WTE and Pumpernickel are gash. Absolute gash. Seen enough of both of them to think they can't be here next season. Pumpernickel isn't even good as back up. JP had anothet poor game, but I've seen more of him to know he's got more to offer. I'm wondering if he's carrying a knock. Talk at the end by the pundits suggests they might get a ban for him on review for an elbow follow through.
Quite a stressful end to the first half but outside of around the 20-25 minutes before half time we controlled that. Was really preparing for a stressful second half and was really surprised how relaxed I was pretty much throughout it. Squad strength shows again and it will unfortunately be Reading’s undoing as they looked knackered after 45 minutes! Troost-Ekong is a complete liability in waiting to be honest. Yes they closed us down but his passing was woeful even by his low standards. I will admit to being concerned when Sanchez came on as I thought the game was going at 100mph and may catch him out but could not have been more wrong. Key element in us gaining pretty much complete control. Would be nice to get across the line by the time we play Millwall and give the likes of Hungbo a little run of games. I think I said a short while ago, I would piss myself laughing if our reserve and U23 players beat Swansea in the last game to cause them to miss out on the playoffs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I thought it's been made clear he's off? In any case, he scored two belters today, but he's still, pound for pound, second only to Gray as the worst signing we've ever made.
Has a release clause of £8mil in his contract apparently. Contract expires next summer. That’s why he’s fallen out with the manager according to some. Would love the get him, but at £8mil he will have much better clubs than us.
When we went 2 up I just wanted us to shut the game down, tighten it up and wait for the inevitable Reading attacks, then counter them, but we kept going for more goals. We could easily have gone in an half time 2-2, then it's a different game. In the Premier League that would be fatal, hence why I wonder if the current manager is right for the job when we go up. On a more positive note, we can stop now, no way will anyone catch us.
To be fair Zinckernagel has the same amount of assists as "King Ken" *shudder* in less than half the games and his first season at anything like this sort of level.
Or you could look at it that he's worth north of £20m, and if all we have to pay Reading is £8m then we can afford to give him a bumper signing on fee and decent pay packet.
That performance from JP was one of his worst this season, made the last two look good tbf. I'm not sure he's fully fit after the knock against Wednesday. 8 days off now so he should be raring to go against the scum, although if he does get a retrospective ban, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Not convinced he'll be ready for the Prem next season, certainly not as a #9 although I wonder if how he'd be in a more withdrawn position, I thought he played well in midfield against Forest in the position he played in as a boy
The point was that half the clubs in the PL would also be able to do the same, probably with even higher wages (and less threat of immediate relegation).
In fairness it was a very simple pass, the goal was all Sarr, and likewise he was credited with an assist on Monday for a mishit shot. A game of two halves from him, he got booked soon after we went 2-0 which really affected us (made worse by the fact that Chalobah wasn't 100%), but the second half was good from him. He's clearly a very intelligent footballer, I don't think many of us thought he'd be a regular in midfield, but he's learning his trade well
Zinckernagel is one of the first names I'd have on the team sheet. Best goalscoring chance maker since Abdi.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I really enjoyed tonight's match. Yes it was tense at times and some players weren't at their best, but it was end-to-end, with both teams playing positive football (or at least trying to unlike some of the teams we've played in this division) and a very good advert for the Championship, which is what we watch football for - a match closer in quality to the ones we'll be watching week in week out (and hopefully not losing too much!) than most of our games this season. Reading were pretty much what I expected - play nice football with pace which works well against the mediocrity which is most of this division, but lack a cutting edge against the better teams. I've never heard the ball smack against the woodwork so loudly when Puscas missed that chance! But although WTE was again poor on the ball, perhaps he deserves a smidgen of credit for standing close and putting him off? For sure we will need to up our performances if/when we're in the Premier League next season, as we need to create more clear-cut chances against the better teams (and unless Brentford or Bournemouth don't go up, every team there will be better than Reading) - we scored two goals from our only two shots on target. But it's nice to be in a position to be worrying about that and looking forward to the challenge ahead...
Great sequence of results. There was a sense of fear when we lost to Bournemouth, but on paper, that looks like a blip. It is a strange feeling, but I can’t remember being so uptight and nervous for the last 20 minutes of so many games. I think the QPR game has affected my psyche. We are not winning most games comfortably, but we are winning. I love having Hughes in our team. He is aggressive when he needs to be, rarely loses the ball, great vision, gets out of tight spots, makes himself available, reads the game very well and will take a yellow for the team, if necessary. Sarr on his day is a joy to watch. Sanchez was a rock in the 2nd half. Things are just slotting into place. On the negative side, poor old Gray. He just doesn’t have it. Likewise Success. The fact that they get as much game time as they do and we remain unbeaten is a testament to our other players. The drop off in form of Pedro and Sema has not curtailed us and Troost’s injury may not be a disaster. But the positivity so far outweighs the negative. I would give Hungbo, Cathcart (if Kabesele is not fit) and Sanchez starts against Luton and hopefully Cleverly is ready for the bench. I would keep Chalobah in the team with Zinc as cover. I am confident that we will be promoted, but as a Watford fan, you always have a nagging fear. Really looking forward to the Luton game. Great time to be a hornet.
Football songs almost without exception are inherently awful and cheesy, the only one I recall sort of liking is World in Motion.
Not convinced by JP yet. I know he is young but going to be clearly lacking if we get promoted. just hope Cucho is good enough as none of our current strikers will score much in Prem
The last post I remember seeing of his was actually a positive one about the Blackburn game. I found it hard to believe it was the same poster because (a) it was positive (b) it was a constructive one about football instead of the usual sardonic comment he makes about players, the Pozzos or the fans.
Other than Sarrs two cracking goals I thought we were lucky to win that tonight. Bachmann - 7 - He actually had to make some good save tonight and was not found wanting Kiko - 7.5 - Yet another good solid performance, still leading POS for me WTE - 4 - Terrible passing he kept giving the ball away, hope he's OK, but I would play Cathcart or Kabaselle next game (Cathcart) - 7 - I would be happier to play him instead of WTE from now on or even Kabaselle Sierralta - 6.5 - Not his best game tonight, but still a decent performance Masina - 7.5 - A good performance, is getting better and better IMO Chalobah - 6.5 - Not his best game either tonight, but I hope he is fit for the next game (Sanchez) - 8 - I thought he had a great game, I would be happy to keep him as squad player for the PL Zinckernagel - 6.5 - I thought he had a good game and was unlucky not to get on the score sheet because of a few blocked shots Hughes - 6.5 - Not at his best, but still a good steady game Sarr - 8.5 - Two great goals, but he does not get enough praise for his back tracking defensively IMO Pedro - 5 - Another lack lustre performance, he probably needs a rest after all he is only 19 Sema - 5 - He is not performing well at the moment, not sure why, but when Cleverly is back I'd put Zinc out wide left and bench Sema Gray & Success not on long enough for a rating but judging by their performances that was probably just as well. Lets hope our 8 day rest will sharpen up some of our players performances because we have quite a few tough games ahead of us yet. Having said that we now only need TEN points to absolutely guarantee promotion, but I think 7 or 8 points will possibly be enough.
Cucho is a weird one, he's not been prolific in his three years in La Liga, but by all accounts the most attacking team he's played in were Huesca who were having their first season in the top flight and ended up being relegated by 8 points. Also not convinced he's an out and out striker, might be more of a winger, but we may well need new players on either side, so by all means keep him!
Not sure as to why no one else has questioned you (unless you are joking) but how can you say pound for pound Sarr is not good value, he is propelling us to promotion, without him we would be outside the top six!, when we sell him we will get our money back!
Nope - he lost Puscas too easily beforehand which enabled him to get the shot away, and was too far away from him when it happened to have been putting him off much.
If the reported fee is close to correct we paid several times more than the 6m we should have for a player of his 1 dimensional ability. Anyone who gives us our money back should sack their scouts.
Think I'd agree with pretty much all of this. Maybe give Bachmann an 8 as his distribution was positive and dangerous, generally, as well as saving everything required. Did flap and miss a cross at the end which is his only major blot on an otherwise very good showing.
Don't think we'd be top 2 without him so he's paid a decent bit of his transfer fee back with the PL money we'll be getting
