Watford Fc 0-1 Crystal Palace - Play Off Final - 27/5/2013

Our Anthem!

 

We need to get 30,000+ people singing this at Wembley. Palace fans think 'we love you' is good, they haven't seen anything yet.

 

Leaving to go now!

Every single one of you's going should be leaving Wembley with no voice! Come on Watford!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I damn well hope so, because it will mean we've won. I don't lose my voice from singing, but from uncontrolled, hysterical, euphorical roaring, which only comes by celebrating goals.

 

goalaaaasssssooooooooooo

 

The goold old 'Watford wall' Steve Finn was just interviewed on Sky and he said how gutted he was that we decided to bat again as come 3pm he wanted to be in the dressing room to watch the game and would most likely be out bowling then.

Just about to head off now, you 'ornssss!

 

My last post before the game. Everybody can do their bit today. Give everything you have. Be loud, sing like you've never sung before. COYGB

 

In the torch , great atmosphere already , staff saying we are more noisy than that german lot . Coyh

 

According to Udine's newspaper today at Wembley there will be the complete Pozzo family: Giampaolo, Giuliana and Gino. All togheter with the whole staff of Udinese: the coach Guidolin, the president Soldati and GM Rigotto. In case of success Gino will move to London with his family (he is married with and has a daughter if i am not wrong) to manage Watford from closer. It would mean +80mln€ every year in Pozzos pockets to use for the clubs, the newspaper says, and probably it would mean that Watford will manage the players that want higher retribution. I will watch the macth...but of course i don't write what is the end i hope

 

Anyone reckon they'll be selling Watford t-shirts at Wembley. Wearing blue atm, none of my old Watford shirts fit me any more.

 

Granada fans are expecting this match... GO WATFORD!!!

 

Utter crap to be honest, didn't show up again. Some big players absolutely non-existant.

 

Maybe a season too soon, absolutely disappointed but feel next year we will be more prepared from the start and better able to handle the prem when we get there..

 

Wtf was Cassetti thinking? To be fair the best team won, Zaha was amazing. Gutted.

 

So hard to take because the better team on the day won. We didn't do ourselves justice at all. Palace were bigger and stronger than us all over the pitch today. Fair play to them, they were absolutely the team that deserved to win. Too soon to try and go over the finer points of the game, but it's going to take a long time to get over the disappointment of this. It's gut wrenching to have let ourselves down so badly today.

 

So disappointing. Not so much to lose, but to lose in that manner. As Nath says, so many of our players underperformed and we failed to show the watching world how good we can be. To have your best chance in the 120th minute kind of sums it all up.

Really, we only have ourselves to blame for not going up automatically. Now the 'if onlys' can begin in earnest.

Well Done Palace..you were the better side and Holloway got his tactics spot on. Enjoy your season in the sun.

And us..we'll be back, hardened by this experience. Of that I'm sure.

Enjoy your summer.

 

Fair play to Palace. They were the cause of our players not showing up. They worked really hard and pressed our players non stop. We had no time on the ball.

They had by far the better chances and could reasonably claim to have been the team that played better. We weren't smart enough to be able to impose our game on them.

It was a penalty too. Zaha played brilliantly early on, but faded later. I forgot Abdi was on the pitch late in the 2nd - where did he go to? Almunia played very well in goal and Doyley was excellent.

No criticism of the selection or the tactics. Chose the right time to change the formation. About the only thing I'd say is that maybe I'd have brought on FF at the time Batty came on and vice versa.

Oh well. Champions next year.

 

Well dearie me. All this talk of being prepared and Malaga being good for the boys, and then they play like that?

I was only listening to the game today but we can have no complaints regarding Palace. The better team won on the day, that is exactly how football should be. If we had won that, we would have cheated Palace out of that big time.

The question is, why were we so poor? I'll start off by saying the players had completely the wrong mentality. They sounded afraid, they lacked passion and creativity and to be quite blunt, this was a major fu<k up and I wonder what the hell Zola has been doing with them the last few weeks. That *******s about Europe was completely the wrong thing to go out and say to the press 24 hrs before the game.

We deserved to be in the final but that's it, I'm afraid. Very, very poor today. From the commentary, that really does sound like the worst game we have played this season.

Anyways, it's not time for a nice, long break from football for me. The last few weeks have been extremely stressful for me (as I'm sure they have been for you all). I came to the conclusion the other day that if we did end up losing in the final, we will be in with a great shout at the automatics next season. I expect us to strengthen in every area on the pitch and to come out all guns blazing next season.

Keep the faith guys - We will reach the PL!

 

Best team on the day won without a doubt. We simply didn't turn up until the last 4 minutes. If we had played the same way since the start as we did for the last 4, we'd have probably scored 3 or 4.

Can't complain about the result though - if your team don't start playing until they're 1-0 down in the 116th minute, you don't deserve to win the game. We simply didn't.

More disappointed with the (lack of) performance than the result, but I'm very proud of what the team accomplished this season, and I feel next year we're going to be a far better side than we are today. I've never felt like we could say that before.

 

You what mate? How you gonna build? You haven't got any players! Most of players in Watford shirts are going straight back to Italy after the game. You'll never see them again! lol.

 

We should have gone up automatically but blew it with the finishing line in sight. All those stupid losses against average sides.

Today we were meek and afraid to lose..and I've never seen us play so many long balls under Zola as today. Unlike v Leics, we were more afraid of losing than we were risking to win.

That said, Holloway did us with his tactics.

Rather apt that a penalty ends our season. It should have happened 2 weeks ago but we got out of jail.

Now we have the least rest of any side in the Championship over the Summer, which isn't great. Tough decisions have to be made and lessons learnt. Let's hope Zola can see where this campaign failed, because the margins weren't big..we can really kick on from this...IF we learn.

 

See you next season :naughty:

 

We'll see them back here next season, but what we won't see is you back on here posting about how you were wrong when we sign them all.

 

Spot on Malteser, though I would add that we don't deserve to go up if we play like that in a Championship Playoff Final (and don't even get me started on the silly losses this season). We have been very poor this season and have thrown away more chances than I can count, but we have also played some very pleasing stuff and I have absolutely no doubt we will be a major force in this league next season.

If Zola doesn't show the Pozzos next season that he has learnt from today, he'll be out the door and someone else will be brought in who can get the job done, don't worry about that. Zola is a good guy, and for his sake, I hope he shows next season that he has learnt from today.

 

Agreed, this season was just the first step and we did so, so well.

Next season we'll be even stronger. Good times ahead, I think.

 

Good times ahead indeed - This is exactly the attitude to have!!

 

I totally agree. We just need to get rid of the Bristol Citys and the Peterboroughs. And the squad obviously needs tinkering and improving. It could be a tougher league next season but then again, we'll be tougher too. Reading lost a play off final two years ago and went up as champions the following year.

I don't want to sound like sour grapes..they totally deserved it..but when Palace face up to life in the PL without Zaha and Murray etc, we might watch them losing every week and smile.

By the way, kind of ironic today's goal was won by a Man Utd player and scored by a Blackpool one. What were you saying about loans, Mr Holloway?

 

Doyley was our Mom today. Everyone else was ****

 

Bit harsh on Manu there, Moog. He even almost got to the penalty.

 

I was typing just that when the Shoutbox shut down.

 

Tears in mine and Mrs Gd's eyes at the end. Not because of the result because on the big stage, we choked.

That's the sad thing. Go down fighting, not meekly until the other team just 'out-average' you.

Alex Geijo and Fernando deserve a lot of credit for not stopping running. Shame the others didn't use that themselves.

 

True. Sorry Manu. And FF and Batty for the short time before we went Hoofroyd and took them out of the game.

 

Don't think Geijo looked up to speed until the 115th minute.