Believe it or not that was only the 2nd time Birmingham had lost at home on a Saturday! Although it was scrappy I think the players did the best that they could for Clev’s and genuinely throw everything they had at it. Definitely a case of new Manager bounce!
Thought we were more compact and whilst Brum had 27 shots, most of them were pot shots. It's a win but not an impressive win. I think we will do better with less pressure on us.
Whilst it sounds like we struggled to shake off the "shackles" today, I think maybe that's quite a difficult task since we haven't got much grit nor confidence in this current squad? I'm sure Clevs tried to install something over recent days but most teams we play will be fighting for play offs and All the oppo managers will spend a week telling their players "come on guys this watford team have some good skills but they are brittle, have no confidence and hate being pressed - so don't give them an inch when they're on the ball". And heyho every week we see the same thing..... (I'd like Clevs to say to the players.. Let's stop thinking of pass averages and knock a few more balls up to our forwards to chase....
Congratulations to Tom. Whatever else he may or may not achieve in his managerial/coaching career (and whether that’s here or elsewhere) he’s started it off with a win, and I’m delighted for him. Today was like Rotherham away in that all that mattered was the win. Whether it was deserved or lucky, stylish or gritty, relaxing or nervy, the be all and end all was to get the 3 points. And we did. A rare evening this calendar year where we can be happy and thankful for that. Clevs has been dealt a poor hand in that he’s inherited a relatively poor squad, key injuries and a suspension, and a terrible fixture list after today. No doubt worse times lie ahead over the coming weeks, but he’s got a clean sheet out of a makeshift defence, a match saving performance from a much maligned keeper and a winning goal out of an underwhelming loan signing of a forward. A good start. Personally if I were him, I might be tempted to quit tonight and depart as a winner with a 100% record!
It's crazy that we looked so much more knackered and lethargic than Brum given we had all week to prepare and they played on Tuesday. Did Clevs spend all week making them do bleep tests?!
Birmingham are woeful. Bachmann did well despite a few people seemingly desperate for him to make a mistake. Defensively we looked sound - Porto and Pollock were great, Morris solid. Andrews got lucky as he was poor again but got away with it. Dennis was awful again but took his chance well. Bayo held it up well when he came on. Jack the taxi was good but looked shot by the time he went off. Asprilla’s decision making is still horrific. Decent away following and a good atmosphere in the away end, not a peep from the home end.
Well we won, but it wasn’t a good game and only scored due to a woeful mistake, but we won and kept a clean sheet. Thought Asprila was pretty poor today, lots of misplaced passes, Bachman made some bad mistakes but also made some good saves Didn’t think anybody stood out today and Birmingham were as bad as us.interesting that we were more direct , less playing out of the back , might be a sign of Clevs style. A bit more confidence and we might get back to winning ways, shame it’s at least 1 month to late.
The result was all important today . We are pretty much safe now . Pleased for Cleverly that he got the win ! Thought there was a real Lack of quality today though plenty of effort. We had no control over the midfield but the defence stood fairly solid despite the pressure from Brum . Great work from Dennis for the goal . I did feel we were trying to get the ball forward a bit quicker ant tines , rather than just passing around at the back and playing with a bit more tempo , but that mainly involved giving the ball away a lot . Maybe it’s something Clevs is working on.we did miss Hoedt as well for his composure .
I’d rather watch a team lose the ball trying to create something than carry on with the current modern football fad of passing just to try and boost possession stats. It’s why most games are dull to watch now.
Relegation fight?!! Don't make me laugh! We've got super Tom Cleverly, He knows exactly what we need Elton John back Fuxbury bloody sacked And Pozzos cleared off back to Italy
Not that we were entertaining today! Just like dogmatically passing the ball out from the back with centre backs who are bomb threats with the ball (not that Porteous is, tbf) and centre mids who hide isn't going to end well, lumping it up to Dennis isn't very entertaining neither, but hey ho, Brum couldn't finish their dinner and we are almost safe!
A juxtaposition - that was terrible, but was decent enough. Biggest thing I’d say is that I have zero doubt that we would have lost that game 7 days ago. The performance wasn’t a lot different at all - but I do believe Cleverley will have put some extra grit and belief into them, and he also didn’t make mental subs that make no sense at pre-arranged times. And finally, as non-involved as Dennis was for most of his time on the pitch, only he would have scored that goal out of the central strikers we have. He simply has to start in the middle every week.
Happy for Cleverley and now we're basically safe so might as well see what he can get out of this squad for the rest of the season. He should have some freedom to try new things, I understand why he didn't change much today but that resulted in a performance no different to under Ismael. Now the pressure's off would be good to see what a Cleverley team looks like as there was no discernible style today.
Not sure on the first point, however much grit we showed, we relied on Brum missing some big chances, not unlike Rotherham, but definitely unlike Coventry and Huddersfield, but fully agreed on Dennis. He doesn't look fully fit yet, but he's still far more mobile than Bayovic, and he's quite possibly scored the goal to keep us up
I think if that same Birmingham team had Haji Wright up front instead then we'd have probably lost that game today as well. The subs were fine but the timing of them was not - especially Chak who should have been subbed at half time at the latest. Even subbing him at a pre-arranged time of 60 minutes would have been preferable to leaving him on until the 79th minute, during which point we were under pressure and they were getting wave after wave of attack, with him also on a yellow card.
It wasn't great, but a wins a win We actually fought really hard and kept what they did throw at us to half chances. I can only think of one non routine save from Bachmaan. Dennis was awful for 42 minutes, brilliant for 3, rubbish for 20, which didn't help. Pollock and Porteous were both outstanding
One thing I will say is Tom seems to get it. He seems genuinely invested and I can sense he feels an affiliation to the club. Really hope he does well and gives the powers that be food for thought for next season.
It’s obviously very unlikely but I’ve never wanted it to work more for someone than I do Tom Cleverley. A huge, huge dollop of luck needed but if he could somehow just be the perfect fit, an astute tactician, great man manager who we’ve landed on then could go on to do two/three years here, that would be so nice and refreshing. Could end up being an iconic figure and becoming an indisputable Watford legend.
Didn't watch a single minute. Dennis is mint. Clevs is the best manager we've had in years until he loses. Hope they get relegated, justice for Eustace. 'ORNETS
Off the top of my head, Sunjic had one absolutely glorious chance for them about half-way through the second half which he somehow struck wide. I think Paik Seung-ho and Miyoshi had good chances as well. There were probably others.
