Pundits Predictions - 2019/20

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by wfc4ever, Jul 16, 2019.

  1. I usually do 3 or 4 season long accas. I'm adding this to one of them. :)
     
  2. Lloyd

    Lloyd Squad Player

    zzzz.... zzzz.... yawn
     
  3. Ybotcoombes

    Ybotcoombes Justworkedouthowtochange

    Lack of new signings is disappointing, but then again everybody we thought would leave are still here.

    I think we have a reasonable squad with a few players like Challobah who can hopefully come back into the 1st team. If players like Gerry D and Bobby P find some early form don’t see why we would struggle

    We also have a few young players that never made an impact on the first team last yea, that hopefully will get a chance this year(quina / Peñaranda)

    I think we will finish top half
     
  4. foxywfc

    foxywfc Reservist

    Think it’s a bit early to make predictions. Going on last season I think Everton might be the team breaking g into top 6, wouldn’t surprise me if Leicester do it too. Chelsea and Man U to fall from grace. Teams that came up will find it hard. Looking at Villa I’d fancy them to do alright but I thought Fulham would of been better. Think they’re a good handful of clubs looking over their shoulder in worse positions than us. Let’s not forget Gracia has built a great bond with this squad. Last seasons slump was largely down to cup final distraction. I’m positively optimistic again of a good season. But I’ll wait to make my final predictions a couple of week.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    RookeryDad and Knight GT like this.
  5. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    Each to their own but that's nuts to want your own team to fail. I loved The Championship but if we went back there is no guarantee that The Pozzo family would stick around and so quite likely we would go back to being a bottom half championship team. Some of the most depressing seasons I have witnessed were in that division. It's fun when you're doing well like the Zola and promotion years but otherwise it's as dull as the Premier League except we are losing to teams like Yeovil or Scunthorpe
     
  6. Cassetti's Beard

    Cassetti's Beard First Team

    Start well, RP returns for the first 10 or so games then becomes crap again. Fade away as the season goes on, bottle it completely and utterly against the top 6, City smash us 6-0 both times.

    Deeney tells us we'll smash a top 6 team when he's on one of his media runs, we'll lose embarssingly.

    Doucoure gets injured just before January and make a remarkable return to fitness on the 1st February.

    End the season on a 5 game+ losing streak and ultimately be dissapponted that we threw away another shot at Europe.

    Finish 11th and maybe a cup run.

    On the plus side, we gain 768 new twitter followers from China.

    HB1 has arguments with 34 different users and Moog creates another 7 accounts.
     
  7. Pob

    Pob Reservist

    The appointment of Steve Bruce is good news as it effectively means there are only 2 relegation spots left which boasts our chances of staying up.
     
  8. NathWFC

    NathWFC First Team

    Imagine being a supporter that actively wants your club to be relegated.

    Unless we sign another striker, winger, left back and centre back we'll finish 15th - 17th. Shock me and sign some quality in all of those areas, without losing any key players in the process, and top 6/7 isn't impossible.

    We are once again on the cusp of being a very good side, but with the same age old deficiencies that continue to hold us back.
     
  9. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    5 years from now we will still be talking about Chalobah finally coming back, good as new, and Penaranda suddenly become a £30m player.
     
    Burnsy likes this.
  10. It’s the toughest prem season since we’ve been back, but we’ll do ok and end up mid table-ish. 12th maybe.

    Can see Del bagging a hat full.
     
  11. Ybotcoombes

    Ybotcoombes Justworkedouthowtochange

    Sadly probably true
     
  12. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    Wouldn’t it be simpler to start supporting Brentford?
     
  13. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    Brave man.

    I’ll be making my final prediction around Easter.
     
    foxywfc likes this.
  14. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    Mid table Third was worse.
     
    Knight GT likes this.
  15. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    And silence on Brexit in the Politics thread?
     
  16. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    For me, the only way you can really enjoy an extended period in the Championship is either if
    (a) Your club has been winning a lot but not enough to get automatic promotion and losing the play-offs (if getting there) - Derby in the last few seasons and especially Ipswich in the 1990s are good examples;
    (b) You support a small club like Rotherham/Gillingham/etc who realistically is never going to get promoted to the Prem and staying in the Championship is an achievement, and finishing top half is a great season.

    However, even both scenarios have their drawbacks. Even though Ipswich played probably the best football at that level at the time, many of their fans were getting tired of losing in the play-offs, and some were even questioning whether George Burley should remain at the helm. And Derby fans, especially the older ones who see them as a big traditional club, are probably quite frustrated that they've spent so long out of the top flight bar that record-breakingly awful season and keep falling short. And the smaller clubs usually end up back in League 1 sooner rather than later, many of them falling further.

    Maybe I was spoilt by the two promotions to the Prem (even though we came straight back down) and the Lewington/Mackay eras had their moments (2010/11 being the best of a bad bunch) but those innumerable bottom half finishes were at times depressingly boring, to the extent that I wondered whether I'd made the right choice to support Watford relatively late in life. Flattering to deceive in the Prem vs flattering to deceive in the Championship? I'd take the former any time.
     
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  17. Markoa$

    Markoa$ Squad Player

    Well that’s that then. No need for me to bother with this season. Thank you for ruining it for me. The only thing I’m glad about is that I didn’t yet waste £55 on our home shirt that looks like a liquorice allsort. I shall return to the forum for the 20/21 season which will hopefully see us still in the Prem with a better kit.
     
  18. Cassetti's Beard

    Cassetti's Beard First Team

    You'll be back just in time for when our marketing overlords announce a funy deal with Paddy Power (insert 23 emojis)
     
    Markoa$ likes this.
  19. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    I don't argue with anyone. They argue with me.
     
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  20. PhilippineOrn

    PhilippineOrn First Team

    No they don't.
     
    Vanhorn17 likes this.
  21. Isn't point b where we are now except in the prem?
     
  22. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    For me, next season will shape up in the following way.

    Chelsea could be interesting. I don't see them in the top 6. I think a club like Leicester could push them out. It wouldn't surprise me if they finished somewhere mid-table.

    The remaining 5 of the "top six" will take up the first 5 places.

    There will be a little group, who I believe have pulled away from us now, such as Wolves, Everton, Leicester and West Ham. They will take up the top 10.

    I think you'll see a closing of the top six with a 4-club chasing group and a widening from 10th to 11th and below.

    The strugglers will be Newcastle, Sheff Utd, Norwich, Brighton, Villa, Burnley, Watford, Southampton & Bournemouth. Palace will be fine if they keep hold of Zaha, but will struggle without him.

    I think the relegated clubs will be Newcastle, Sheff Utd and Brighton, with Norwich being the fourth club who will not be safe on the final day (there's always at least one).

    We're decent, but we do need to improve in key areas. Standing still is going backwards, so until we see a couple more quality additions I don't think we'll move forward as a club.

    Dawson in, and that's a welcome addition, but he's only got to pick up an injury and we're exactly the same team that finished on such a low last season.

    The Pozzo's must pull their hair out over the way we end seasons, as it always gives a summer of little expectation. Will the team somehow bounce back and start well or will they continue with the relegation form they ended the season on? It's a question fans ask themselves and will be what they base their pre-season expectations on.
     
  23. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

  24. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    Leighton Buzzer likes this.
  25. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    Each to their own indeed, but I loved the Championship. You find it depressing, but I find the Premier League largely quite boring.

    I go to every game wanting Watford to win because they are my team, but I do find the Premier League boring and better suited to TV audiences rather than match going fans.
     
    domthehornet likes this.
  26. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    I see your point, but the expectation is greater than at the clubs I mentioned, even relative to the level we are at. The bar has been raised every season, with better players coming through and the standard of football improving, which makes it all the more frustrating when we still fall short, especially after being in a Europa League spot with four games to go.

    Still rather be in the PL though.
     
  27. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    I do understand this sentiment but the trouble with it is, if we kept finishing mid-table in the Championship, particularly with positive owners like the Pozzos, very few supporters would be satisfied. I remember how disappointed I was in 2014 after such a great season the year before - it seemed like a real failure.
    Having said that I do miss away trips to the 'town' teams. Going to the likes of Swindon, Portsmouth, Oxford and Southend were always great fun. I really appreciated going to Huddersfield in the last couple of years.
     
  28. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    Depends what way you look at it. Supporter satisfaction for many is irrelevant as they would attend whatever level Watford played at, me included. I'm not saying attendances wouldn't drop if we went through the leagues but we have spent most of our history in and around championship level quite happily. It's not like we are talking about going out of business if we went back down.

    Football is a bit broken at the moment and will only get worse. But bigger problems aside I find the Prem quite predictable - the top 6 has been the same for the past three years running. The 'big 4' only became the 'big 6' when United lost their way and Sky had to adapt their marketing to keep people interested.

    I know this isn't everyone's view but I'm certainly not alone in finding it dull.
     
  29. Cassetti's Beard

    Cassetti's Beard First Team

    To be fair that is true.
     
  30. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    I used to think like that about the Championship but the longer we've been at PL level the more obvious the gulf in class is. Going into our 5th season at this level I think it's no exaggeration to say our offcast no-hopers in the squad would walk into most Championship teams. If we draw a Championship team in the cup now I expect us to win - that's not arrogance, just the order of things.

    I know the quality of football isn't the be all and end all, when football is also a social/family event and obviously we'd see more games, wins and goals at that level.

    I'll embrace it when we end up back there - because we 100% will - but won't wish PL football away as long as it lasts.
     
  31. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    I agree with a lot of what you say. Basically football fans are happy when they win and miserable when they lose. For us to survive in the prem each year, we will be miserable at the weekend more often than happy. The realistic target for us is survival each year, with varying degrees of comfort. We may get to a cup final / UEFA cup spot every 5-10 years but will probably get twonked in the first and not progress far in the second. Its great seeing the quality of the players we see at the Vic now and to an extent the quality of players at the other end of the pitch but we will never be a top 10 team, we just don't have the finances needed.
    In the champ there was the genuine target of promotion and pre-Pozzo, the genuine risk of relegation. Top half teams could be involved in a promotion chase right to the end of the season due to the play-offs. Chasing promotion in the champ was more exciting than surviving in the prem.
     
  32. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    Nicely put.

    The top of the league is a closed shop, the top 6 are adrift of others in the main. If you are not in that top six, and not involved in a scrap down the bottom then it is a bit dull. In the Championship you can very quickly go from having a mid table nothing season to being in with a sniff of the play offs.

    Overall the Championship is a much more exciting league than the Premier League. Slightly less quality but much higher levels of excitement.
     
  33. Pob

    Pob Reservist

    I feel deeply uneasy of what the premiership represents and its predictability (hail Leicester, phenomenal achievement).

    But part of the fun about being in the championship was the hope and thrill of promotion. If you don’t want to be in the premiership, then you wouldn’t want WFC to get promoted ergo (as the Go Jetters might say) part of the thrill of wanting your team to do the best they possibly can is taken away from you. You lose either way.
     
  34. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    You have very eloquently articulated what I was trying to say in post #62.
     
  35. RookeryDad

    RookeryDad Squad Player

    I’d rather be higher up than lower down.
     
    Supertommymooney likes this.

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