A draw was a fair result on balance. Generally a positive performance from us, especially after the Liverpool debacle. Didnt think it was a pen at the time, having seen it again cant have any complaints. Most needless penalty ever. Thought the ref had a poor game in fairness, didnt take action over Wilsons dive and was totally duped for the freekick which they equalized from. Still we should have defended it better. Dont understand the criticism of Prodl, thought he had a decent game until fading late on and was rightly subbed. Made a fantastic last ditch tackle in the first half to deny a goal after Marriappa forgot which team he was playing for. Prodl, Kabasele, Cathcart and then build from there in the summer. Hughes was excellent, MoM by some distance. Along with Chalobah & Doucoure (who was much better today) we are going to have a great midfield next season. Firminia also stood out and works well with Jan Maat down the right.
It would help if there were more, fast-moving, positive players running into the box to receive the crosses. That would make the crosses look better. Incidentally, I thought Janmat had a good game today: Loads of crosses into the box. OK, not all of them were good, but some were; if you keep trying, as he did, there's a chance something will come off. Janmat showed what he is - a skilled, experienced player who has lost his pace. Okaka didn't have a good game today, but at least, in the same vein, he tries to get a shot away - there are too many shot-shy players in the squad.
Not seen te game yet, but I am recording the Sky Highlights tonight, so I will make my comments then.
I imagine Prodl was taken off because he was being targeted by some quick, mobile players like Wilson and he was on a yellow card. He's on the pitch to be a big strong centre-back and that's what you get (OK he has been off-form lately). You should never expect him to keep players like Wilson at bay.
I enjoyed the game and the atmosphere today. Just a shame the end result was totally in keeping with our season overall. Individual mistakes costing us at key times has been our biggest handicap. Hopefully Gino prioritises the defence in the summer and we shift a lot of the deadwood there.
The fans can all see the defensive deficiencies but I think the club are blinded to it. Nothing from past transfer windows plus the contract extensions for Holebas and Prodl, makes me think not too much will be done in the summer. Left back is a huge problem. Holebas extended by a further two years and Zeegelaar is on a 4 year deal, I believe the club thinks this area is for covered. Very little has been done since promotion on upgrading the defence. As far as I can tell, all the signs point to this trend continuing.
Im hoping for a perfect mid table finish this season. This would mean coming exactly 10.5 in the table. The footballing equivlant of ending with a bullseye. 10 teams above us and 10 teams below us. The perfect expression of medicocrity. So we need to make sure in our final game we finish on exactly the same GS and GD as the other 10th team. That way perfect mediocrity can be achieved and we can all breathe a sigh of relief and prepare for next seasons medicority.
Good game from two equally matched teams. Personally I did not think the introduction of Richarlison and Okaka made us more effective. For me Okaka is a better sub when we are not defending a lead. Harsh I know, but his moaning after the foul allowed Bournemouth to set themselves he was still waving his arms about as they stepped up to launch the kick that led to the equaliser. Why he doesn't just get on with it and get his mind back in the game is a major weakness. Without Cleverley, Chalobah, Delefou, Kabasele and this seasons original central defenders in Kaboul and Britos, this team looked competitive. I am sure the squad will be looking to beat the 45 points from the 15/16 season, and they just might.
I didn't get a creme egg and I forgot my carrot. On reflection I'm quite happy with 4/6 points from the south coast scuba team. I don't know any of the Howe family so am quite happy to continue to dislike the grinning goon.
8th best scoring team. Joint second worse defensive side. Only the top 6 plus Leicester have scored more goals than us this season. Only Stoke have conceded more than us, by one!!. It's clear we have been consistently poor defensively over the past three seasons. We are playing Premier League football with Championship defenders. If we get this right at the back, we would easily be top 10, if not top 8. Just think, if our defence wasn't quite so pathetic, we'd have beaten Everton away, Swansea at home, Palace away, got at least a point at Chelsea and would have won today. A massive 12 points added to our total, just if we could manage the last few minutes of games. We would be 6th, 1 point above Arsenal.
Overhead at an IBB coaching session: "Right, today we'll be working on grunting and disputing line calls. Got all your kit? Racquet? Balls? Carrots? No Carrots? NO CARROTS? TWIG? FRIDGE-FREEZER? Well, if you can't be bothered to bring all your equipment I can't help you. NEXT!"
Holebas was allegedly signed by the club without his knowledge or consent. Now he’s attempting to assault fans and throw matches, yet we still keep him. What is even going on there? It’s like Holebas once accidentally disrespected the Pozzo name, and now Gino’s forcing Jose to perform far beyond his ability in the premier league with the cameras watching. Death by a thousand inadequacies. Gifting the opposition a penalty for no reason so I’ll let you go Jose? No chance. 5 year contract extension.
Indeed. Although I’d add some blame for not defending as a team. It’s not always down to just the dunces in the back 4.
My word,you've clearly attended my workplace! Are you Boo or Bear or perhaps one of the mistle thrushes? Then again we do have a colony of bunnies! For the record I do teach breathing techniques,which players forget to do when tight.This is how grunting originated,breath out on the hit. Perhaps Gravy will let me have a bash with Holebas? We could discuss the finer points of The Oresteia,me with my carrot and him with his shorts tucked into his hips and scowling at me?
Immediately after the pen. was given the Rookery etc. were baying for the ref's blood. "You don't know what you're doing" etc. Then during h.t. and on M.o.t.D. the replays show that the ref. knew exactly what he was doing and that Holebas had one of his 'rushes of blood to the head' idiot moments which has now been accepted on here. Ref. 1 Rookery 0 then. For the Okaka foul leading up to the their second goal Okaka clearly leads with his elbow. You can't do that man. So quit whinging. Some on here are still whinging about it too it would seem. Well I say Ref. 2 Rookery 0. Time and again the ref. is proved correct. And that he knows exactly what he's doing as opposed to his critics in the stands who don't and who let their bias cloud their judgement. A comment on all football fans of course, not just ours. And because he does know what he's doing and is one of the few people competent enough to do the job is why he's running about on the pitch being the arbiter of fair play as opposed to us lot sitting on the sidelines paying £30+ merely to watch the spectacle.
Not all of us were baying for Madley Minor to be publicly boiled Kelso. Both myself and the chap to my left said 'certain penalty' to each other. Admittedly the clan behind,apart from one, all thought it wasn't handball but they would moan if God was in charge! The Okaka incident I thought was less clear cut and in any event the free kick should have been cleared. I take your point though!
I've had a proper look at the Bournemouth second goal. It's so typical of the type of goal Watford concede and illustrates the need to invest in better players. For that goal, three players were culpable. First, Okaka for charging around like a demented thug, giving away needless free kicks every time the ball went near him. This gives Bournemouth the prefect opportunity to float the ball into the danger zone. As the ball comes in, it's clearly Cathcart's to deal with. For some reason he just stays back and doesn't attack the ball. He's hoping someone else is going to deal with it. Deeney sees the danger and at least tries to react to it. He comes across but takes up a poor position by being in front of Ake, not goal side. Ake outmuscles Deeney and heads the ball on. Cathcart is just watching and is doing nothing to help the situation. The ball loops over but Mariappa is also in a poor position. He's far too deep which plays Defoe onside. Defoe is allowed space at the back post to control then steer the ball past Karnezis. This sums up Watford perfectly. Players are often guilty of ball watching, hoping others deal with the situation. The organisation across the back line is often very poor, with one player regularly playing the opposition onside. All our defenders have been guilty of this during the course of the season. From the very first match against Liverpool those problems were there, and are still there now. We've conceded 10 goals in the past 3 games, and I think Gracia has to also take some of the blame for this. He got his tactics wrong at Liverpool and didn't react to the situation at half time. Holebas was hiding at Anfield, but is again selected yesterday. This sends out the wrong message and he should have been dropped. I think he made a poor tactical substitution by taking off Hughes for Okaka, and I even said that at the time, rather than in hindsight. It's so frustrating, as I think it's quite an easy fix. Organisation, discipline and determination not to get beaten to the ball. We don't have players in defence that consistently play this way. Look at how Hughes applied himself. He was inspired. Chasing down everything. If only we had some at the back with this attitude. I will make an exception to Mariappa. His desire and attitude is terrific, but he's the only one. Mapps is a limited player though, but I can always forgive a limited player if he gives 100%.
Were the cheerleading drummer and his mate on the balcony a new thing? I liked the way one had that bounce clap thing going on. Probably the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen at Vicarage Road and I watched two Hornet mascots get married.
I liked the drum and its new prominent position. It's not as if it's entirely new though. Just given greater prominence and I didn't think its use was excessive at all. Now that the entire Rookery is to be designated the 'Singing Stand' the new drum platform will obviously play a significant part in achieving that. And who can honestly say that they've never felt the desire to batter a bit of stretched pig-skin senseless in support of the mighty 'Orns? What I can't stand is that awful electronik musak played at the start of the second half. It went on and on and it was almost as if the ref. had to wait until it stopped before letting battle recommence.
Expensive yes but how many points has Holebas cost is us games with so much money for each position in the table, he would be like a free transfer lol! Anyway And hair style is cool.
Prodl also let Ake go for the free header which he should have scored from in the 5th minute of the first half. He should not be starting games for us any more.
In the first year up we signed an entire new backline of players from top-flight leagues across Europe. In the second year signed 3 center backs and a rightback (Janmaat). This year we signed Femenia, and put in serious offers for Robertson and Gibbs, but ultimately they turned us down. To say the club has not done very much is absurd. The biggest problem is that we have been ravaged by injuries.
No he wasn't... Janmaat is clearly playing him onside. Prodl is holding Ake's shirt and still letting him go...
My 2 cents.. - We played well, and had we been more ruthless we would have won the game. - Very, very poor from Gracia yesterday. You simply DO NOT take off your best player (who is controlling the midfield) and change formation when your team is in control of the game and in a winning position. Anyone could have told him this. I said as much to everyone around me, and lo and behold our shape changed, we let Bournemouth back into the game and they scored. No doubt Saint Eddie will get the credit. - Okaka got penalised by the referee for being an absolute unit. Very unfair. - Stupid from Holebas, no complaints about Muff being awarded a penalty. You could tell by his body language that he knew he had ****ed up. Agree with others now that he has become a liability. - Hughes outstanding. What a player that young man is. He is the player we absolutely must keep this summer. - We lost because of Gracia's substitutions and tactics, and becase we didn't kill the game off when 2-1 up. We should have put the game to bed long before. - Agree with calls from others that defence needs a serious facelift this summer. - The number of poor crosses into the box yesterday was dismal to see. - Happy to see Richarlison on the bench. He doesn't deserve a place in the starting XI, and hasn't for some time now. - Priorities for this summer should be a new CB, 2 new LB's, and 2 CF's who are capable of playing the lone striker role. Largely happy with the rest of the squad. - 2 points dropped. Frustrated.
And the sheer bl**dy volume of all the music, talk and sound-effects. Our half-time conversations consisted of people screaming into each other's ears. Or just simply giving up.
