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

Just got back, absolutely gutted.

Alumnia & Doyley were our best players, says it all today.

Up front we looked toothless and the final pass just wasn't there.

I would have preferred to have seen FF come on at half time to repalce Vydra but all in all, Palace wanted it more and Zaha was the best player on the pitch.

Oh well, another year in the Championship, lets just hope that the Pozzos give us a few more top players to repalce Vydra & Chalobah who I doubt will be with us next season.

 

Let's wait and see shall we

 

Gutted to be honest, such a shyte way to lose.

Didn't think either side were up to much, can't have been a good game to watch from a neutral perspective, lacked any real spark and Almunia was our best player which says it all really. We weren't at our best and Casetti made the mistake of diving in when he should really know better and just f**king stand the player up.

Good shout from Palace having a singing section, seemed to do their atmosphere some good. Sounds like we had some sh*tc*nt fans in our end and women who's last game was Cardiff 06 shouldn't be allowed near a f**king football match again, dozy bint behind me was utterly insufferable.

 

I thought bringing on Geijo was odd and out of character with what Zola has done throughout the season but I guess he was hoping Geijo would help the ball to stick up front as Deeney was largely ineffective.

Can't believe you think Zola should go

 

I think he means Zola has more experience now, but I can't speak for him.

 

Was queer, I do sometimes wonder if FF has done something wrong to not warrant more game time; he was the ONLY player to trouble Palace today.

LOL - I meant GFZ being more experienced next season, not a new manager!

 

Gutted about the performance and the absolute **** atmosphere!

Manu was amazing and Doyley made two brilliant tackles.

Palace came and did exactly what they wanted to do. Zaha was amazing but without him I think Palace 20th and Hull 19th.

Forgot we'll never see Chalobah again at Watford but he was *******s.

Still don't like Zola that much. Shoot me but I'm sorry Fessi to come on for Vydra anyday not bloody Geigo!! He played out for extra time and hoped Fessi would make a difference with fresh legs.

Hope Vydra stays a fresh Vydra next year could be scary!! Along with Abdi, Ekstrand, Battochio, Anya and Pudil.

I was actually more gutted about Leeds at home than today to be totally honest. We will go up eventually with the Pozzo's it's inevitable ut for now bgot Bournemouth, Wigan and QPR to look forward too! Can't wait just a shame we've got to wait so long.

The future is bright, the future is Yellow!!!!

 

I thought I was OK with it, that it just wasn't to be and we didn't deserve it anyway, but I just popped out to get some fish and chips and seeing all the people shuffling home in their shirts just makes me so sad. Having enjoyed the thrill of winning the playoffs twice, I wish I'd never found out how it felt to lose the final.

So many of our players were terrible today. It was Abdi and Deeney's worst games of the season, Chalobah was his casual worst and Vydra didn't seem to touch the ball more than twice. Was he injured to start with?

Doyley and Almunia were exceptions. Doyley not only defended imperiously, was the only one not to get humiliated by Zaha and the only defender not to commit a suicidal side pass at least once, he also played clever balls forward.

I've no idea why Geijo came on. What was Zola thinking? I do think he has the makings of a good player, but he's just not match fit. He was a yard off the pace and just wasn't the right player for us today.

Why won't Zola play Fessi for ****'s sake? It's as though he doesn't rate him, but as soon as FF came on, he made us look so much more dangerous. Same for Batty. Both have been marginalised for a while now, but haven't put a foot wrong whenever they've played. Zola either needs to find a way to accommodate Fessi, or he won't be successful in this job. That's my opinion.

Crystal Palace pressed us and forced errors from our midfield and defence, causing the game to be a pretty nullified affair. The difference between the sides was Zaha, who was always capable of fashioning something, as proved by the penalty. The only player we have as an equivalent is Fessi and he was warming his arse on the bench, whilst Geijo ran around to little effect.

Overall, I have to be realistic and admit that we simply didn't deserve to go up. For all the hyperbole from some of our fans about Abdi, Vydra, Deeney, Chalobah etc. the very real fact is that as a team, we have not been consistent enough or strong enough to win promotion.

Zola is going to have to go to the next level to work out how to get the team to be more consistent, to grind out wins when the games are scrappy and compressed and to also manage his squad better. Would Geijo have been better if he'd had a few more minutes of football over the past 3 months? Possibly. Zola has gone from rotating players, to just making baffling decisions. We seem to have a more or less settled first 11, but some other players who could have come in and done something are now rusty and lacking sharpness.

Also, why were we going long so often today? It was so frustrating. I know we were pressed, but the balls were aimless.

The worst thing for me is thinking of Holloway, with his evil little beard, celebrating.

Palace deserved it though. There fans were better than ours too, but ours started out as loud, but were given nothing to cheer or sing about.

 

Amazing?? I dont think so, still we were all at different angles. couldnt shoot.

 

A good balanced summing up that Moog.. and a sobering way to end a day of contrasting emotions.

 

A word about the ref. He was terrible. I had high hopes when he gave two early fouls on Deeney that he was going to stand for no nonsense and run the game efficiently.

However, he gave freekicks for them for offenses which were identical to ones he'd waved on seconds earlier on our players. The lino gave offside for a ball played back off a Palace head. It looked like a stonewall penalty at the death for handball as the player on the floor had his arms out to block the ball.

 

I agree with you that I would have liked FF to have come on for the forced Vydra substitution. There's no bigger fan of Forestieri than me. But I can quite understand starting your two 20 goal strikers up front, especially with them having scored 3 between them in our last outing. And if you're starting with two up front, then where do you put FF?

Geigo is now a dilema. I've expected him to burst into life and have a little purple patch of his own all season - but it hasn't happened. We know he was very highly rated by Granada and he shows some good touches and quick thinking. He's also got plenty of confidence to go for goal on his own. There was one moment today when a cross came floating over and Deeney (who was about two feet nearer the crosser) tried an ambitious bicycle kick which went well wide. Geijo gave Deeney a big flea in his ear right after because that was just dropping right for him if Deeney had have left it. I would have loved to have seen him bury that and to have been the hero.

It didn't happen and I think we may now have seen the last of him in a yellow shirt. I'm sure Granada would have him back in a heartbeat. If that is the case, then I hope he thrives back in La Liga. I suspect the differing style of football between the two countries might be why he didn't quite click here. I think we need two dangerous, young and skilfull replacement strikers to cover for Deeney and (hopefully) Vydra next season. I'd be very interested to have a look at someone like that Isaac Success fella who was mentioned on the transfer rumour thread or perhaps a decent South American.

The other replacement/stand in would be Assombalonga. After his season away, he's earned the chance to a few games on the bench at least.

Oh and one other thing for next season; release Bonham. I know I'm risking being pooh-poohed again, but why flog a dead horse? Confidence shot, not rated by Harrow Borough, didn't show the mental strength when called upon. Assuming Almunia and Bond both stay and people are calling for another keeper to be signed, there's not room for Bonham anyway.

 

We were offside from Almunia's kick out. The header by the Palace player doesn't suddenly put our bloke onside. Sorry Moog.

 

Wish we'd signed Kevin Phillips when we were linked with him under Dyche.

 

Feeling so dissapointed at the moment as we just played woefully and deserved nothing today. The game was so dull, and although we may go up next season, going up at Wembley would've have been the best way in my opinion, but Im afraid we just didnt turn up which is hard to take. Well done to Almunia though, Anya was decent and Forestieri was good when he came on. What made it even worse was the Forestieri chance in the last minute, I thought it was in, just made it that bit more painful. And to top it off I got sun burnt - haha, what a great day . I also saw someone in a Simms shirt twice today, I'm guessing that was Simms from here! Although everyone is looking forward to Yeovil next season, Im more excited about Bournemouth - should be good and hopefully its on a Saturday.

 

Ekstrand was very lucky to stay on the pitch.

Generally, I was impressed with the ref today. Sorry to be contrasuggestive.

 

Apology accepted. I just remembered the back header. I can't remember the passage of play leading up to it. In fact, I'm gradually blocking out all of today from when I left Moore Spice onwards.

 

Absolutely gutted. It was a horrible game of football, and neither side really played that well, Palace were the better side on the day.
I thought the ref had a terrible game today, the penalty was probably right but I haven't seen a replay, and from my angle all I saw was Zaha go down so I have no idea. But other than that he missed so many fouls and was not consistent in the slightest. I know we will never get a penalty for the rest of my life, but how the foul on Pudil wasn't a penalty I will never know. There was blatant contact after the ball had gone, and I always thought that that meant penalty. Didn't see the handball shout clearly enough to comment.

Almunia and Doyley were brilliant, and our best players definitely. Zaha did have a good game but couldn't get past Doyley or Anya which was great to see. Zaha aside perhaps, but first half Anya was probably the best player on the pitch, if only he didn't get tired and kept it up and there could have been something.

The finishing was horrible, Deeney had a half-chance on the edge which he's been putting away in recent weeks, Abdi had a brilliant chance and Fessi came on and made a real impact and I really thought he was going to score when it was cleared off the line. The worst moment for me (sitting in the corner) was the Deeney header right at the end, where we got the two corners. I was 100% sure it was in, and that feeling when I saw it go wide was disgusting.

I'm a relatively young Watford fan, and this is the lowest moment for me personally (lower than relegation from the Prem because that was drawn out over a whole season), but the only way I can think of anything positive really is that we'll have many more years as Watford fans to come, and there will be ups and downs for sure, this is just one of the downs unfortunately.
Being in the premier league would have been great, but I don't think anyone would disagree that the feeling of going up through promotion is far better than the feeling of staying up, so we've got the chance of that next year. I don't think we can assume automatics, as there will be many teams going for it, but if we keep hold of the majority (Abdi and Ekstrand please stay) and maybe get Badu and one or two others, then we have a real shot.


Lastly, and this is a tiny highlight from today. Hopefully you all remember Ekstrand completely skin Zaha right at the start with a piece of skill? We're a flair team, and this is the best football I've ever seen as a Watford fan, so the future is bright.

Watford 'til I die.

 

Hay, hay, it`s not the end of the world... With or without Premiership the life continues and I seriously love my life as a Hornet. I have never been prouder. The team will bounce back for sure. What a wonderful season it was...we were so close to overachieve again playing sexy football and scoring so many goals /Vidra`s a la Van Basten - my personal favorite/. IN GFZ I TRUST!

 

Moog you must be as old as me if thats possible, that was the law in the 70's

 

Gutted a poor game and we got what we deserved. Almunia Doyley our best 2. Fair performances from Elksstrand Anya Hogg FF Pudil Batty and Geijo.
Abdi and Cassetti well below par.
Deeney Challobah and Vydra poor (prob injured)
And worst performance on the day...... our support

 

Completely agree, both teams where very poor i thought - which is why its so frustrating. We where poor but can play a whole lot better while palace where poor yet i suspect still playing close to their best. They really are a one man team Palace.

The front two had very little service and our midfield was very disappointing today. Chalobah, for all his ability & potential, is knocked off the ball by the slightest breeze. Anya had the beating of their left back but very rarly tried to take him on. Hogg just didnt seem to get into the game at all. Abdi tried but he cant do it all by himself. The midfield sat so deep that a palace player was not only first to every ball outside both boxes, but normally had enough time to bring the ball down and look for the pass.

Stupid challenge by cassetti for the penalty - he didnt need to make it.

Its hard to put a finger on why it went wrong today. It wasnt holloways tactical genius - palace set set up the same way they always have when ive seen them play this season (make yourselfs hard to break down and give the ball to zaha and hope he creates something). We just didnt get going, we didnt pass the ball how we normallly do, there wasnt the movement off the ball there normally is. Perhaps the occasion got to them.

I do feel for the players because i honestly think they deserved promotion for the way they have come together and the football they have played this year.

 

Had a carp seat right behind the goal level with the crossbar so couldn't see much. Sadly it was good enough to see Cassetti's challenge and it was def a pen.

What can we do better next season?
- tighten up defensively and avoid gifting points away
- improve the creativity of the midfield
- recruit another CF

If we can do this then I'd hope we'd avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

Finally, I'm going to put money on all three promoted teams coming straight back down again. You heard it here first.

 

The bizarre marginalisation of Battochio and Fessi are what have cost us promotion. We ALWAYS look better with the two on the pitch.

 

Watching the highlights on Football League Show, heart wrenching.

Just came back to me also that at the break before Extra Time, all our players were on the floor whilst all the Palace ones standing around raring to go, will be interesting to hear in the next few days why Zola/people think we never got going

 

Apparently the loophole has now been closed - according to the commentator on the FLS.

Useless commentary.

 

The thing I find depressing is that it'll be a whole year before we're at this point again.

 

I did not enjoy one minute of the match today. We really were ****. Not happy.

 

I don't want to go through the play off experience again

 

Never again. I pray we can just finish comfortably in the top 2 next season.

 

after this comment im forgetting about today and moving on.

almunia and doyley were fantastic. both deserves new contracts and could be very useful next year.

god knows why cassetti put his leg in there, i reckon he was running on fumes. he is still a class act, but not sure he can manage a 50+ game season, needs to be used more sparingly next season if still here.

ekstrand, hogg and anya all worked very hard. the rest simply underperformed today. deeney barely had a sniff, geijo was mainly ineffective when he came on (but what do you expect when he's hardly played football all season). no idea why fessi did not get longer and battochio should have started.

palace did a number of chalobah, and abdi was not at the races today for me.

still you can't win them all, and in all honesty the better team won today. good luck to palace in the premiership but i reckon it will be a rather short stay.

onwards and upwards! looking forward to next season.

COYH!

p.s. by the way about the arguments in block 110. it happened just in front of me. there was a group of lads one of whom had a cardboard sign on which he had written in black marker 'i only made this sign to annoy the people behind me.' this was held up before the game which was fine, but also on several occasions during the first half which ended up riling up some of the guys sitting pretty close behind the lads. as this seemed to be happening during set pieces, people got pretty upset as they could not see what was going on. a shouting match ensued and another one of the lads in retaliation started waving a flag non-stop so nobody could see anything.

 

Sounds nawty.

 

pwopa nawty.