taste of the last few matches that is temporarily taking a little shine off the year. That won't last and looking back we will be pleased.
Surely this season is out of our financial reach on a consistent basis? Our wage bill is small. We will sell Doucoure and next year will be about inching to 40 points again.
Interesting confirmation that Spurs’ wages are closer to Everton’s and West Ham’s than Arsenal’s and Liverpool’s.
I’m not convinced that football journalists are the most prestigious journalists. I suspect they boast a lot of ‘I could have been a contender’ types & lucky sperm chancers. On that Sunday Sky show they generally come across as slow witted. Ponderous of speech & unoriginal of thought. Marginally ahead of Gary’s MOTD crack squad in terms of footballing relevance.
If we didn’t sell any of our squad (those we want to keep) we’d still be able to buy 2-4 players in crucial positions without financially risking anything. Even if we lost money, there are still those player assets to sell if / when it is needed the season after. We have a manager and squad to compete and a few game winning players. Add some extra depth , particularly one or two decent CB’s and I definitely think we can repeat this season.
We could still finish 9th and if we beat West Ham that is a likely outcome. However, we're showing some real signs of end of season fatigue, so beating West Ham, or even holding them to a draw would seem beyond us right now. If I was a neutral I would predict West Ham to beat us, as they are on a great run of form. If that happens, then we'd finish 11th. Only beating City could elevate this season to a great one, after a run like that. It's so disappointing Watford end seasons so poorly. It puts everyone on a downer and this is the reason why pundits think we'd be relegated at the start of the following season.
Nah it was the 0-4 defeat by St Eddie of Howe's 'Muff Divers in October. Or the 1-1 draw with Soton in December or the 1-0 defeat by a terrible Newcastle or the 1-1 draw with them the following month. In January it was definitely the awful draw with Burnley or we should have done more in the 2nd half that night in Dorset...need I go on?
I don't agree. It's how you handle the business end of the season that wins prizes. We are awful at it. All teams have rough patches throughout a season, or the odd bad result. We put ourselves in the box seat to finish 7th, but that crazy minute against Arsenal cost us 6 points as far as I'm concerned. We'd have beaten Arsenal and Southampton with Deeney on the pitch. I'm convinced of that. Maybe it would have been enough to get a point against Wolves as well. It cost us big time. Chelsea was always going to be a loss, so that game was a write-off. Even if we'd had lost to Wolves, we'd still have had 5 more points and we'd be level with them, with a good final match for us and a tough one for them. That Arsenal red card basically screwed our run in, but it is done now. It is what it is.
Can't disagree with this HB, as I said something similar myself in an earlier post. So lets try and redeem ourselves and beat the Spammers on Sunday, if we do that I believe there is a great chance we can still finish 9th as I think Leicester could quite easily not pick up any more points this season.
Am I the only one who is left feeling like supporting a club our size is never going to be all that satisfying once the dust has settled? We have undoubtedly had a fantastic season for a club of our stature. But therein lies the problem. We’ve secured our highest ever premier league finish, spent 36 of the 38 games in contention for a European place and reached the FA cup final. We can’t ask for more. This is as good as things are ever likely to get for us. But what have we got to show for it? Barring a truly remarkable upset against City it will be yet another season that ultimately amounts to nothing. Apologies if this comes across as a whiny post from a spoilt brat. I’m aware we have to have some perspective and we can’t compete with the money spent by the ‘big’ clubs. Does that mean I should just know my place though? Should I be happy to watch us finish mid-table and be grateful to be at the same dinner table as the big boys? It all just feels a bit futile right now as one of our best ever seasons comes to an end without silverware and the realisation that we will likely never win any sinks in.
We’ll be in the Champo in the next 3/5/10 years. Gino will sell at some point. 17th & better is good.
I think it’s quite the opposite and supporting a team like ours is much more satisfying because you appreciate the triumphs. Look at Chelsea: their fans have been moaning all season about their manager and style of play yet they will finish 3rd or 4th and probably win a European trophy. Of course if you only measure satisfaction by winning major trophies then you’ll always be disappointed unless you support one of the top few.
Doesn't come across as whiny at all. It's the truth. If we didn't have the cup final, there would be plenty calling for Gracia's head with the awful run to end the season. Once the new season starts the way this one has ended, that train will be pulling out of the station. Gone by Christmas.
Completely agree. You basically have to try and re-adjust your whole success criteria and try and make a season as exciting as you can. Essentially just enjoy the individual matches and see fighting for 7th and a potential Euro spot as the ultimate aim of the league campaign. 12 games a season against the mega rich is depressing to me, of course wins against them become all the more joyous, but you're correct, what really is there to play for? However we have a cup final this season! It could happen! Let's ride the excitement as it builds up.