Watford Fc 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday - 02/04/2021

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by Otter, Mar 23, 2021.

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What will the outcome be

Poll closed Apr 3, 2021.
  1. Watford win by 3+

    14.4%
  2. Watford win by 2

    46.4%
  3. Watford win by 1

    19.6%
  4. Score draw

    5.2%
  5. No score draw

    2.1%
  6. Wednesday win by 1

    2.1%
  7. Wednesday win by 2

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  8. Wednesday win by 3+

    2.1%
  9. Almen Abdi chooses the winner

    8.2%
  1. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    A bit early but here we go...

    upload_2021-3-23_9-59-34.png


    The past

    In the doomed 1999/2000 season I missed one home game, which was a rare victory and on that occasion it was against Sheffield Wednesday, despite only picking up a then record low number of points in the still young Premier League, 4 of the 24 points we earned were against Wednesday who were also relegated with us that summer.

    In the intervening 21 years our fortunes have largely diverged, Wednesday were ultimately paying for the expensive players they had brought in during the late 90s whereas Watford initially stable almost went the same way by overspending during the ITV Digital debacle, Watford survived the scare and narrowly avoided administration by Wednesday slipped down into the 3rd tier in 2003 and again in 2010; but on both occasions getting back to the Championship two years later.

    Since our relegation in 2000, the much larger Sheffield Wednesday have not returned to the top division now for the longest period in their history, the nearest they have been to returning was losing the 2016 Play off final against Hull, a team featuring Pudil & Forestieri who 12 months earlier had both played their part in our most recent promotion. The comparison between us is stark, the since 2000/01 season we have...

    • Been promoted to the Premier League twice.
    • Spent 6 seasons in the top flight.
    • 2 other play off appearances, one final and one semi.*
    • An FA Cup final.
    • 3 other cup semi finals.
    • We only finished below them once (by 1 place in 2009).

    * This is the only record of ours that Wednesday can match.


    Our last meeting was a drab 0-0 at Hillsborough on the second weekend of this season, but most Watford fans will not forget their visit to us on 2nd May 2015. Having secured promotion the previous weekend and only having a one point advantage in first place, we had to win on the final day to claim the Championship trophy. All was going to plan with a Vydra header in the first half, despite a couple of Abdi misses we looked to celebrate winning the second tier for the first time, only for some impatient 'fans' getting over the hoardings and standing around the lines caused us to lose our concentration after one person saw fit to congratulate Gomez, a scuffed equaliser meant we had to be content with second place.


    The present

    The international break can be a blessing or a curse depending on a team's fortunes, suffice to say that it could be a mixed bag for us, as we had a couple of injuries just before the Birmingham match which hopefully are healed, on the other hand we had 7 first teamers away on international duty with some still with their countries less than 48 hours before our Good Friday match with Wednesday.

    Our record of the last 10 matches compared to Wednesday is:

    W9 D0 L1 F23 A6 Pts 27
    W2 D1 L7 F9 A17 Pts 7


    Their two wins coming at the beginning and end of the 10 matches, the last outing was a useful 2-1 win at the in-form Barnsley.


    The future

    We are on a drive to make an immediate return to the top division and Wednesday are fighting off relegation, not helped by their 6 point deduction. If the result goes against current form it could have an effect on both clubs' seasons. For us a home win is a must if we are to maintain our promotion push, for Sheffield Wednesday they will be starting to run out of games.


    They played for both of us.

    As well as the previously mentioned Pudil and Forestieri, they also had the services of our 2013 player of the season, Almen Abdi, who transfered to Wednesday in 2016; however his injury history had caught up with him and he only played 20 times in 3 years for the Owls. They also picked up Lewis McGugan who did not have a particularly successful time with either club. The other recent link was our manager last season, Nigel Pearson was an instrumental part in Wednesday's promotion in 1991, 3rd place in 1992 and both domestic cup finals in 1993. He holds the distinction of having scored Wednesday's first ever goal in the Premier League.

    [​IMG]

    He kept his shin pads too

    [​IMG]


    My visits to Hillsborough.

    Yes I know it's a home game.

    I'm pretty sure Sheffield Wednesday is the only away ground I've been to see a league game, an FA cup game and a League Cup game. I have never seen us win there, the FA Cup 3rd round replay in 1998 when Di Canio lost his rag over a throw in earned him what must be a world record between two yellow cards (about 3 seconds), we played out a 0-0 draw only to lose out in the penalty shootout at the end.
    November 1999, we played out a 2-2 draw in the Premier League and in December 2001 we lost 4-0 in the League Cup QF in a very forgettable match in a largely forgettable season under Vialli.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 23, 2021
  2. RS2

    RS2 Squad Player

    Routine win.
     
    cyaninternetdog likes this.
  3. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    Difficult to say how we will line up - but should Sarr and Zinc be back then a routine win is almost essential. Even without them, we showed against Brum we have players who can fill gaps and still play a decent role. Sheff Wed need the points more than we do at this moment in terms of survival, but it's a game we cannot be complacent in. As much as that final day hurt, it was a while ago now and this side is good enough mentally to not be so lax at vital times. Our home form is one of the best in all divisions, and I fully expect us to win. Wednesday will be boosted by beating an inform Barnsley, but they were very average that day and missed a few chances.

    Not to jinx it, but Sheff Wed also ended our unbeaten start to the 00/01 season when they won 3-1 at the Vic. Tommy Smith got our goal.

    3-0.
     
    reg_varney, Chiswell and Smudger like this.
  4. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Teams often have hiccups after international breaks. Wednesday will be hoping for one. I think Xisco will get two full days with the entire squad and hoping no one has been injured. Those carrying knocks like Sarr and Zinckernagel should be right as rain by then although might be well to rest Sarr again for a half as a precaution. Major Tom should be back as well.

    Infact midfield looks rosy given the performances of Gosling and Sanchez in recent games either as starters or off the bench. And having continually played this 4-3-3 everyone knows their roles inside out by now. Brum tried to sit on us and prevent us playing out but Bachmann unlike Foster can pass accurately at distance and Hughes is a Willo O'the Wisp in receiving the ball before directing it forwards. I expect Wednesday to do the same. They are where they are for a reason even with the points deduction so it is up to the players to be ruthless again. Another ninety minutes of hard work off and on the ball. Zero complacency. With the prize so close to hand it would be criminal to throw points away.

    They will have to come at us given their position. They really cannot afford to sit back and grind out a draw with games running out. Wycombe are doomed and if they do not win six of their remaining games they are down as well. Now that Pulis has vanished and Darren Moore has taken charge they look more resilient and more attack minded. Always need to keep an eye on Jordan Rhodes after he bagged a brace against Barnsley.

    But if we keep moving the ball around with the fluidity we have now and at pace then we should triumph.
     
    SkylaRose likes this.
  5. Lloyd

    Lloyd Squad Player

    The margin of our inevitable victory depends on how many players come limping back from the poxy internationals, but even if most of them return on crutches we'll still be too good for this shower of sh1te.
     
  6. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member



    :mad::mad:
     
    SkylaRose likes this.
  7. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Bittersweet. Heart-breaking that goal at the end, but the referee did us a favour by blowing when he did, or else 5 seconds later we'd have lost the game which would have been a crap way to end the season.

    I've never forgotten how Wednesday celebrated their goal. It meant absolutely nothing to them but they celebrated as if they won the league. I hate this type of mentality from fans/players who would rather celebrate the misery of the other team rather than their own success. Leeds and Leicester fans are exactly the same.

    It's for this reason I hope we smash them and send them down. That would be karma.
     
    Vic, Chiswell, Luther Bassett and 3 others like this.
  8. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    Strange thing to say. Why would you not expect hundreds of fans that were doing a 300 mile round trip to watch their team to not celebrate their team scoring a goal that gets them back into the game?

    But I hope we smash them, I agree with that.
     
    HappyHornet24 and Jumbolina like this.
  9. Heidar

    Heidar Squad Player

    Hard to see anything other than a strong home win, but I'm sure Barnsley thought the same on Saturday.

    Barry Bannan may be losing hair rapidly but he can still put it on a plate for the once-deadly Jordan Rhodes. Keiran Westwood is a decent keeper if fit.

    Only Chalobah, João Pedro and Sema started the away fixture from our current XI. Murray was up front. Quina, Dawson, Garner, Pussetto and Sinclair also aren't even here any more. No wonder we drew 0-0.
     
  10. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    Good to see that the fanbase is resisting complacency. Hope the team is too.
     
  11. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    That's an astonishing stat. How far is our improvement due to changed mentality in the players, and how far is it down to changing to players with a better mentality?
     
  12. Heidar

    Heidar Squad Player

    Bit of both I'm sure. Also worth saying Sema was at LWB, João LW and Chalobah next to Cleverley in a midfield two. So all of their positions have changed as well!

    On paper it was a decent team but 3 at the back just didn't pose any attacking threat.

    The mentality is correct now but the impact of Hughes and Sierralta, who I would call "reliable", allows the whole team to play with freedom and confidence. Big players we will need for all 8 games.
     
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  13. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    If it was the other way around we would have celebrated in much the same way, as would any other group of fans.
    We acted arrogantly by invading the pitch and got what we deserved and they reacted to that as well
     
  14. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    Ironically, I think Sheff Wed either drew with or beat Muff at their place - which was their last poor result of the season. It essentially put us top for the final game. Talk about a hoodoo side.
     
  15. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    I disagree. A lot of clubs have decent fans, but certain clubs are followed by c***s. Luton, Leicester, Sheff Wed, West Ham, Leeds, Wolves and Millwall fall into that category. Newcastle are supported by the biggest whingers in history, closely followed by West Ham fans.
     
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  16. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    You honestly think, we, or any group of football fans, at a game, in the last few minutes, with the opposition fans prematurely celebrating winning the league and then coming unstuck, that any group of fans would sit on their hands, remain silent and think what rotten luck for the other plucky team - perhaps a polite round of applause?

    You might not personally but the majority, a visble majority of fans, would be jumping around singing "sit down, shut up" "youre not singing any more" etc etc
    It's one of the joys of watching football seeing the opposition getting their comeuppance.
     
  17. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Nothing wrong with celebrating, but it's the manner of the celebration and all the goading that goes with it, which I find objectionable. Not too many fans of clubs would do that. They would celebrate their goal but would show an air of dignity to their opponent if it cost them something special, especially if the goal didn't mean too much to them in the grand scheme of things.

    Seriously, would you jump for OTT joy and celebrate like you've won the Champions League, if Watford were mid-table and scored a goal to send Rotherham down? Of course you wouldn't.....why would you. You'd celebrate your goal, but the celebrations would not go beyond that.

    Our celebration against Leicester is a bad example from you, as the goal absolutely meant something to us. It was in no way designed to make Leicester fans feel bad (even if they did deserve it). Had that been a league match and the goal made sure we went from 11th place to 10th (or something as trivial as that), then yes, that would have been OTT and clearly intended to wind up the Leicester fans from missing out on the playoff final. But it wasn't anything like that.

    Leeds did the exact same thing to us in 2013. They won a nothing game for them, denying us promotion, and it delighted them to hysteria afterwards. You'd have thought that win had given them promotion. But nope, all it did was to ensure they finished 13th. I'm sure that was not the reason behind their delirium.

    Fans of certain clubs prefer to rejoice in the misery of the other team, rather than cheer the success their own club. There is a collective term for that.....they are called c***s.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2021
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  18. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    I think some of that Leicester celebration was about sticking it to the arch cheat Knockeart. I for one LOVE to see a dirty little cheat given his just desserts.

    I think we will agree to disagree about the psychological make up of everyone present in a football ground.
     
  19. IRB

    IRB THe artist formally know as ImRonBurgundy?

    I think we need minimum 5 wins from our last 8 and, on paper, this looks like the easiest one to get

    Would expect a slow start after the 2 week break, so need to keep it tight early on and we should have enough over the duration of the game to win it
     
  20. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    Mainly the latter in my opinion. For positive mentality to rub off on others u have to have enough selfless humble tough motivated leaders who care more about the team than themselves. We have that in spades right now and we are incredibly lucky with the current situation. Just hope Gino keeps Deeney in his kennel til the end of the season.
     
  21. DaveWFC

    DaveWFC Five Star Man

    I totally agree with this. I've always hated Leeds as a club (basically everything about them) and their fans' goading back in 2013 (inside and outside of the ground, and towards kids etc) was very c*nty.

    I didn't really give a toss about Wednesday beforehand, but their fans were tw@ts that day (though our pitch invading morons weren't better). I certainly don't begrudge them celebrating their goal, but they fact that they started chanting for Bournemouth about 5 minutes in was a new level of pathetic.

    Also they took Fessi and ruined Abdi, so **** 'em. They're going down and it's hilarious.


    Should be a routine win. We're a joy to watch at the minute (I never thought I'd say that this season), Xisco and the team have done really well lately and made me look like a pessimistic **** so fair play to them.

    Still nervous because years of **** ups when the pressure is on, but everything about this fixture points to a 3-0 win.
     
  22. Since63

    Since63 Squad Player

    Maybe Leeds were still smarting over the stuffing we gave them in the play-off final, and the 6-1 hammering at their place earlier in the 2012-3 season. Wendies have always been an iffy bunch. Remember the mayhem at their place in May 1979; supporters’ coaches overturned and all sorts.
     
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  23. I Blame Pozzo

    I Blame Pozzo First Team

    Yes,the monkey noises from their Director's Box era.
    Charming.
     
  24. Since63

    Since63 Squad Player

    Let’s not forget the old bill as well. When suggesting they might care to do something about the non-stop running attacks being launched by the Wendy crew, the Inspector in charge replied ‘well if you cockney bastards can’t tek it, worra yer doin’ up ‘ere?’ A lovely day all round, but the win more or less guaranteed promotion to Div 2.
     
    Chiswell likes this.
  25. I Blame Pozzo

    I Blame Pozzo First Team

    A precursor to the hideous events ten years later.
     
  26. Luther Bassett

    Luther Bassett Reservist

    Most away games could be challenging back then. We went in the stand for relative safety - big mistake. Threats, lit fags, full cans etc.
    Since those days, I’ve found trips to both Sheffield clubs enjoyable, with decent pre-game pub banter. I’d exclude Leicester from the earlier rogues gallery too, never had any issues up there, even if that TV documentary was a bit unappetising.
     
  27. Supertommymooney

    Supertommymooney Squad Player

    I can't believe the Championship.

    Reels you in with two games a week, then makes you go cold turkey for a whole fortnight??

    I can't do without it you fiends!
     
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  28. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Must win game.
    WFC 0 (Deeney missed pen 90+12) SW 2 (Abdi 13, Forestieri 90+13)
    HMSPTL hits an iceberg.
     
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  29. Cassetti's Beard

    Cassetti's Beard First Team

    Hope we absolutely smash this lot after they started chanting Bournemouth.

    Watford 6 0 Sheffield Wednesday
     
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  30. Moosegasm

    Moosegasm Reservist

    Line up of players not on international duty:

    Foster
    Kiko
    Sierralta
    Kabasele
    Ngakia
    Hughes
    Chalobah
    Gosling
    Sarr
    Pedro
    Zinc

    Not too shabby at all!
     
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  31. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    It wouldn't surprise me if this was the Good Friday line up, with some of the returning players on the bench. Then a small rotation for the trip to Middlesbrough.
     
  32. Dorset-Orn

    Dorset-Orn First Year Pro

    Good bunch getting some rest - so I take it Sarr stayed home in the end.? Surely Kabs is a long way off though.? Be nice to have him back as an option.!
    I can't make up my mind on 3 of the 4 CBs if I'm honest. Cathcart is usually very solid but didn't seem fully fit when he played (is he back injured?) Kabs is quick but as we say one screw up every game. I actually like Troost-E he is quick on the ground and puts in some good blocks, he just looks poor with the ball at his feet and not strong enough in the air.
    I think a fully fit Kabs might just get my nod but then you also have to consider working partnerships and TE and Sieralta have a great record together...
     
    Chiswell likes this.
  33. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Sounds crazy, but it does check out! Oxford penalty hero Bachmann had yet to get his chance in the league, that cup game was the first Sierralta played once in ages, with many on here suggesting he was Pozzo bargain bin signing, WTE wasn't at the club yet, Masina and Hughes were injured, Sarr didn't start the season with us because he went home to Senegal before the season started and Zinckernagel was but a glint in some FM nerd's imagination! Even the players that played were hardly recognisable, Chalobah could hardly string a 5 yard pass together that day, and Sema was playing left wing-back in the absence of any left-footed defenders. That first half was an abomination, and while it did get slightly better in the second half with the introduction of Perica (who I have to admit thought would score plenty at this level), is it any wonder we were so utterly shambolic that day with the team we put out?
     
    PowerJugs likes this.
  34. We hate 48

    We hate 48 Reservist

    A situation exacerbated by a Sheffield Wed “fan” being stabbed on the platform at the High St station after the home game
     
  35. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Yep, Sarr was pulled out of the Senegalese squad, great news for us as long as he's fully fit for Sheffield Wednesday. Kabasele is back in full training, might just be needed as the others sans Sierralta are jetting off on international duty. I'd be nervous seeing him there against Wednesday, but in the medium term, I think him and Sierralta are our best partnership, and one which (fingers crossed we reach there!) could be good in the division above
     
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