The Watford Match

[susie b 0]

Given that a home defeat was going to happen sooner or later, according to the law of averages, does anyone else share my opinions or want to comment on any of the following points/questions that are going round in my mind at the moment?

1) Did Nigel do the right think by leaving Briggs on the bench and playing Holt at right-back, with the related consequences in midfield? (We really missed Mulryne today, I feel).

2) How much was Crouch missed today? (Quite a bit, I''d say. I know you are only as good as the service you get but, when he did get service, Iwan was largely ineffective, I''m afraid).

3) We know that, as long as we have got his services, Darren Huckerby is going to be a closely marked man, but when it takes two or three of the opposition to do it, it doesn''t take a maths wizard to work out that someone else, somewhere, has to be free if we have equal numbers on the pitch. Do we have a strategy to exploit this? (If so, did we apply it successfully today?)

4) Did the match sponsors watch the same game as me? Malky has been a tower of strength for us this season, but today, especially in the first 30 minutes or so, he was not at his best.

5) I sincerely hope that Messrs. Fleming and McVeigh have only suffered skight knocks as I can''t imagine what we would do without them at the moment.

6) Did we get a glimpse today of what things might be like after early December? (I hope the Board was taking careful note as the fans, I feel sure, did).

I know it''s not the end of the world losing a game, but it is very disappointing, especially when we had the chance to go top.
The only really positive things to come out of the game might possibly be that it will act as a bit of a wake-up call for all concerned, and it may also help the Board to see more clearly what is blindingly obvious to most of the rest of us, i.e. if we don''t gamble a bit now, we may find mid-table mediocrity beckons, and none of us want that, do we?

[morty 0]

Agree with all of that susie! I take comfort in the fact that that the reason we lost is because we were missing two key players ie mulryne and crouch, if the side had lost in such a manner with those two players in the team then I would be reaching for the panic button!
It certainly looks like Iwan has had his day, I can''t criticise him, the man is a legend in my book but he''s very much off the pace. I think that yesterdays match underlines the importance of a good ball winner and I would go so as to say that, if there was a choice, I''d sign crouch over hucks though both would be nice obviously!
The reason it all went wrong today was that hucks just had too much to do on his own, iwan wasn''t winning anything which delayed the speed and flow of the attack, by the time hucks got the ball there was 3 players round him, I firmly believe that had crouchy been in the team it would have made watfords job a lot harder and we problably would have won
I actually thought that easton had an ok game in the first half and it was a little unfair to single him out on a day when nobody really had a good game, well except from holty!
So, there it is, we lost and now we look forward to next week, mullers, crouchy and edworthy all back and fit and we thump preston and yesterday will be but a distant memory! On the ball city!

[Old Boy 0]

To me, two things stood out in that game. Firstly, a side with both Huckerby and Easton in it looks sort of unbalanced - just in terms of ability, not tactics. Clint works hard and tries hard, but doesn''t really contribute. Secondly, Francis was sleep-walking. I don''t know if he misses Holt, or what, but he gives the opposition''s midfield too much time on the ball, and when he has the ball himself he''s not aware of what''s happening either with his own team or opposing players coming in to tackle him. I actually thought that was the same in the Millwall game, when Francis was the only under-performer in the side.

Good things from yesterday were McVeigh (again), Fleming, Henderson and Huckerby. Huckerby had three men on him when he had the ball, and although he danced around them a lot of the time, he needs some more support otherwise he''s bound to lose possession many times.

Bad things - long "passes" from Malky and Flem giving possession away, and knock-downs from Iwan into no-mans land. Just a general return to the long-ball, get-rid-of-the-ball-quick style. And the referee...

[Intenso 0]

Very difficult to add to the excellent observations of Susie and Morty, which I fully agree with. One thought crosses my mind, however, that if we were able to raise the funds for D H would his decision be dependant on Norwich also signing Peter Crouch (yes please). Yesterday showed Iwan Roberts to be slow in thought and movement and it surprised me that Ryan Jarvis was not introduced earlier as he did at least appear to be on the wavelength as hucks.
In an ideal world we would win every game but if yesterday''s defeat proves how much the club needs Huckerby, Crouch and Harper if we are to achieve promotion, then all is not lost.

[gitto 0]

v

[WesHoolahansDefendant 0]

A much more pleasant time on these message boards! Perfect use of punctuation and grammar, what''s happened!?!?