[SUB][/SUB]we've missed two penalties this season and both were against Brentford. We still won both matches.
A real battle but we got the job done in the end against a decent side. We certainly started well but Brentford seem to get better when they went down to 10 (looked like a red card to me) Thought the penalty miss was going to sum up our night but that man popped up with the goals again. Credit to Paredes for his assist - took quite a lot of stick but he did set up the equaliser whilst Vydra did very well for his cross. Roll onto Bolton.
They might be right about the bottom half of that list, from the ref downwards. But not the top half.
Fantastic win. Coming from behind to beat ten men away is not automatically the easiest thing. Ighalo is playing like a leader, something this team that been crying out for, for a while now. Having someone this clutch will give everyone else in the team belief. That Ipswich, Derby, Boro back-to-back in March/April should tell us everything we need to know about our promotion aspirations. These three teams have consistently done what we did last night, and I hope we remain mindful of the that. People are (understandably) looking at promotion in terms of points and wins. But I feel we need to stuff at least one of the aforementioned teams. Even if it doesn't mean automatic promotion, a win against one of the leading pack will be huge for our belief in the playoffs.
Enjoying the match reports today, particularly since I had no clue what was going on for much of last night as I was stuck in bed keeping poorly mini HH company and so was relying on this site, which I couldn't get into for most of the second half, for info. Had a bad feeling when we went 1-0 down against 10 men and then missed penalty. Luckily, although not a Watford fan himself, Mr HH kept the faith on my behalf and told me at the end of the game that he'd put on a cheeky (& rather chunky) bet on Watford to win when we went 1-0 down. :naughty:
Great away day, good atmosphere topped off by a good result. I didn't hear too much abuse or moaning aimed towards our players, 'Fessi' was being a bit of a twonk at times with all his stepovers - led directly to a Brentford attack. Other than that I thought the crowd was great. I did however, hear someone constantly use the term 'melt' - I didn't realise that was a thing but each to their own. Only downside was when a group of lads in their late teens/early 20s were hurling some pretty horrible abuse towards the 12 year old ball boy - embarrassing to say the least.
No use worrying about our league position right now..to me it's relatively academic whether we go up one place or down one place after every match..it's February..just keep on banking those wins however they come..and be in a position come the business end of the season to first secure a play off place and then possibly to challenge for the top two. Man Utd won the PL two seasons ago in Fergie's last campaign and nobody seemed to think they had been outstanding, demolishing everybody right left and centre with perfect football. Instead they ground out results. Ask Jose too. Titles and promotions get won by grounding out results. The current leaders in our division are the side with the meanest defence who have scored fewer goals than us and Derby and Bmouth. The last two matches for us might not have been pretty but we won them both. Points banked. Top 6 position consolidated. Thank you very much. Now on to Bolton. ,
How many of the 1500 will make the trip to Bolton though? Embarrassing if were chasing automatics and cant even take more than 500 up there IMHO
A win at Bolton would be a massive boost. I am travelling over to see the Norwich game and we could be in very good shape before that game, in terms of league position. In fairness, it is a hugely competitive and tight promotion chase this season. Fans from at least 8 teams all believing that they are in with a shout.
So thanks to something like 18 of 21 platforms in Waterloo having no train service, and already running a bit behind schedule, I arrived at the ground, out of breath and ten minutes late. Not a great start. The first half was okay. The red was one of those where it just didn’t instinctively feel like a sending off, but it was high and hit (what looked like) a standing leg. He didn’t mean it, but you do see leg-breakers similar to that. For me a yellow, but I’d need to see it again. A Brentford fan before the game did say that this ref always sends off their players, to which I replied ‘sounds like a typical Championship referee to me’. The second half came alive after they scored. Gray, as much of a tvvat as he is, was a constant menace, and has great pace and strength. I would need to see a better angle of their goal, as it seems Gomes was beaten from a tightish angle and Angella was (again) turned too easily, but it was a lovely bit of skill nonetheless. Then we came alive. Some of the football we played after going one nil down was so positive. Constant pressure high up the pitch, quick tempo passes into channels and committing men forward. To me, it seems like our struggles this season have mostly been mental, as when we had to take risks and attack yesterday (albeit against ten men) we looked unplayable. It was no surprise that we eventually were rewarded for it. The handball could not have been closer to me, and I distinctly saw him move his arm towards the ball. It was just one of those reflex things but it was stupid, stupid, stupid. I’m not sure how Deeney looks when he usually takes penalties, but as much bravado as he put on, something about him made me feel more anxious than usual. Maybe because, like against Blackburn, nothing seemed to be going right for him. It was a terrible penalty. Fessi also didn’t have the best of games, but he was very unlucky not to score. Those criticising him for being inconsistent, a poor decision maker and not being the best at picking out a pass should look at 95% of the games he has played for us; it comes with the territory. We like him despite of these things. And please, please, please do not mention him in the hole, for the very same reasons. When we did eventually score, a lot of credit has to go to Paredes. He has been slated on here, despite coming from the Equadorian league, but last night he gave much needed support, pace and width. I think once he improves his concentration, he will ‘come good’. Anya is getting his confidence back too, and is getting better at taking on players and delivering a cross, although of course, he is not the finished article. He was beaten a few too many times on his inside for my liking, but their right winger did have a pretty good game. And Ighalo. What can I say? He is fast becoming my favourite Watford player. What can’t he do? He is excellent at dribbling. He is excellent at being in the right place at the right time. He is excellent at shooting. He is excellent in the air. He is excellent at chasing down defenders and putting a foot in, he is great at jeering up or calming down the fans. And his picking up the ball and placing it for the keeper was great to watch. What a player we have. That last minute winner was the reason we all love football, what a rush. It was my first experience of terraces, and what madness it was. Excellent. What a game. I’m not going to say too much about what happened at the train station, but some comments on Twitter made it seem like Green Street, when in reality, it was more Sesame Street. For the first time in my life I genuinely felt old. Mouthing off when you have electrolysed train lines and shouting to come over the other side was pretty embarrassing, but hey, let kids be kids. The real reason I mentioned it though, was because there was this great old boy, who was doing hilarious 2-1 taunts, grinning from ear to ear and jumping up and down, every so often turning around and mentioning how much fun he was having. Excellent. We need at least 1 midfielder in the loan window who can get about the pitch and really impose his physicality on the game (we only have 4 midfielders now and we usually pick three), and one dominant defender (maybe one with a bit of pace too, as we struggle on the break when we push too far forward) and we have the perfect squad. This season is finally starting to get exciting. Bolton next: I wonder if Joka will rest Deeney from the start, for Vydra.
Do you really get embarrassed by the number of people that go to a football match? Plus, there's a lot better away games to include a session/night out - Leeds, Forest, Brighton, Derby.
Highlights in HD http://www.brentfordfc.co.uk/news/article/video-highlights to watch Fessi's unlucky shot off the post you can go to Sky's highlights.
I wasn't there. All this slagging our players off stuff. Is that as in yelling abuse at our players at the top of voices or less loudly complaining in earshot of those around about specific incidents?
The latter. I heard absolutely no abuse to our own players, bar a few "FFS FORESTIERI" when he lost the ball (which we nearly conceded from) doing repeated stepovers and skills, then Diagouraga just knicked it from his feet.
Good. Because imho that's fine and all part of the frustrations and angst of supporting our team (or any team). Loud, systematic abuse of individual players, designed for them to hear, is entirely different and, seeing as it would be detrimental to our chances, any perpetrators of that ilk would need putting right. That should be fairly easy on a terrace.
Confirmed. I was there on the terrace near to the players exit/entrance and that is all we heard. In fact I said so myself particularly when he lost the ball and they broke away and scored . As others have said great atmosphere of support for the team and mad scenes when we scored in injury time. Shame such experiences will disappear when they move to their new 20k all seater stadium just down the road by Kew Bridge station in 2 years time
Irrelevant. Many many fans shouting abuse at him last night in the centre of the stand. Whether he can hear it or not only he can answer. It just confirms what I knew already, we have a lot of dribbling divs among our contingent.
