The Player You Most Regret Leaving Watford…

I reckon I had wiped that 'fact' from my brain IBB and consigned any slight vestiges left within my cranium to the netherworld that can then be dismissed as Fake News. But now you and Teide1 have returned this apparent Jennings mistake to centre stage, to my horror and to Billy's eternal shame, I've discovered that he scored in one of those 2 games although both were only substitute appearances and at least he never started for the mob up the M1!

Can you at least let me bask in the fond and undoubtedly false belief that Billy shinned in a consolation goal in the final minute of a 5-1 away defeat against Grimsby please, earning himself the local Sponsor's away team prize of an inflatable Harry Haddock?
Former hero in rancid kit...... and for balance, in better times

 

I must admit apart from the name I remember absolutely nothing about him. Yes it was before my time but several names stand out from that era from what I’ve read on BSaD - Craig Ramage, Ronnie Rosenthal, Peter Kennedy, Devon White (if for the wrong reasons). He only scored one goal which is poor for a winger - was he more of a creator and/or someone who dictated play?

 

An old school tricky and direct winger. I was 12/13 at the time of watching him and it was going back a few years but from memory each time he got the ball it felt like something was going to happen. He just didn't play very much as he was injured so often, but he was good enough that if he wasn't injury prone he would likely have been playing at a higher level.

 

He played regularly for both West Ham and Ipswich in the top division as well as having a full season at Celtic, but it was his injuries that did for him at Watford, even though he was still only in his late 20s.

 

Fessi of course. I wish we had that Zola team for next season, what an exciting classy team that was.

 

It was a really fun team to watch. Even when they lost they were entertaining to watch and you could see they were putting in the effort.

 

It was like a exotic and hyped-up version of the 2005/06 and 2010/11 teams combined, a team that unlike some of ours at this level wasn't afraid to attack teams away from home, all that was what made the 2012/13 season so refreshing. The 2014/15 team was the most balanced one, unfortunately the 2020/21 squad was too weighted towards pragmatism while it was promotion at all costs.

 

MoJo

best finisher we have ever had

 

I was disappointed when Andre Gray left as I really used to enjoy booing him. But thankfully we signed Josh King as Andre's replacement so I quickly forgot about him

 

90s Tony Coton
00s Ashley Young
10s Matty Vydra
20s None of them

 

Almen Octavius Abdi.

 

John Stirk, near ever present full back in Div 4 championdship year ( i think ) and then GT sold him - love to know why.

 

It was the Div 3 year. And he was actually ever-present - all 46 games.

 

Ricky Holden and Neil Redforn, two players we got peanuts for and replaced with rubbish.

 

Darren Bazeley - I wish he'd got that Prem season in 99 after all his efforts. Des Lyttle was a horrific replacement.

 

Without doubt the finest player to grace Vicarage Road. No other player - before or since - created such outrage towards the club as when he left.

 

Apart from Cucho apparently

 

Before my time but I hear Bazeley wasn't that great either - but who knows how his career might've ended up if at 26 (usually around the peak of a player's career) he'd taken his chance in the Prem instead of deciding to go to back then perennial promotion failures Wolves and then second tier strugglers Walsall.

 

Bazeley was a decent player. He scored an incredible goal away at Bury once, and later that game Smart ended up in a row after pushing a player into the away end which was a bit of a drop.

 

How unusual.

 

Rob Elliot

 

Yes, delicate little flower that he is...

 

Helguson. It was hard to see him leave, and then after he came back on loan we had to say goodbye all over again.

 

Seeing him play for QPR twisted the knife, but returning to his first love on loan showed where his true feelings lay. I think any ‘neutral’ fan would associate him with Watford more than anyone else.

 

Oh boy when he came back, scored 2 goals to put us 3-2 up it was on course to be one of the all time best Watford moments.

Then Leicester (I think it was) equalised in the 93rd minute. I can still see that looping header if I close my eyes now.

 

Mrs Willis today suggested David James for this thread, which is an interesting one. Although he wouldn’t be my choice, there is a certain logic in that he was an extremely promising prospect that we had to sell on when the right offer came. I suppose there are many players in that category over the years who could have been great for us for longer, all the way back to Pat Jennings and Tony Currie.

 

Abdi
Iketchi Anya
Fessi
Tommy Smith
Heider
Cassetti
Holebas (il die on that hill)
Ashley Young
Robbo
Geri
Tommy Mooney
Capoue

All heartbreakers man

 

goosebumps when he scores the header and celebrates in the net!

 

Interesting to note that HH went off injured later in that game and missed the next six, but still ended up scoring 11 from 23 starts.

 

Anya's 'career' was since leaving us (and I don't mean playing for the Sweaties) has been heart-breaking. I'm pretty certain that I almost bumped into on him on St Albans' Chequer Street shortly before the 'Oxfam' incident.

EDIT: I remember watching this and thinking "...and we go rid of him because?".



Cholevas always gave '110%' on the pitch and was one of the best dead-ball players I've seen in yellow since Cally. I still don't get the lack of love he gets from our support.

 

The lack of love for Holebas probably comes from some of the more stupid things he did making the headlines. The silly handball, arguing with the fans. Yes he was committed but there were times his craziness overstepped the line. Still haven't replaced his grit though

 

Cucho

 

That was at Blackpool and was a huge fluke - was really windy that day and the wind just took a fairly innocuous shot and carried it into the top corner. I was standing behind the goal, directly in line with it

 

Nordin Wooter, obviously.

 

He had about two decent spells. The rest of the time, he alternated between not giving a **** and being overly reckless and hot headed.

He also constantly whined to his own players, fans, social media and to journalists about the club. Didn’t he call himself a slave at one point, when we were paying him tens of thousands of pounds per week?

He averaged less than 3 assists a season. Given he was playing as an attacking wing back and taking most of our attacking set pieces, I’m not sure he was as effective as you remember (even though a small number of his set pieces were excellent).