I did hear 3rd hand some of the players weren't fans of VI but this was from someone who claimed to have spoken to a family member of someone dropped from the team so who knows how reliable that is!
".... and now we go live to Skyla at Rotherham for her halftime report..." Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz *YAWN* Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I can't remember the last ground I went to without a game time clock. Time played would be much more useful than a ticker of scores.
Another lackluster and disjointed performance, rescued entirely by an instinctive moment of magic from a set piece thanks to our junior starboy. That first half in particular was up there with most of our other recent performances in the doldrum-o-meter. We continue to be incapable of constructing a coherent attack or greatly progressing the ball. Credit to Pollock for seeming to step up to the challenge again, even if against the ranked worst team in the league.
The reason was given. How the fecx do you know? If he really couldn't be bothered with the season any more then he wouldn't be worried about playing one of our young players to the point where they get burnout and potentially injured. What an odd comment all around.
Well we won, clean sheet, great goal But by **** did we look **** in most areas, Pollock was probably the best in defence Why did it take so long to bring Dennis on , Raj has scored goals, but he is so slow
Rajovic gets beaten in the air, can't control a football, can't pass and has less pace than Sean Morrisson. How has he just got a full 90 there?
Who do you replace him with? Off that bench? There was only Dennis and he's not able to do more than 10 mins.
Terrible pitch again away at one of the relegation threatened northern teams that contributed to a similarly terrible game. At least unlike the Wednesday game we managed to find a finishing touch to nick all the points. Lots of credit has to go to our two CBs of Pollock and Hoedt though for generally dealing well with their constant hoofball. It was the kind of game which you think would suit Pollock's defensive attributes and he didn't let us down. Asprilla gets another good goal which gets what it deserves in helping us to points, unlike the Norwich game. Aside from that goal we were too often wasteful in attacking areas and constantly making poor decisions, Asprilla included who should have shot first time in the first half when he instead tried to pass to a marked Rajovic. Sema also is still not fully back to where he was before his injury and took one touch too many when he could have shot or crossed when through on goal. Rajovic was really, really poor today. Even though he was actually up against a CB in Morrison who he for once actually had the legs on, he didn't win a single duel and repeatedly messed up controlling the ball. Albeit he was kept on the full game 'cos he helped defend the set-pieces. Kayembe and Kone also weren't really at the races either. They can be excused a bit though as Kone has clearly been played too much and Kayembe is only just back from his absence. Ismael with another strange decision in having Ince play in central midfield for a while (albeit we actually scored during the time of the game when that was happening). I'm not really too fussed about the quality or lack thereof today though. We're back to winning ways and have taken another step to our mid-table obscurity.
We needed a win and got it. Not fussed by what means or how turgid it was. Pollock sounded the best player on the pitch on the radio and needs to keep his place. I'd rather develop the likes of him and Morris rather than persist on playing the other tat.
If you were trying to get a person into football, that game would not used as an advertisement. Drab. We were not good against one of the worst teams in the league. We came down to their level. Wonder strike from Asprilla was the difference. Defensively we battled well. We fell well short on the creative side. Now for my rant. Rajovic should not be a professional footballer. He can’t run, tackle, close down, control the ball, pass, make space, create chances, hold up the ball, support his teammates, lay the ball off, shoot, head the ball. He has been in the right place to score some tap ins, I’ll give him that, but he is lacking in every other area of the game. And IV kept him on for the entire game!!! We are playing with 10 men when he is playing. He must be embarrassed pulling a wage for what he does. That sounds really harsh, but he is such an annoyance. Happy with the win, but not inspired.
Awful, turgid and eventless that was our game this afternoon. Terrible game of football played on a ropey/bumpy pitch in which we managed to give the worst side in the league 70% possession during the opening exchanges camped in our own half. Cannot remember either side having a shot on target, but they had a few off target. Thank god we still have a decent and switched on player in Asprilla who wants to keep his career going strong. Brilliant half-volley into the corner was the only real quality on show. However, we almost threw it away late on when we allowed Rotherham to come at us with waves of attacks. They came pretty close on occasion but we held on to a needed victory to finally end our barren run of form. Rajovic was terrible in front of goal, best part of the match was when Kone' put in a good cross and he didn't even look at the ball or where he was making the run. Just devoid of any football intelligence unless the ball is on his head. Ince had another comedy of errors when he came on, and giving Dennis a pitiful cameo at the end shows how much VI plans to have him involved in building up his fitness. Credit to the fans' who travelled and sat through that "football match". Safe journey home. We move up to the dizzy heights of 11th and VI has probably kept his job for Huddersfield next weekend.
Also, Pollocks best game for us. He’ll get the runaround against the better teams but he’s perfect for horrible away games like today.
Well, Pozzo remains a ****, our always fairly faint playoff hopes have faded in the last few weeks, and we played **** against by far the worst team in the league, but eh, a win's a win, let's enjoy it for what it is
Another smash and grab away win. 1 shot, 1 goal. I’ll take it though, so only 2 more wins required from 13 games. Val has been lucky on the road this season, and it’s saved our season.
The club definitely looked at that Rajovic scoring run before he joined us and thought ‘that’ll do us for the price’ and never looked beyond that purple patch. I doubt they will can looked at the level of opposition he did it against. I want to give him more time and belief - but he’s just so woefully under the standard needed. I really hope a few Championship clubs (as was rumoured) are employing the same scouting techniques and want to sign him from us this summer - looking at his early goal tally and ignoring everything since. At this point, I’d happily just not lose money on him. Dennis (as unfit as he’s looked) must start centrally in the next game.
Thank fck for Asprilla, because without him, we’re only one shot on target away from being Rotherham’s level. Even though we got the 3 points, today’s performance has made me even more frustrated with the managers decision making. Rajovic should be dropped instantly. He’s pulled a stinker in practically every match I can remember. It’s actually disgusting that we have to witness him play up top week in, week out… A game like this should have been where his “attributes” excelled. Battling hard, out-heading, out-muscling against a quite frankly awful team that are bottom of the league for good reason, should be the *minimum* expectation for a player of his build. We saw absolutely none of that from him. Even more concerning is the fact that VI is playing Ince at Left Back; bringing Dennis on in the dying minutes of a game, whilst simultaneously taking Asprilla off, when he’s still the only attacking threat on the pitch. Continuing to play TDB (who, by the way is performing as poorly as Rajovic - but without the pressure of needing to score) anywhere on the pitch, let alone Right Back, leads to more questions than answers. I like VI, but it really does look like he’s testing the waters as to how many fck up’s he can make before the owner pulls the plug on him.
Dennis should have come on after 60. Not having any pace to break with was handing Rotherham the keys, we were lucky they were shocking.
No, Rajovic actually typically beat Morrison in the foot races (even if it was only by a narrow margin). It was notable to me because it was the first time I've consistently seen Rajovic beat any CB in a foot race. Morrison won every aerial duel and 50/50 though.
A real Relegation six pointer today and so glad we scraped the win. This massive result probably puts us out of sight for Rotherham but still a valuable 3 points towards safety. Say it with me 'the Horns are staying up!'
Rajovic with one of the worst #9 performances ever seen in a Watford shirt. Actually felt sorry for him.
