******* shambles how have we become so **** again, started the season ****, got better, got even ******* we are ******* ******** *******
That has never, ever, stopped them before. I wouldn’t sack him. But it’s fair to say that Ismael is getting visibly worse as a coach every week.
Don't make promises you can't keep. It just makes you look foolish. Don't keep playing players out of position. You look inept. My expectations weren't high but...
That was as bad as any performance that got a manager sacked these last 3 years. I'm not VI out yet but that's now put it firmly in question. Rajovic is hideously out of form and should be kept out the team sheet for his own good for a while. Asprilla was frustratingly shot shy
A result well-earned by another utterly abysmal performance, the only difference being that this time one moment of magic from our starbois wasn't enough to surmount the rot. Not the first time I've done it, but I do really think you have to be asking the broad questions at this point: What exactly is the style Val has imparted on this team? In what ways is he elevating this limited, but in fact extremely settled and (apparently entirely by design) small/tight-knit, group of players? In what ways are we 'building' for next season, and how is that evidenced in our performances/the way we comport ourselves on the pitch? When was it last consistently enjoyable to watch our team play football? Re-reading my first sentence, another question: exactly how different is this from last season? Both how we perform, and, actually, in reality, what it feels like to watch this team.
As bad as we were, if Tom Ince does his job properly then the scoreline should have been very different - two glorious chances to get us a second goal which he screws up entirely, not even hitting the target, and both times Huddersfield go straight up the other end and score after it. The ref also killed our two other best attacks by blowing for soft non-fouls. We started terribly and Kone and Kayembe being non-existent in midfield was a major part of that and the sub was necessary. But I'm not going to blame those two for that - Kayembe doesn't seem back to full fitness yet and Kone has been run in to the ground. Both are victims of the small squad and lack of Ismael resting players when he could have. They just shouldn't have started if that was where they were at. Ismael claimed we would start the game more positively today but it was quite the reverse; we were hesitant and just seem out of energy and ideas for the most part. Pollock was one of the only players who started well, but seemed to get done a bit by their winner. We might as well give him more games going forwards this season though. Burgzorg was very good for Huddersfield - only on loan there, perhaps someone we should consider in the summer. Supposedly Danny Ward seems to love scoring at Vicarage Road, shame he's been doing it for opponents. The wheels came off this season a few weeks ago already and we're just mostly going through the motions now. I'm undecided yet how much of a worry this is for next season, and on the decision whether to keep Ismael or not and whether this season is something he can build on while learning from its implosion.
Home results make or break managers. We haven't won at home in the league since November 28. That's before the Christmas decorations went up in our house. The big cliche about the Championship is that it'll be fun and we'll win more than we lose. We've won 11, drawn 11 and lost 12. The football is getting worse. We'll probably fall over the line and stay up without too much drama but everything about the team and the club at the moment reeks of decline.
Good that we went ahead. Lots of people moaning that we only ever come from behind so it was good to see we have another game plan. Overall an OK day at the office. Better teams than us will lose to this Huddersfield side. We've no divine right to expect to beat them. Keeping it tight was a solid result.
The only thing that has changed in the last 12 months is that we have slightly worse players and a slightly worse manager. The team is still rotten to the core. So what has been the point of this great reset? VI is all blood and thunder with his «strong man» persona, but it evidently has no impact on the dressing room, and he has no clue when it comes to tactics, game plan, strategy, etc. How you manage to throw away a game like that after 65 mins is beyond me. Huddersfield were dead and buried and are absolutely awful. The only reason not to sack him is because we can’t afford it, I guess.
Glad to see VI make a statement to hook 2 players off after the abomination of first 25mins. But its hard to get a response and have that statement take effect when its Chak (no issue with him) and Tom Ince you’re sending on to change things up. VI can only work with the players he has, and the majority are bang average. And I simply can’t understand the TDB at RB experiment. He’s nothing special in his natural role in midfield, but at RB he fcuking dreadful. If Andrews is injured, then he wouldn’t be on the bench. If he’s fallen out with VI, he’s unlikely to be on the bench either. The only other issue could be fatigue, but with the rotten run we’ve been on, slipping away from our ‘so-called’ ambition of playoffs this season, why would VI risk his job failing in that mission in order to rest him and play TDB at RB. Play your best 11 for **** sake.
I keep saying it - we just do not have a functioning midfield. Secondly - our greatest penchant over the years has been buying fancy-Dan players over players with grit. Any gritty hard working team can turn us over and it's been that way for years now...
First half we were fortunate to go in level, thought we were excellent until their goal tbf as we could have got 2 or 3, that was the best we've seen from Asprilla for a long time, Chakvetadze was good until it came to the end product, Ince could have had at least 2 and Rajovic was laughably bad. Problem is we're still very soft at the back, Ward had a free header (have to say, other than a peach of a cross which Ince should have buried, Sema had a disaster today, gave me a heart attack at least 3 times) and the second was too easy too. Hamer 5-- could he have done better for the first goal? He got a good strong hand to it Lewis-- 5 anonymous Hoedt--5 got spun too many times Pollock--5 possibly shouldn't have given away the throw for the first, was too easily beaten for the second TDB--6 actually fairly solid, would have preferred Andrews or even Ngakia there though Livermore--6 solid enough Chak--6 busy, and a good cross for Rajovic which he utterly made a meal of, but ultimately lacked end product Ince--4 the Huddersfield defender did really well for his chance in the first half, but the two in the second he really should have done better with Asprilla--7 had a bit of a stinker in the first half, nothing apart from the ball to Ince came off, but was dangerous in the second, best we've seen from him in a long time Sema-- 5 poor for their first goal, could have easily given away more with his loose passing. Cracking cross for Ince though Dennis--6 nothing came off for him in the first half, which is not surprising, took the goal well, shame he had to go off because you suspect he wouldn't have made such a meal of the chances Rajovic and Ince had Rajovic--4 laughably bad in all departments Martins--5 good cross for Ince, rubbish apart from that Kone and Kayembe obviously rubbish, Kayembe doesn't look sharp yet, Kone had one of those games he was liable to have last season
What a pathetic, half-baked performance that was. I thought last weekend was bad when we scraped a win against the dregs of Rotherham United. This was worse. But before the bad, let's focus on the little good there was. Dennis was lively. Still looks spent and rusty but did give us the lead through one of very few meaningful attacks, and for once I was quite surprised Ince did well. He was more of a goal threat than Rajovic was, could of scored at least two, and was trying to salvage the game from a totally lost cause. I think it made a bold statement from VI to make a double change midway through the first half. Taking off both Kone' and Kayemebe (who to be fair, were struggling) I thought might make a statement that he isn't happy. Huddersfield were all over us that first half, we were camped inside our own half as the home team praying they don't get a deserved lead at the break. Yet another game gone where we start at a snails pace and allow a weaker side to come at us from the off. TDB at right back was totally done for their winner. He had so much space to run into it was beyond comical. Dennis going off injured so soon after scoring the opener was just another blow and that could be the last we see of him in a Watford shirt, although until we know more that's a guess at best. Credit to Huddersfield and take nothing away from them, they worked hard today in areas we struggled and took their chances well. They set up to frustrate us but they didn't have to, we did that ourselves. Say what you will about VI, but this one-trick pony is surely running out of hurdles to jump before he falls on his face. Line up was actually decent to be fair apart from again giving Andrews the cold shoulder. Fitness levels is no excuse anymore on any level. Too few Boo's at full time and half time, but the fans' I guess have fallen into a sort of daze of getting used to this dribble week in, week out. Vi isn't getting results or performances anymore from the players. That was so easy to spot from the first minute to the last, and he might well be safe from the chop today but if we lose to Millwall and Swansea next two games, I can see him getting very itchy feet. We are no safe from the drop points wise, and a few teams below us made ground on us today. We have more than enough games to reach 52 points or however much it is, but on this evidence, we are going to finish very close to the bottom of the league if these sort of performances carry on. I know VI was given a crap hand in the window, but it's up to him to motivate and get a performance of some level out of the squad despite it's obvious flaws. He isn't doing that, and the levels have dropped to below average. Something needs to change, be it at board level of management level. Players' looked spent at HT and the body language was abysmal. These are very worrying times to be a hornet. Even more so as there is little change on the horizon.
I thought in November and December Val had instilled a good structure to the team, we were working hard but making some dodgy defensive mistakes and growing into a new style of play and formation well. We progressed backwards over the last 2 months and I can't remember a game where we had more than 30 minutes playing well. We play so stretched across the field. Defend so deep and subsequently if we're not "on it" or rather, if the opposition snub out our passes into the wings (easy to do) we get turned round facing the wrong way. In order to keep the ball we recede into our own box and when we turnover possession, it's often in horrible areas of the park. Then we get nervy and can't pass. Coupled with players coming back from injury, suffering a lack of form or not being capable of playing more than 55 minutes, we're screwed.
Ince definitely. Raj too. The header he missed was laughable and then he decided to shoot early when the ball was cut back around the edge of the box, when he was one of three or four Watford players running onto it. Two gilt edged chances fluffed.
Remember when people thought we were good because we were running around a bit more sometimes? The form we're in and the way we're playing, and how **** Ismael is, there is becoming a real chance we get drawn into the relegation scrap.
Oh dear . First half dreadful . 2nd slightly better but we cannot take our chances . And we let in 2 goals from throw ins - poor concentration and marking
As you say the issue is still surely fatigue. Our so-called ambition of playoffs was dead as of at least a couple of weeks ago already so it's fair enough the club don't want to risk burning Andrews out unnecessarily. Whether the recent performances while he's been on the bench will cost VI his job is another matter really.
The headers were much more difficult chances than the ones Ince had - he was 8 yards out with the ball on his favored foot. Rajovic was further away from goal with his headers with him having to redirect the ball with them coming slightly behind him. He could have done better with the second one but it was not a gilt-edge chance. For his shot with his weaker left foot Asprilla should have just shot with his strong left foot instead.
Obviously we can't see the stats the fitness people can but 4 games benched, with no more than 10 mins in any of the last 3, seems unusual.
He's surely got to be losing hard-earned match fitness more than he is recovering from any fatigue, at this point; particularly at his age.
I think there's every chance we'll get dragged into it. There's always a team that drops like a stone and it could well be us. Rotherham are gone. Wednesday are winning more,QPR Rangers won today,Mill Wall likewise. Poke look to be in trouble but it's not beyond the realms...
Can’t see the game plan, can’t see what he wants the midfield to do. Asprilla fantastic today, he’ll be gone. Hoedt did very little wrong. Sema escaping criticism again despite a criminal performance from him, hasn’t played well once since returning from injury which is a huge shame. Dele-Bashiru again does absolutely nothing.
The final 8 games are against top half opposition, so unless we pick up a decent amount of points in the next four we're definitely in a relegation scrap. It's a race to 52 points now.
I get it's hard to think in the heat of the moment, but could Rajovic have controlled the ball and shot with his right foot for the Chak cross? The ball had gone over the defender's head, he was in lots of space and clearly the header was a difficult one (not that he should have made THAT much of a hash of it)
Asprilla, Chak, Hoedt and to a lesser extent Ince get some credit for today. The rest of them were playing like they were hungover and couldn’t be arsed. On top of that Ismael got completely schooled by some unknown in his first game in England.
We won’t go down, 50 keeps you up so we only need six more points, we’ll fluke our way to those. Doesn’t change the fact it’s absolutely **** out there right now though.
We played better after the changes, but it begs the question, why not try something like that to start with?
