He wasn't that bad in the second half, he somehow seems to have had his best performances for us this season at LB.
I think, bearing in mind the various factors in play, we’ll actually play pretty well against them. I think we’ll feel a tiny bit more pride and optimism as we move forward. However we can’t score goals and we can’t stop them going in so we’ll lose, probably 2-0. Onto Arsenal!
The problem is over the past few games, however well he plays he always seems to have at least one fatal error in him. If we’re to get anything at all from either game then we simply can’t afford the sort of brain farts he’s prone to.
In some ways this is a 'no lose' game. In so far that pretty much every Watford, Bournemouth and Villa fan is already assuming a comfortably City win and anything deviating from that is a positive for us. A par score would probably be a 0-3, which is enough of a GD swing to take GD out of the equation entirely (we have worse GS vs Bournemouth and Villa so a tied GD is no good to us). I think most of us are expecting a 0-3 (or worse). Let's assume a 0-3 loss is the 'baseline' result. 0-3 or worse has no benefit to us, but is probably what we expect anyway. 0-2 is no good either regarding our GD vs Bournemouth. The only way to beat Bournemouth on GD is if we lose both by 1 goal and they win by 1 goal as they have better GS. May have a marginal benefit against Villa but basically still a bad outcome even if looks respectable. 0-1 is a minor positive as it brings GD vs Bournemouth back as a factor. 0-0 (or any draw) relegates Bournemouth and would be a hugely positive outcome any win makes us essentially safe (bar an unlikely GD swing for Villa). The Maths I've taken the liberty to do the sums. Using bookies odds to calculate probabilities of each scoreline (and adjusting these down to remove the bookies 'rake back' I have estimated the % chance of each outcome. 0-3 or worse is actually only a 29% chance according to the odds. Seems generous to me, but there you go. 0-2 loss or equivalent is a 20% chance, so 0-2 or worse is a 49% chance. 0-1 or better is therefore a 51% chance. So it's actually more likely than not we could get a positive outcome, if you agree a one goal loss is positive. We have a 17% chance of getting a draw and a 10% chance of winning. Interestingly we are 200/1 to win 3-0. Impressive considering winning this game 3-0 would be far less of a shock than the Liverpool match. Conclusion Pozzos out!
I had a little look on The Manchester City fans forum and surprisingly there are some quite nice and respectful comments about us. Quite a lot of fans are calling for Pep to give some of the young lads an opportunity. They feel that it is a nothing game for them and don't want to risk any injuries against a physical Watford side that are up for it. So if you are reading this Pep please (of course you are) play the kids the under 12's preferably.
I don’t think we can afford to play with any unfit players, nor players who are mentally not right, nor players with mental scars from facing Citeh before, nor players off form, nor error prone players, nor slow ones or gamble on kids. It should now be a straightforward task to pick a team from who is left.
Surely it's in Man city's interest to let us win tomorrow as its six easy points next season and maybe 15 goals registered
Must win game. Best time to play them with all their focus now on the CL ? Or the worst time after a Pep kick-in after losing to the arse ? 0-4 Best team ? -----------------Foster -------------------- Dawson - Cathcart - Kabasele - Mariappa Femenia - Hughes - Chalobah - Masina --------------Doucoure-------- ----------------Sarr----------------------
Does anybody know if / when are we likely to receive passes from the club to view this game on Sky, or Now Tv? I would like to know because I want to invite a couple of friends round to watch, and want to do that as soon as possible before they make other arrangements for their evening.
I’m really surprised there’s a 27% chance of us not losing, given our record against this team over the last five years.
You really want to watch this ? Worse than that, you want to invite friends round so you can't just turn it off when we go 0-2 down after 17 mins ?
Don't think so. They sent 2 codes for Sky ahead of the Chelsea game and said one was specific to that game and you could use the other for any other Sky match, whether it involved Watford or not. So if you've used both you're out of luck unless anyone will lend you their second one.
If Watford start this game with great endeavour and purpose, should we see it as a damning indictment of Pearson, great credit to Mullins, or just the players finally getting their act together?
I used the second one for the West Ham match, so I thought we might get another two for Man City and Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola says Watford sacking Nigel Pearson has made his Man City job easier Pep Guardiola says Manchester City players will have to work out how to beat Watford for themselves tomorrow night. The manager and his staff usually analyse previous games from their opponents to work out how they are going to line up against the Blues and what weaknesses can be exploited to make it easier for the players. However, with Watford sacking Nigel Pearson just two days before their Premier League fixture the City boss said there was little point in watching past footage when there would be a different coach in the dugout. Instead, the players will have to adapt when the game starts as they discover what they are up against. "It makes our job easier, We don’t have to watch any Watford games, thankfully, because I don’t know the system they will use or how they are going to play," said Guardiola. "We cannot help the players so the players will have to solve situations for themselves. "After 10 or 15 minutes we will know exactly what they thought to play against us. We can focus a bit on the individual qualities of the players that Watford have, especially up front. "Now we know, we didn't know yesterday who the manager would be. We will maybe find some ideas of what they have done with the second team but obviously I don’t know what they are going to do tomorrow." Guardiola said that he respected the decision of Watford to depart with the services of Pearson, but also praised the "incredible" work that the manager had done in lifting them from the foot of the table into a place above the relegation zone with just two games to spare. "It is not easy for me to talk about this. I respect the decision, all I can say is before the lockdown what Nigel did was incredible. The amount of points and the results they got when they were on the bottom... "But after that I don’t know what happened. I respect the decision of the club and I wish Nigel all the best. He is an experienced manager in England, he has done incredibly well in the past but I don't know the reason for the decision."
Just checked and the email says: "Be sure to wait until announcements have been made in regards to broadcasting arrangements for all remaining fixtures before doing so as additional codes will not be issued"
I'm quite shocked Pep doesn't know why Pearson was sacked, considering he acts like he knows everything.
Bants from Pep, he's on the beach. He also knows he doesn't need to give them any instructions or tactics to beat us. But... hang on. Wasn't it Graham Stack that did actually reply to @reids at some point? Now that Pearson and Shakey have gone, surely we can knock up one corner routine to try to get a goal? Come on Reids, now is your time. Save our season.
Us being at home in a crucial game against an out of form side with nothing to play for is seeing the odds a lot more in our favour than one might expect. I still think we will get ****ed on mind.
I already dropped him a message offering an analysis on Arsenal (won't be able to get one done on City in time) as soon as the Pearson news was confirmed by the club, he's read it but hasn't replied yet.
Tell him I'll come in at half time and punch our defenders - for free! I'm keen to earn a pay as you play deal for next season and it's good for my CV.
