Falling Out Of Love With The Game/watford

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by JimOrn, Nov 6, 2021.

  1. EnjoytheGame

    EnjoytheGame Reservist

    Yep. Kicking the ball out deep in your own half for any reason is just daft because even if you do get the ball back from the throw, you're all penned in. Why not kick it long down field and off for a throw in the other half if you really want to? Or, and here's a novel thought, play to the referee's whistle.

    Ref Watch on Sky after the weekend is usually just Dermot Gallagher explaining why every single decision was correct after all. He had a face like thunder after he'd said that the body-check on Sarr in the lead up to the goal was not a foul and then Stephen Warnock said it was the oldest trick in the book to prevent Sarr making a forward run.

    Anyway, to avoid steering this thread off topic – the utterly predictable refereeing display yesterday sapped all enjoyment from the game. So often the game at Premier League level is just a relentless run of stoppages.
     
    UEA_Hornet likes this.
  2. wfcwarehouse

    wfcwarehouse First Team Captain

    I relocated 3-4 years ago @JimOrn - not as far as you (I reside in the West Midlands), and at first I don't think it impacted how I feel about the club and travelling to matches wasn't an issue for me.

    I think it's been touched on by other posters on the thread, but the pandemic has done a lot more harm than good for me personally and my enjoyment of our games. We had a really dislikeable team as we limped to relegation from the Premier League, then a deeply dislikeable manager in Ivic and the likes of Deeney/Gray still lingering around. I watched games and did have moments I really enjoyed them, and must commend the club for doing the best they could with Hive Live (IMO), but on the whole it felt a bit stale.

    Having been on the waiting list for a while, I got a season ticket this year - now that we're a good chunk into the season I am noticing that it does feel a bit of a chore to go. If it wasn't for the fact I could see my mates and have a few beers after, I'm not sure I'd bother going week in, week out - I've transferred my ST to a mate for one game this morning and have done so again for the City game. There's just no point in going to that one in my book.

    I've popped along to see my local non-league team a few times and it's a different, more 'authentic' experience but I feel nothing for the team and players. It doesn't matter what the result is, it's just an afternoon out. Watford will always be my team, I don't see that changing, but I think it's far to say that as a fanbase we feel very disconnected at the moment and we appear to be at a crossroads. Some clear communication from Gino is essential in my opinion, and we need to reset our transfer strategy. Too many aging duds. I think the time has also come for us to invest in the squad too; totally fine if we're not going to be making £50m signings every transfer window but we need to stop shopping in the bargain basement.

    To summarise, I feel a bit bored and maltcontented at the moment, and I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks off. Hopefully things change and there's a bit more positivity about the place soon.
     
    gt84, iamofwfc, 3000 and 2 others like this.
  3. Lloyd

    Lloyd Squad Player

    My personal theory re making football less and less physical is the lunatics that run the game have a long term plan to make all teams mixed ie, made up of men and women. It sounds bonkers, I know, but that only makes it all the more likely to happen
     
    iamofwfc likes this.
  4. Shakespearo

    Shakespearo Reservist

    I'd buy that for a dollar.
     
  5. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    [​IMG]

    No words.
     
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  6. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    I bet they weren’t at the end !
     
  7. RS2

    RS2 Squad Player

    They might be decent guys but all of these YouTube friends Foster now associates with seem like absolute ****s.

    Ben clearly doesn't give a **** when we lose. I know people say it's fine and doesn't affect his football, but personally it doesn't sit well with me that he's going around calling Salah etc fricking legends after they've beaten us. It just winds up fans who do actually give a **** whether we win or lose.
     
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  8. Robert Peel

    Robert Peel Squad Player

    And it's another thing for the glory hunting t0ssers who turn up to watch "their" team at Watford and sit in the home end to lap up. As well as their once in a lifetime trip to watch the "reds" (let's face it, they're mostly all plastic Mancs or Scousers) to see Ronaldo and friends, they get to see that entertaining Foster chap. Maybe they can get on his YouTube video as well as filming Cristiano!
     
    RS2 likes this.
  9. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    It’ll be 10 times worse now we’ve openly signed his replacement. I think he might go as far as celebrating an own goal against one of the big boys on his GoPro.
     
    RS2 likes this.
  10. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Is this real?!?????
     
  11. ForzaWatford

    ForzaWatford Squad Player

    There is a certain irony of people who care enough about football to comment on an online forum, to use that forum to complain about it...

    I always think people's issues are with modern football, rather than specifically Watford. There's an element of 'music was better in my day etc' IMO.

    I do agree that Modern Football is a bit **** though. I wish there was a global salary cap to make it fairer. I wonder when/if people will ever get sick of the big teams ruling the roost. Probably not...
     
    Hogg-DEENEY!!! likes this.
  12. Jumbolina

    Jumbolina First Team

    Embarrassing?
     
  13. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Yes, but music WAS better in my day… :rolleyes:
     
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  14. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Weird thing is at the end there is a clip of him saying “ I would have swapped the penalty save for some points “

    Almost as if he knows it didn’t mean much at the end .

    As predicted there is a chat with Ramsdale whilst Ben is still in his kit !
     
  15. LouOrns

    LouOrns First Year Pro

    I’d rather go down with Bachmann than stay up with Foster
     
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  16. As my name suggests, I also live a fair distance from Watford now – about 150 miles north as the M1 flies. I have a season ticket but will only usually make the trip for weekend fixtures so never make the evening games.

    I work from home every day so don’t drive much during the week. I have a young lad so don’t go out that much except to soft play or local children’s activity places.

    For me I find that it’s getting less and less (fewer?!) about the football and more and more about the whole experience of the day.

    I usually have 2 scenarios. 2 or 3 times a year I’ll drive down and back in a day – and the rest stay over for the night.

    But I love the feeling of jumping in my car about 9.30 on a Saturday morning and sticking Talksport on (Despite some of the rubbish and presenters on Talksport, the Saturday and Sunday morning shows are brilliant and have me laughing out loud in the car which other drivers are probably wondering what I’m doing). Just stopping off at service station (yes generally Watford gap which is almost halfway for me) and seeing other fans all grabbing something to eat on their way to wherever they’re going is fun and something I'd miss.

    I really enjoy getting to the town, wandering around for a bit, going to the pub and just catching up with people I’ve not seen for a few weeks/months. I enjoy soaking up the atmosphere, hearing all the songs on the way up to the ground, and just the reminiscent winding walk to the Vic through the town and old streets that I used to drunkenly stumble around on a Friday and Saturday night. I love getting to the ground, smelling the burger vans on the walk up, and watching everyone squeeze past each other in the Rookery concourse, and that great walk in to the stand itself overlooking the pitch.

    The football, yes it’s not fantastic right now, and I just desperately want us to be competitive. To look like we could win games or at least compete on the same field as other teams around us and take a few of the big boys down on the way. Other lesser teams than us have done it and I’d just like us to be able to and I feel the last 2 performances have shown a bit more of that.

    But my love of going to watch Watford is my love of everything about the whole day and the match itself is just a fraction of that day.

    It’s all part of how my life has moved on in the past few years and hopefully in a couple of years I’ll be bringing my son down to join me on my trips.
     
  17. RS2

    RS2 Squad Player

    Less and fewer sounds correct to me.
     
  18. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    I was a child of the 1980s and even though there was a fair bit of rubbish on the charts and some of the stuff I enjoyed hasn’t held up well, I think an objective case can be made for at least the mainstream pop being better back then. You can find just as good albums these days as back then, you just have to look harder as in most cases their songs won’t be played on the radio and they aren’t big-selling with a few exceptions so they aren’t so well-known. But even the stuff from pretty much one-hit wonders was better than most of the stuff on the radio today in that the singing was more natural, and the songwriting and instrumentation more organic and sophisticated. Plus, there were far more artists with critically acclaimed no. 1 albums in the 80s and to a lesser extent 90s - ABBA, Kate Bush, David Bowie, Prince, the Police, the Smiths, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Blur, Pulp, Nirvana and Massive Attack. Since the new millennium we’ve just had Radiohead, the White Stripes, Kanye West and Bowie thanks to his two comeback albums. I honestly can’t stand 99% of today’s pop music and am thankful that there’s such a rich body of music elsewhere past and present that I still haven’t listened to much or at all.
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2021
  19. The Voice of Reason

    The Voice of Reason First Team Captain

    o_O
     
  20. Since63

    Since63 Squad Player

    And the situation was compounded by Tufan struggling to his feet by himself before they took the throw...whilst I don't think the Ar5e players exhibited the slightest bit of 'fair play' over this (probably all part of a conscious club strategy of 'stop being so flaky'), the main blame should be laid at the door of the 'refereeing' team where both the out-of-control follow-through of the initial tackle on Tufan & the even more obvious body slam on Sarr went unpenalised. Laughably incompetent/one-eyed/biased (delete as appropriate).
     
    SkylaRose likes this.
  21. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    I can't help but watch it in a car crash kind of way. He's a footballing David Brent for the YouTube era. The bit where he grabbed Rob Elliot, asked him his opinion on the Ramsdale save and then spoke over him was pure Brent. Having said that Rob Elliot is the equivalent of the big guy in The Office that sits around eating Scotch eggs so doubt we missed anything much.
     
  22. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Excellent post and well done for the number of times you make it down for home games. Your description is pretty much what I feel about away games: the actual football is only a part of it. If I'm honest, after the initial wonderment of home games as a boy, I've always preferred away trips (aside from the fact that Watford are less likely to win). As we've got older, Mrs Willis and I often look to make a weekend of it by staying over somewhere or at least having a nice meal out. The football is a bonus but I still get the buzz of seeing fellow Hornets on their way to the ground where we know we'll be in the minority but there might just be the chance of getting one over on the locals.
     
  23. Lincshornet

    Lincshornet Academy Graduate

    I started supporting Watford in the early 70's and had a season ticket for many years. I moved away about 30 years ago and have been coming down for 3-4 games a year with my son who is now 22 and although he wasn't born anywhere near Watford he is a fanatical supporter.

    Personally for me, the whole experience has lost some of its shine. I used to love the drive down, walking through town, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up walking into the Vic but now my son lives in Manchester I don't have anyone to go with, I've lost touch with anyone from Watford that I used to go with and the only people I know there now have no interest in football. Nowdays I tend to go to the local non league club with a crowd of local pals. I love the experience of a few beers and a game of footy but as others have said the team means nothing to me, it's only possible to truly support one club in a lifetime.

    We'll still try and go to at least one game this season and it'll be a special experience, win or lose, but I dont have the same connection that I did years ago, sometimes I feel that I hardly know the team or club...............
     
    3000 likes this.
  24. ForzaWatford

    ForzaWatford Squad Player

    A friend of a friend did an internship at Watford last year and described him exactly like you have.. pure Brent.

    My sort of mate said the first day he was at the training ground Foster walked up to him, didn't say a word and then just fondled his balls and said oooooo and then walked off. He said this sort of thing happened quite regularly...
     
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  25. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    Incredible story. Sounds unbelievable but then you watch a few minutes of his videos and can see him doing exactly that.
     
    3000 likes this.
  26. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    Or - devils advocate - we should have taken heed of Arsenal’s tactics and Tufan should have stayed on the floor (especially given the heaviness of the challenge on him). I’m not saying at all that we were to blame - but playing fair and expecting everyone else to simply isn’t going to happen. We are nowhere near ‘street smart’ enough.
     
  27. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    When I'm not at Watford I go to my local non-league team - Leighton Town. I don't feel the same affiliation towards them but I enjoy the football and the surroundings more.
     
  28. RS2

    RS2 Squad Player

    I bet he's just a walking headache. Constant talking, odd noises and just generally getting on your t!ts.
     
  29. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    I was only watching on TV but did he definitely get up before they took the throw? He takes ages to get back into position and is still moving pretty gingerly, was wondering whether he saw them take it and then decided to try and hobble back to help the team?
     
  30. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    Fondled your mate's balls or fondled his own?
     
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  31. Heidar

    Heidar Squad Player

    Another gripe. The Qatar World Cup.

    Everything about it stinks. It was proven to be won by corrupt means so why on earth are we still having a tournament in a desert in winter?
     
    wfcmoog, Bubble and WillisWasTheWorst like this.
  32. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    Hear, hear! England should have unilaterally pulled out years ago. Or better still, mobilised other UEFA countries to do the same.
     
    wfcmoog, Bubble, Arakel and 1 other person like this.
  33. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    Oh dear. Watching on TV is such a poor substitute. Getting into the ground is a pain this season but not before (in the UGT anyway) and the queues for the loo are insignificant unless you're a woman. I can understand it if your objection is to the financial inequality which means that coming 7th is our highest possible achievement but inconvenience ... going out anywhere involves some inconvenience.
     
  34. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    What size crowd do they average per season? Anything at county league level must be really small, I've not been to any game below step 4 in the non-league pyramid, although I might go to Belstone FC of the Hertfordshire Senior County League Premier Division (level 11) for one match just out of curiosity. Football is pretty crap in Bedfordshire, isn't Biggleswade Town of the Southern League Premier the county's second team?
     
  35. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    or both ?
     
    Arakel likes this.

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