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

I didn't want Watford to lose, but I am fine with not being promoted this year. WFC weren't ready and need another year to gel.

Still, as even as the first two halves were, the team was toothless without Vydra, and Deeney looked scared. Watford defending was a shambles all through the second.

I liked Battochio and Forestieri in the extra time period, but it was too little too late.

But how about Almunia? He was amazing!

 

Was it true cassetti was crying during the second half of extra time? On train back but wife told me cameras were panning in on him wiping tears away. Gutted but not overly as I can still see a bright future for us! Roll on Bournemouth and yeovil

 

What did we ever do to Kevin Phillips? Starts the Blackpool revival against us that costs us 2 points, equalises for Palace against us that cost us another two..either of those two goals don't go in and we would have probably equalled Hull's points tally...

Now today....

 

Deeney was unrecognisable today, in the mould of Ronaldo in the 1998 Brazil/France game. It was like someone replaced him with a lookalike. I wonder if he was up all night stressing about the morning, or something.

 

Phillips scored 7 times this season.

3 of them were against us.

Guess he hates us.

 

I met Keith Mercer.

 

I met Jose M.

 

Just back. Well done palace, they wanted it more, won every 50/50. Not disappointed at all, we have a fantastic future to look forward to.

 

The better team won it on the day, congrats to palace. Have to mention the performances from almunia and doyley though, kept us right in the game.

 

I really hope we do have a bright future to look forward to (I personally think we do)

But we've now blown 2 great chances for automatic promotion in a month and they don't grow on trees.

We really need to mature tactically next season..a lot of wise old heads will be pitting their wits against us.

 

Gutted. Not in the result, but the manner of the result. Out thought by Hollowhead.

Zola and Corradini still haven't found a solution to our Achilles heel: press our back 3 when we have the ball (particularly Doyley) close down the midfield options, and we end up hoofing.

That has absolutely got to be fixed for next season, its now bl**ding obvious to every championship manager how to set up and play against us.

 

So Hull go up without a win in their last 4 matches.

Palace go up with something like 2 wins in their last 10 (before the play offs)..

#bigopportunitywasted

 

God it was just awful. Players should be so disappointed in themselves, completely let themselves and the fans down.

 

Spot on. I hope Zola learns from the last few months of this season. Although Geijo put in a good shift I feel FF would have been the correct move at half time as we needed to change the dynamics of the game and not let it fade away into a head-tennis match that we were always going to loose. Finally switching to 4-3-3 was a good move tactically, but leaving Cassetti (who had been struggling with Zaha all day) isolated at right back was an accident waiting to happen. Keeping Cassetti central and moving Doyley to right back would have been the logical choice.

Still, if the team and manager can build on this season into the next I think we'll be there or thereabout next year as well, even though the Championship next year looks very strong.

 

Got what we deserved...feck all. Left after the penalty knew it was a lost cause.

Gutted

 

Strangest thing to swap Vydra for Heyho and not FF?

That aside though have to agree with above, most of our team didn't perform and an average Palace side took advantage.

Good luck to Palace though, their fans were loud and in the second half it was Almunia and Lloyd who prevented a potential thrashing.

Full pre-season, some new players and a more experienced manager - Yeovil here we come...

 

What is there to say? We didn't show up, Palace wanted it more than us. They won every ball and every second ball, Almunia my MOTM says it all really, nobody had a decent game bar Almunia, Forestieri and Doyley for the final third of the game. Our support was pretty terrible too, atleast where I was sitting.

 

Abdi was pretty damn good.

 

Embarassment all round. Crap performance from all, only Allmunia and Anya stood out whilst others like Doyley, Hogg and Ekstrand battled, others went missing. I am assuming Vydra was injured?

To be told to sit down 4 times by some **** as there 'were children around', what a joke. We deserved to lose and if it means the 'Arsenal' Watford supporters don't come again all the better. The support was a joke, no wonder the players were so lethargic.

Palace deserved it, much the better team and fair play Zaha, some say he is overrated but he was by far the best player on the pitch. Certain penalty as well, no complaints there.

 

And yet, best chance of game he not only misses, he misses by 20 yards!

 

I had a bit of that too. Told them it was football not the f***ing ballet. Palace got the ticket sales right when they made singing sections. We should have made that move.

 

Meant Anya. Damn brain is not functioning.
Grr.

Can't be bothered to edit other post. Can someone dislike it for me?

 

I might be old school but I knew that Palace would win, they turn up suited and booted and we turn up track suits basball caps and headphones, you have to get your head right for these type of games. I can remember 1999 Taylor had them in Suits and Bolton turned up in tracksuits, Bolton were favourite that day and never turned up

 

So so disappointed. Vydra, Chalobah, Deebey and others didn't turn up today. This wasn't the Watford we know and have seen do so well this season.

Alumina was fantastic, our man of the match which says it all. Defence worked well also.
Although we did have some good chances but just had to have a shot and not an extra touch or pass!

Didn't look like a penalty to me, but not seen any highlights yet. Referee was poor

All this self-congratulating that we'd sold out, I would rather that a lot of people had stayed away. By all means be a day tripper, or a part time fan, but you could at least join in with some of the songs!

Was great atmosphere pre-match in the pubs, why couldn't it have carried on inside the ground?

 

Only time will tell just how big an opportunity we've missed twice this season.

Now we have a summer of worrying about who stays, and of course we are still under a (technical) transfer embargo until September.

I also feel we learnt a lot about our players today. I'm not jumping on their backs, they've generally been terrific this season, but I've always argued here that most are good, rather than great...it's too easy as fans of a club to get over-carried away with hype and hyperbole. Today the likes of Abdi, Vydra, even Troy (and he's been my player of the season) sadly went missing when it counted most. Doesn't mean they're no good, it just means they're still learning their game and can get even better.

I console myself tonight that developing teams rarely survive the PL, as we showed the last two times..give most of this bunch another season and we should only go forward. Maybe we'll start slowly because of the knock on effect of today, and the shorter pre-season we now have, but maybe next season we'll peak in the last 10 matches, rather than fall nervously away with the finishing line on the horizon.

That'll make today worth it.

 

I was in the corner where the penalty was given, definitely looked stonewall to me, Zaha simply done Cassetti for pace and Cassetti resorted to just pushing him over or something, can't give specifics since I was so high up (3 rows from the top of the stadium) that the players looked like little kids.

 

Of the THIRTEEN pens we've conceeded this season, that was one of the MOST blatant!

 

It wasn't a push, it was a trip I think.

Cassetti foolishly stuck his foot in and Zaha gratefully instantly tumbled over it. Stone bonk penalty.

 

Tell me about it. There were two arguments that nearly led to actual fights because day trippers objected to flag waving or occasionally standing (block 110).

We know Watford are quiet anyway but FFS; it's a Play Off Final at Wembley after an amazing season.

Credit to Palace on and off the pitch, they won it on all counts.

 

When I read on here about people taking along friends who were "semi-interested" I kind of feared the worst. Our fans have always been like this for the big games.

I remember it being reported that one lady WFC fan spent all of the last play off final we lost reading a paperback.

That says it all.

 

I must have missed us losing another one! Maybe I was reading the same book

 

Don't know why you're so happy, it will mean one less promotion spot for you to try claim for next year.

 

What a crap day.. Lloyd doyley the only bright spot... For all those idiots that moan at him proved again still our best defender