Yes I did wave a placard and you're right they didn't give a shhit. They looked bemused I suppose. Like sheep in a field when you drive by on a noisy motorbike. Some Oxford student toffs in a top window of Magdalen College tried to throw water (I suppose it was water - some liquid anyway) towards us, which they thought was a very jolly jape. One or two drivers gave us the thumbs up from cars and the people on the buses waved and cheered including some of the bus drivers. The tourists took photographs of us with their mobile telephones. They were more interested in the kids' conga band all in matching NUT "Stand Up For Education" t-shirts and who were very good and had good stamina on a long march into the city centre, bless 'em. I suppose I did feel quite righteous. Yes.
Understandable but when i put my season tickets away this morning and looked forward to the fixtures out next month and not worrying about the playoffs I felt better. Being at Brighton last week did help ease the frustration of yesterday for me. Also seeing Troy speaking so well on GOS this morning was also good medicine There is no known cure for being p****d off like you do although watching a re run of last weeks match and post match celebrations in both Brighton and the town might help Final thought- we got up so the objective of #fornicforpromotion# was achieved-lets think about Moo and how he feels today
I missed Brighton so feel this might be part of it. I was looking forward all week to a massive party and celebration of winning the league... The celebration of promotion was last week, so all the pitch invasion etc was just cringey imo. I doubt i'll experience Watford winning a league too often in my lifetime, so it just feels a bit... meh, especially after last week. I missed Deeney on GoS, what did he say?
There were a few occasions yesterday especially in the first half when a simple pass or lay off would have put another player through on goal and in a better position to score but they got a bit greedy and tried to score themselves. I think Abdi, Deeney Layun and Motta were all guilty of this
Sorry didn't mean to dislike. I thought Leyun played pretty well. Vydra and Connolly were our best players though.
After a little wander on to the pitch yesterday we buggered off before the players came out for their lap, (I'm not a fan of clapping the families as well). The Sheffield fans outside were milling about by their coaches and were quite decent towards us, saying congratulations and with some handshakes thrown in. Once they worked out was was going on in the 44th minute they also joined in to a man. Very noisy throughout, probably the best set of fans at the Vic this season.
Another one from the hb1 book of not knowing the rules. Two things to note. 1. The keeper gets the ball, clearly 2. Deeney doesn't jump the keeper as he should do, so he's obviously looking for the foul. I didn't think it was a penalty at the time and now I've seen that it's clear as day. A very good decision by a ref who was consistently good all day.
Johnny Phillips apparently commented on how good the atmosphere was, from both sets of fans. But I agree with whoever said that the unconventional way in which we "won" promotion (ie when we weren't playing) and then the fact that our "moment" yesterday was snatched away at the 11th hour, obviously meant there was less of a party atmosphere than there might have been. I have to say that, for me, Brighton was the match which I felt really captured the spontaneous, celebratory atmosphere of promotion - even though we weren't promoted yet. The reaction when Vydra scored, just when a Brighton equaliser seemed inevitable, was my highlight of the season. Although the atmosphere yesterday was good I thought (especially in the first half), it didn't match Brighton for me. To those complaining about Wednesday fans taunting us - yes, it was irritating but nothing to get too wound up about. We had been chanting "Watford FC, we're top of the league" just before they scored so can't really complain that it came back to bite us. And don't tell me some of our fans wouldn't do the same if the situation was reversed. And kudos to Wednesday fans for joining in the 44th minute's applause.
Yes I possibly was a bit sarky. But I mean some people. Talk about glass half empty, blimey. You'd think we'd just been relegated rather than promoted. What was the title of that thread that came up before the match? "I want to be champions" or something wasn't it? I want? Sounds like my five year old. Before GT, our best ever finish was 18th in the 2nd division. That was the pinnacle of our achievement. Our best ever golden season. Under Bas and other questionable business men and business ladies, we were slowly sliding back to where we came from. I think some people should be more grateful and count their blessings.
HH, was it you in the "restricted view" seats in the LGT? If so, could you see OK, or just the top of the players heads?
Debatable decisions. Some errant supporters. Flatter atmosphere at the end than hoped for. Bournemouth getting more penalties than us. And more media coverage and love. Not quite managing to make it 6 wins in a row. Only getting a sponsors sign saying 'promoted' and not 'Champions' when we posed for our official squad photographs afterwards. Discussions, debates and even arguments on here. All these are SIDESHOWS! The only thing that counts is this....WE HAVE BEEN PROMOTED AND WE ARE NOW A PREMIER LEAGUE CLUB! Repeat after me
Overall, I wish I'd stayed behind to help clear up after my daughter's birthday party, rather than dash to catch the final quarter of the game and the odd, muted, contentious celebration. Damp squib.
You weren't there. What should have been a fantastic celebration went flat as a fart, what there was seemed forced and manufactured. The ****er onthe pitch at VR end, the ****ers with the smoke bombs, made the whole atmosphere sour, and then inevitably the equaliser. The real celebration was at Brighton, but then until 5 O'clock when everyone had dispersed (although obviously there were groups) we didn't know we were up, so there was no chance to celebrate together. Added to the selfish little cijnts who wouldn't get off the pitch - I left because I was getting more and more pissed off with the whole thing which is a damned shame. Hopefully we'll stay up for a few seasons, but that realistically means that we are unlikely to have a better chance of real silverware in the next decade or 2. I'm sure my dad will never see it. So yes, at the moment, glass definitely half empty.
Yup, 'twas me. I was towards Rookery end of LGT in front row. View actually ok - much better than I expected; not great when play is at the Vicarage Road end but not disastrous. But view totally obscured any time anyone walks past - eg when people start wandering around before half time. Also found it irritating that I couldn't sit down before the match and read my programme with a cup of tea (yes I know that's boring but I was on my own), but instead had to stand and be shoved around by people trying to get past, because of the hoards of people who hang around in the front of the Stand. Why don't they chat at the bar like people do in the Rookery?
Having watched their goal back I literally can't believe the number of things that had to conspire for the ball to end up in the net. It was almost freakish - right down to the absolutely woefully abysmal final shot by their scorer. Gomes set himself for a volley (probably still wouldn't have saved it if hit hard and on target) and then stumbled backwards when it was clear the shot was going into the ground as he tried to readjust. If he'd have just been able to stand he'd have palmed it away easy. The ball must have hit the ground no more than a foot from where their guy struck it. Funny old game we follow. Think that's my last word on the match. Time to move on and think Premier League!
Unfortunately there was no patch of sand to divert the shot wide or make it bounce over the bar I'm really confident that tomorrow will be the REAL day of celebration, and will help banish the unhappy memories of yesterday that many supporters still have. And maybe I've become a bit happy-clappy lately, but maybe we do our club a disservice by thinking yesterday might have been the only chance of silverware many of us older supporters might have got to see us win? Why is it out of the question that, if we can establish ourselves in the PL, we might not have a chance of one of the cup competitions? Swansea won the League Cup in their second season in the Prem, Wigan of course won the FA Cup in a season of struggle, and Villa might do the same this month. Let's aim high!!
Still worried that a point might not be enough. With Bournemouth winning, we're looking precarious. It's out of our hands now. Hope results go our way and that Norwich and Boro both screw up otherwise it's playoffs, for us.
I think awkward is the word to describe the celebrations yesterday - noone knew how to respond, particularly the players. Everyone was obviously happy to be going up, but every single person in the ground knew we'd missed a massive opportunity to go one better. I would have loved to be able to give the players the atmosphere they deserved to close the season, but couldn't help but feel disappointed. The 'you can't have your cake and eat it' saying could sort of be applied, but we had our cake and we ate it. I feel a little spoilt in that I was disappointed it didn't have my preferred icing.
My final thoughts of the season, for those who care: https://nathanlowndesfootballgenius.../03/thoughts-watford-1-1-sheffield-wednesday/
Although absent yesterday it appears the FL decided to send us the runners up trophy in the end - picture from the club awards night.
No problem. There were a few people around me who seemed strangely determined to make Layun a scapegoat for everything, whatever positive contributions he made to the game (a bit like some fans have been about Paredes, by all accounts, although I've not heard any real criticism from the stands myself), though at least they didn't boo or abuse him like some of our more mindless fans do with our struggling and/or "weaker" players. At least no one on here is blaming him this weekend for costing us the title and people have actually been quite positive about his performance (though I thought he was better against Birmingham) which says a lot for the sensible and level-headed supporters we have on this forum (not often you say that about people on the net, especially on football forums!).
I didn't think anyone played especially badly, and Layun was certainly trying to make things happen. It was just one of those games. Credit to Wednesday, they made it really hard for us to break them down
Pains me to say it but Abdi was probably the worst man in Yellow on the pitch. Motta wasn't great. But yeah nobody played THAT bad. Over it now anyway, buzzing to see the talent we bring in, new deal for Joka, Vydra & Gueds on permanents. And hopefully a sunny day when I wake up tomorrow which will encourage me to go to the Cassio celebrations that will be going on.
Said he was disappointed for about 10 minutes. Then spoke about what grounds he was really looking forward to playing at etc and it just made it sink in that we've got a very big and bright future ahead of us. So exciting to be able to see the cups as a realistic target. We have the tools. Squibba, Abdi was very good apart from his finishing, which was bizarrely way off. He's saving them for Anfield/ The Emirates/ The Etihad/ Stamford Bridge & Old Trafford imo.
Zombie-like creature wanders onto pitch, kisses Gomes on head, Gomes falls over, concedes soft goal. Voodoo?
Abdi wasn't great, but Motta was much worse. I was surprised he started over Paredes (who has been performing well in recent weeks) and he did nothing to convince me it was the right decision. Four rubbish crosses early on and a couple of awful shots when there were better options. Abdi's finishing has been way off for a while now. He's scored a few crackers this season (Bolton, Fulham) and got an important goal as recently as Forest, but he missed at least two great chances v Sheff Wed and took one of the worst shots I've seen when he had all the time in the world v Millwall.
Wednesday have released 11 players today, which seems like a lot. Cost-cutting measures to fund McGoo's transfer?
