I wasn’t one of those but this is an odd post. You can’t just wish away the beginning of the season, can you? The fact is that we lost hugely important ground and now have to pull off a monumental escape effort to get out of it. People are perfectly entitled to be critical of that, and to say that the season is “not judged on our poor recruitment in the summer” overlooks the fact that we have given 19 other teams (well, 18 minus Norwich) a huge head start. Owners look to have got it right the third time around this season, let’s just hope it wasn’t too late.
If you were one of those who heard a guy in the Rookery shouting absolute dogs ******** at Elmohamady, sorry. Actually you know what, I'm not sorry. Genuinely despise the circus act dancing ****.
For the time being, maybe. But if we fall short at the end of the season, returning to the criticism is surely warranted?
As far as Deeney is concerned, today was a glimpse into what next season in the championship might look like if we get relegated. He’ll do well if we go down, but it doesn’t change anything as far as us staying in the PL and his overall ability is concerned. Villa are a dreadful team, Deeney won’t get luck like that very often this season against normal premiership teams, as we’ve seen in every other game he’s played in. A stopped clock is right twice a day, eventually over a season a chance was likely to fall to him that he couldn’t miss, but he still did his best to. I’m delighted with the win, I’m delighted for the team, I’m delighted for Troy, but this game doesn’t change anything as far as his ability to score the vital goals we will need to survive this season, against every other team in the league.
Even if we don’t fall short, any proper analysis of the season has to look at the reasons why our first 15 games were basically a write off.
People still don't really understand Deeney's role in the side. It's so much more than scoring goals, in fact scoring goals is like a foot note in his game. He sets the tempo, he gets everyone up for it. Just see what the Villa fans are saying about him tonight on their forum. They hate him, not because he's an incredible footballer, but because he managed the team on the pitch from start to finish. He gets the crowd going and when Troy is in positive mode, he's truly awesome. They would want a player like him in their team in a heartbeat and so would half the teams in the Premier League. It's not so much his game, but how he inspires people around him that's so impressive. I just don't get why some fans can never see it.
Of course they count? Where did I say they didn’t? It’s great that Troy almost managed to miss a tap in and scored a penalty. I just prefer to form my opinion based on every game he’s played this season, rather than one game against inferior opposition who just happen to be the biggest rival to the club he supports. This one game has not changed my opinion one bit, if we are to survive we need better than Troy up top. If we go down today has shown he’ll be perfect for the championship again.
We’ve got a manger to do that. I’d prefer a striker to be able to score goals against all levels of opposition on a semi regular basis.
A lot has been said about poor recruitment in the summer, yet Big Nige has turned it around already with the exact same players and injuries as Flores. Say no more.
On the one hand I’m absolutely delighted that Filbert et al. are being proved right about Pearson. The way he’s got everyone on side so quickly is outstanding, and we seem to be hard working and very difficult to break down. I love our fight and we’re giving ourselves a fantastic chance at staying up. I need to move on, but it’s just so irritating that we’ve given ourself such a challenge. Re-hiring Flores after he was completely found out last time was the worst decision the Pozzos have made. If Pearson was signed instead of Flores, we’d be absolutely nowhere near the relegation zone.
That's your preference, but not mine. Given a choice between a player who can inspire his side and get the crowd going or someone who just scores goals, but gives very little else, then I'd go for the former every time. By the way, 126 goals in 380 games is not too shabby by any means. Players who have an emotional attachment for Watford are few and far between. Deeney, Mapps, Cleverley, Foster, Capoue and Chalobah certainly have it and should be cherished a little more. Once Deeney leaves the club, he'll rightly be a legend and will be permanently etched into the Hornet's Hall of Fame. History will treat him kinder than this forum that's for sure.
He’s not turned anything round yet, he’s improved us a lot, but clearly if the season finished now we’d be relegated. There are still some big weaknesses in our team that need to be addressed which could come back to haunt us at any point.
Come on HB1, you’re better than that. Obviously his overall goal scoring record for us is very good, but as you well know, the majority of those were in the championship. His record of scoring from open play in the PL is hardly impressive, and has been in rapid decline for a while.
Like I said, he's a non-scoring striker, who earns his place because he can lift the side. Players like this are vital. He's the perfect guy for a siege mentality. He inspires those around him. He lifts the atmosphere and that's so important, because you have to look at the overall package he brings. This is what's overlooked or not valued by some. If you're a manager or picking a side, you'll always pick a motivated Deeney as all managers/coaches have. People inside the game understand that importance. What we need is a goal scoring striker of course, but it cannot be at the expense of Deeney, or else it takes something vital away from the side.
I’m very much of the opinion that one swallow does not make a summer. I’m utterly bemused at how all the benefits you claim Deeney brings to the team, he so often actually doesn’t bring. What you describe Deeney as is great, but how many games can you say he does it in?
Enjoyed the bare minimum of coverage on MOTD tonight. What a joke that show is. Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk
Agreed. With Deeney there's a real tendency to conflate his good performances with his leadership. Every time he plays well, it's seen by some as a talismanic effort but the long goal droughts and frequent anonymous performances are overlooked. Having said that, let's hope he keeps the form up, he was great for a half against United, and good again today.
If he could perform like that and lift the team in such a way EVERY week, then it would be a different story. The problem is, and has been for a while now, there are too many games where he’s physically outmatched and spends the majority of the game laboring to make any contribution at all, let alone to the level we need.
Real shades of Championship Bournemouth in that Villa team. Constantly in the ref's face, and lots of diving. Didn't mind Grealish until I saw him in action today, an absolutely horrible little twerp who thinks he shouldn't be touched. Absolutely astonishing that he wasn't booked for screaming in the ref's face after the third goal.
This is spot on. I would never describe Deeney as a striker. He is not a goalscorer, even though his return in the Championship was reasonable; he doesn’t have that instinct. But that doesn’t matter because, as HB1 has described, his other qualities as a leader of the front line, team and club are more important and much missed when he isn’t there.
Christ I have seen it all now. Troy Deeney the only ever Watford player to score 20+ goals 3 seasons in a row has been deemed “not a goal scorer” by another wfcforums dribbler. Have a day off.
I’d disagree he doesn’t have the instinct, I think he just doesn’t have the ability/pace to capitalise on it anymore. He’d still be a prolific striker at championship level based on today. How many other players can you name that aren’t actually strikers, aren’t considered strikers and very rarely score goals, that play in the striker position?
I think I said last year on here that I think he could develop into a good free roaming number 10. Would take the pressure off him scoring goals while still disrupting the defences and being a hold up player for the strikers which he does do really well.
