Not the greatest of days.... Filed: Saturday, 27th January 2007 By: Gordon Thrower KUMB Alan Curbishley gives us his view of today's exit from the FA Cup.. Yes it was a disappointing result. Add to that Lucas’s injury – we brought him in ‘cos he can play in a few positions – add to that the problems we’ve got at the back anyway at the moment and it’s not been a great afternoon. They tried their hardest – I’ve got no complaints about that. Perhaps second half we could have got ourselves back in it. Perhaps we deserved a draw but we haven’t got it so we move on. No disrespect to Watford but I’ve got to concentrate on Liverpool on Tuesday now. Watford are in the next round and I hope they get a decent crowd but I’m concentrating only on the next game. Lucas Neill? There was an aerial challenge and he’s landed awkwardly and turned his ankle. He wanted to carry on but we had to take him off. I might be wrong but I cant remember too many opportunities that Watford created. One cleared off the line from a set play maybe. We had one or two decent chances to get back into the game but it hasn’t happened. It’s a confidence situation – we need results to get the confidence and we need the confidence to get the results. Watford’s last two results will give them a bit of confidence. The last two weeks have been a bit tough what with losing the lead against Fulham in the 94th minute then what happened to us up at Newcastle when we were in another leading position. Everyone’s in a difficult position. The frustration is there for everyone to see – with what they did last year. I think the expectation levels of last year are causing the problem. If you log what’s happened since the Cup Final it’s been interesting. People have had operations, they’ve had injuries Ashton going out. The injuries – well it’s the first time Spector and Dailly have played together so everyone’s frustrated. I don’t think the season’s slipping away – yes we’re out of the cup. But we do need to get a few wins. We’ve got another chance on Tuesday and I’m totally focussed on that. At the moment when we get in front there’s a bit of panic and when we go behind there’s a bit of panic. Up until they scored I thought we were comfortable and Shaun Newton had the best chance but we didn’t take it. Watford, to their credit, kept going. They play a certain way and they kept going. Neill – he’s doubtful for Tuesday. Ferdinand – we’ll know a bit more tomorrow. I spoke to the centre halves this week. Gabbidon’s been out 3 times. Collins 3 times. Ferdinand I think has been out four. The centre half partnership last year has never really been able to get back together this year. The fans have got to appreciate that’s been the case, it’s been difficult. The right back position’s been difficult – different people have been playing there. We don’t seem to be able to get through one week and say ‘right, same team next week’. Benayoun? He came off of the Newcastle game with a sore knee and he didn’t train until Thursday. I felt I’d keep him back until Tuesday. If he’d aggravated it today I’d have been disappointed – it’s obviously a big game on Tuesday. He is available for Tuesday. Obviously Harewood is and Davenport will come back in. We’ll see what we’ve got left. Ferdinand – he has a hamstring and it’s only a couple of weeks since he had a groin. I don’t think he’s had a clear week since I’ve been here. The four players who had operations never really got themselves right. Then Ashton broke his ankle then Etherington did his knee and Ferdinand did his hamstring. The whole thing has not been conducive to being settled. The players were on a crest of a wave buoyed by results but the results haven’t been there and they’ve been asked different questions. The expectancy level this year must be to stay up mustn’t it? That’s been the same since the day I walked in. We were third from bottom when I arrived and we’re third from bottom now. Next season is another season. I don’t know how many points that’s gonna be. I don’t know how many wins that’s gonna be. There’s been a few decisions – we were doing alright at Newcastle before the offside goal. Bobby’s sending off against Fulham wasn’t needed. We could have gone on and won that. Then Roy Carroll’s decision today has cost us the goal.Foster had a great game today but when he did something similar we didn’t punish it and that was the difference between the two sides. Carlton Cole? In the end I think he’s trying maybe too hard. We end up chasing the game – to a soft goal – and we’re not good at chasing the game. Have Watford got a psychological advantage for the league game in a couple of weeks? No. They may fancy their chances but I fancy my chances too. I really do. It’s a great result for Watford but they’ll swap it for three points in two weeks’ time and so will I. The fans probably don’t know what’s hit them. We’ve beaten Arsenal and Man Utd then Portsmouth and Man City beat us here. Those were big games that would have given us a lift if we’d won them. But we’re not out of it. This week we could find ourselves out of the bottom three or we could find ourselves right in it.
West 'aaaam are a side in rapid decline. We on the other hand, are on an upward curve. If I was Curbs, I'd be pooing myself, to put it politely.
