What a difference 2 league games makes for the good ship HMSPTL... Week 1 - Yay we are all aboard and it's going to be awesome..... Week 2 - Ah we've found a leak in the hull... Week 3 - There's more leaks and we need a new rudder..... Week 4 - ????? Meanwhile those pesky Pozzo out pirates watch on and chuckle from afar waiting for the right time to unfurl their banners again and stage a mass mutiny..... We should all know this season is going to be a challenge. We have young players getting proper game time for the first time in their careers in Morris and Andrews. We also have Bachmann playing out from the back which doesn't suit him or our blood pressures at all. We have The Crow as our only striker threat and we know his limitations. We have our Chilean Man Bun Mountain now deployed in midfield (or if injured Jake Livermore). Louza, Ince Asprilla, Martins and Chakvedadze add the much needed flair, with King Ken and a choice of Kone or Kayembe the grafters. This is our squad (as I write this) and we need to get behind them!!! Since Parlaci the lack of investment inm the squad is clear. Ismael has now alluded to it post Stoke so it really is in Gino's control now to either support the squad where it is desperately needed - striker, CDM, CB cover. Failure to do this leaves a wafer thin squad for Ismael to have to play with. The lack of striker investment so far smacks of repeating the same mistake as last year's RWB failure so let's hope something happens quickly. Healey in a Watford kit playing football in case anyone has forgotten he exists. Their is a rumour that he cannot tie his shoelaces so isn't getting game time as a result.... Recent head to head record: Their league form is the same as us but they have scored in every game so far. Mind you they have conceded the same amount too. They have also lost last seasons top players in Brereton Diaz, Dack, Philips and Kaminski, who decided to sell his soul to the Devils up the M1. Blackburn's Dangerman - Sammie Szmodics 2 goals and an assist in 3 league games. Looks like an extra from Lord of The Rings with a name to match it. Link to their forum thread on the match: https://www.brfcs.com/forums/topic/36655-v-watford-a-27823/ Expected Uncle Ron rage post match: A mild 40% on the Rage-O-Meter.... 2-1 win for the Orns.
First game I can attend this season. Hopefully it will be more enjoyable than most of last season. I am optimistic at the moment that it will be much more enjoyable to watch, even if the result is not much better.
Think it’s going to be a penny dropping realisation that we’re not that good, even though we try harder. We’ve don’t have goals in us, so I can’t see beyond another 1-0 defeat unfortunately.
Good preview and thanks for that Tony. We are trying hard each game and the togetherness is still there. But our goal scoring will continue to be a problem with a striker who has his limitations but never lacks trying. I know VI has a system of sticking to a line up, but losing Morris last game god knows how long he is out for. Three down after three games is really showing how limited our squad depth is, despite doing the right thing in trimming our bloated squad down. We need to seriously consider giving Healy a chance, or maybe play him in a two with Bayo. Defensively we have been aright so far, but Blackburn have dangerous players and will come at us. It's still going to be very nervy as we continue to play out from the back with a keeper who is getting used to the system. Unless we get a striker in this week who can hit the ground running from Sunday, I cannot see our luck in front of goal changing. Blackburn however, can score goals even though their start to the season has been a bit like ours in results. Watford 0 Blackburn 0
While in Portugal on holiday my quest to unearth an upgrade on The Crow via the Lisbon connection has yielded.... The Hawk The Peacock The Penguin For added comedy banter The Woefully Unsuper Spiderman! I will keep searching....
@The undeniable truth will be along in a minute to tell us the precise species... of the first three.
You sound like you have a similar view to me, only I think our playing out from the back will costs us at some point, hence the 0-1 score. On the point of being all together, I think that will fade quickly if results continue as they are. All those double training sessions and tough pre-season will have the adverse effect if players don’t see the results of all that hard work and they’ll not want to do it. I listened to the Porteous interview after the Stoke game, and he alluded to the training being really tough, even after pre-season, which I got the impression surprised him. I can see it all going south quite quickly, especially if we struggle against Blackburn. This game I feel is already pivotal in getting players believing all that hard work is worth it. Once they lose confidence it wouldn’t surprise me if they downed tools to ensure they get another coach who won’t work them quite so hard. That’s my gut feeling.
I remember seeing Bobby Svarc play for us. I think he manged 45mins in a Watford shirt, up there with Doug Alder, who I also saw.
First game I ever saw. Knew of his scoring record before I went, so I was very excited to see we'd signed him, and was fully expecting him to score the goals to fire us to promotion. The 37th minute was when he suffered his career-ending injury in that game so he didn't make a full 45 mins.
Bald eagle, and Peafowl technically. Looks like an African Penguin found sth of Cape Town, and a "fathers for justice".
Top left looks like dearly departed Kayla formerly of Selhurst Park, although she may not have been a piebald on reflection.
If you've never seen it Benfica let a hawk free before every game to get the crowd up for it. It flies over the stands and does three loops. Watford should copy this and get programme Dave to do something similar.
Morris went off injured at Stoke and Jamal Lewis is unlikely to be available for a couple of weekss yet. Therefore It will likely be Sema left back and Asprilla and Martins on either flank. I am not convinced at all by Tom Dele Bashiru as a starter, I think we should try and partner Kone with Louza. I know Kone hasn’t been great when he has been substituted on but sometimes some players struggle to get to grips with the flow and pace of a game when they come on as a substitute, I think we should try giving him a start. Would be nice to see a reaction from the lacklustre performance at Stoke.
On a serious note I have no idea what’s happened. I was just told in a pub at the Stoke game that he was expected to be ready in a couple of weeks. Considering he did pre-seasons and even featured in some of Newcastle’s friendlies it’s an odd one if he is behind with fitness issues, unless he has picked up an injury.
What I would say about our LB situation is if Sema has to play there, it does make it more likely that Asprilla (or possibly Ince, but he didn't look match fit at the weekend) plays on the right wing
Ince did look off the pace, but what he will need is game time to get up to speed. Having him start against Blackburn on Sunday might be a good idea, if he continues his fitness in training prior.
I'd imagine we're building him up, 20 minutes at last weekend, maybe 30 minutes this weekend and then maybe starting against Coventry
Yes, I’ve been there and seen it. It is of course an eagle, because Benfica are the ‘Eagles’ - same as Palace.
