The Championship 2020-21

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by Markoa$, Jul 26, 2020.

  1. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Completely different situation to last season, in that we’re infinitely more capable of getting the results we need.
     
  2. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    I remember running around the garden celebrating survival when we beat Newcastle at the Vic. Then we went to utter Sh**.
     
  3. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Of course it's different. Different league, promotion vs relegation, but 6/7 points clear with 3 games to go, we were. Yes AV and B had a game in hand but Brentford have 2 and we seem to be happy to ignore that.
    The gap could be 3pt if they win their 2 games in hand (starting with Preston today) and beat us ? Very unlikely but not impossible. Not too dissimilar to the chance of Muff and AV winning enough of their last 4 games last season after terrible form, and us losing and our relative GD taking a hammering vs MC & WHU.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
  4. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    As are those around us. Promotion battle vs relegation battle.
     
  5. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    Few better feelings than winning the early game and watching the pressure swing onto all your rivals...
     
    HappyHornet24, Vic, wimbornet and 4 others like this.
  6. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    I understand the mathematics but I simply don’t agree. It just doesn’t feel the same. And I’m a natural pessimist.

    I trust I am not tempting fate...
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
    Vic, W4BS, Burnsy and 1 other person like this.
  7. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Where it might be similar is if we lose to Luton, Norwich and Millwall and Brentford hit form. That would in a way be similar (albeit in a condensed fashion) to losing to WH, as well as the games like Burnley and Southampton. That left us needing results against City and Arsenal knowing all along we needed to be safe by then, and if we weren’t we were done for. Irrespective of Swansea’s form, we’ve also all known all along that we ideally don’t want to be a position where we need results from those games. If we end up in that scenario then it will have a definite feel of last season about it, but hopefully we get the job done before then.
     
  8. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    The only way it’s similar to last season is points on the board VS opponents games in hand. The feelings and optics around the two scenarios are very different though.
     
  9. Luther Bassett

    Luther Bassett Reservist

    Agree, utterly bogus analogy.
     
    stevetalboys likes this.
  10. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    But even then, twelve points feels (to me) like a much bigger gap to bridge than seven, even accepting that there are two games in hand and one of Brentford’s games is against us.

    Plus, we were never likely to get anything from the last two games of last season. Our points total after 36 games was always likely to be our final total so everything hung on WHU. We have some difficult games left this season, but (again at risk of tempting fate), I don’t have the feeling I did in the summer, that we just have to sit and wait now to see if others can reel us in.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
  11. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Yeah, I think the main difference between last season and this (aside from positivity vs negativity, etc etc) is that this season, the question is merely 'can you vaguely mantain a similar level of form until the end of the season' - last season, the question was more open-ended, and was more along the lines of 'how low can you go?'.

    The opposition around us are theoretically also much more equipped to gain points (although their collective recent form is really not showing it) than those last season, but even if they do, as long as we continue motoring on as the team that we are, that won't even matter. Last season we were basically untethered, and all bets were off - we were a terrible team who'd been bad for almost the entire season hoping for a sudden explosion into a team that functioned totally different and significantly outperformed the rest of the season to that point.
     
  12. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    It might not be a coincidence but it would certainly be mentally weak and unprofessional.
     
  13. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Maybe, or maybe certainly if it was us in their position, but having won the league the last time they were in it, then it depends on how much they’ll really care. No doubt Farke will want them to carry on playing the same way and to win in, but having been there and done that some of the players might switch off. I think what is more likely is they’ll be in exhibition mode, but if they come across a team who have something to fight for they aren’t going to put up much of a fight if they go a goal down.
     
  14. El distraído

    El distraído Johnny Foreigner

    Strange.

    Sounds to me like Brentford are complaining about the wrong things.

    Why are they focused on the "unfair" parachute payments when they should be focusing on their bottle jobs? Brentford are serial chokers.

    This suggests to me that despite the excellent statistic analysis that they possess, perhaps they focus too much on the physical attributes, talent and the potential return on player investment and not enough on delving into their transfer targets' leadership qualities and mental resilience. That's what you REALLY need to get promoted.

    They can spend all they want on these players, but if they don't get them promoted to the PL, it's all meaningless really
     
    Cassetti's Beard likes this.
  15. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    There is also a bit on there about how they don’t do loans, and that a lot of championship teams utilise them to good effect. Their logic is that they are developing someone else’s s players and that they would block the path to the first team for b team players and thus potentially affect the eventual development/value of their own players. That makes a lot of sense, but at the same time it’s all about balance. A few decent loan players won’t exactly do them any harm if it helps them get them promoted.
     
  16. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Ironically they have more loans than us now! Oh how the tide has turned!
     
  17. WatfordTalk

    WatfordTalk First Team

    Agree, I certainly won't be celebrating if we win the league
     
    Vic and Steve Leo Beleck like this.
  18. Luther Bassett

    Luther Bassett Reservist

    It’s funny what the euphoria and release of pressure can do, the 68/9 Div 3 Championship-winning side lost their last three games and no side was further away from being mentally weak or unprofessional.
     
    We hate 48 likes this.
  19. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    We've done nothing wrong, it's not as if we've broken any rules or relied on dark money from some dodgy geezer to get to the Premier League in the first place, but I do fully understand Brentford's annoyance at the whole system. It's absolutely insane the financial gap between the Prem and the Championship, a club like them are trying to do things in a sustainable manner, yet are always going to be up against it against the likes of us, Norwich and Bournemouth. Hope it's them or Barnsley to win through the play-offs (Reading would be OK too but I think they'll just miss out now), would be far more interesting than the three relegated clubs going straight back up
     
  20. Teide1

    Teide1 Squad Player

    Yes it seemed it was almost impossible for us to get relegated after beating Newcastle last season and then guess what we achieved the impossible!
     
  21. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Fully agree, hence why I’ve ranted a lot about the system elsewhere on this forum. The difficulty is whilst the current system is what it is, it’s naive to blame or dislike parachute payments. Firstly if they ever get promoted, without them they’d be absolutely screwed. As we all would, secondly it wouldn’t help them in the long run because it would massively weaken the whole league and grow the gap between the prem teams and the championship teams.
     
  22. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    It feels good waking up and knowing we've got a 12 point lead over the chasing clubs. Sure, they could whittle that down to 6, but they HAVE TO win those games in hand to do it. Brentford now have to win 4 of their remaining 7 games to get to where we are right now. Swansea 4 wins and 1 draw from their 7 games likewise.

    We now are mathematically in the playoffs at least. The lowest we can possibly finish is 6th. Although our games on paper look really tough, I'm sure we'll chip out the points we need to go up from this point. Luton is probably our easiest game and we must take advantage of that and forget about the derby. It's not really a derby without the fans and we've just got to approach it like any other game and I'm sure we will.

    If we beat Luton, then our really tough run starts, however, we'll be in such a good position that even a couple of draws may be enough to get us over the line.
     
  23. Halfwayline

    Halfwayline Reservist

    i get people are cautious but it’s a 12 point gap. Are people really saying that the team that have W10D1L1 in the last 12 won’t pick up at least a win and a couple of draws as a minimum in our last 5? That will mean the team that have W4D4L4 will turn their form around and get the probable required 6 wins out of their next 7? If so then go to the bookies, clear out your bank account and get some money on it

    we are up
     
  24. sydney_horn

    sydney_horn Squad Player

    I think we will have a fair idea by the end of today if Brentford and Swansea have anything left that might threaten us.

    If they don't perform today then they will definitely be looking over their shoulders more than they will be thinking about getting second.
     
  25. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Brentford are out of form but they’re not that bad. I keep expecting them to win each week, but they don’t. They surely have to at some point and I don’t want to jinx the run by saying they won’t this week. If you’re listening football/betting gods I’m saying Brentford will win.
     
    The undeniable truth likes this.
  26. Heidar

    Heidar Squad Player

    All I will say is I hope Norwich have their promotion confirmed today...as it will mean Brentford and Swansea have lost!
     
  27. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Yes, that's the similarity. A feeling of confidence. A gap. Opponents with games in hand. The assumption that the gap is large enough and our relative form tides won't turn.
    Of course. Fear and trepidation over a potential drop and what it might mean for our club vs excitement over a possible promotion and what it might mean for our club.
     
  28. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    See above post. You obviously don't understand where it's similar, that's fine.
     
  29. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    There are similarities but you feel far more confident about the current situation than the gap we'd engineered last year. Understood, that's fine. I'm also far more confident that we will be successful in defending our gap this time than last season.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2021
  30. onion8837

    onion8837 Reservist

    Will have a flutter on Xiscorama (Discorama) for the National based on our current form
     
  31. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Yes it would be very unlikely. However their season has been one of up and down form...bad start, brilliant run, bad run,.....who knows ? Not impossible but very unlikely.
     
  32. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    I think we can all agree the similarities are we’re in the driving seat but could still mess it up from here.

    The difference in my head is that, irrespective of what our rivals do/did it’s always easier to lose a game(s) and for your form to collapse in the Premier League.

    Pretty much your entire existence in that league as a fan is spent a expecting the wheels to come off at any moment, least not when you’re hovering precariously above the relegation zone.
     
  33. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    At best, they'll have Dasilva for a few games in the run-in, and maybe Henry, very unlikely they go on a run tbf
     
  34. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    Millwall just had a great chance to open the scoring
     
  35. onion8837

    onion8837 Reservist

    Ayew is beyond a joke - every time he gets anywhere near an opponent he throws himself to the ground. Pathetic by him and piss-poor refereeing
     

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