If you’ve ever visited this blog before you’ll probably be painfully aware that I’ve recently had a book published on the history of the club, “Watford FC On This Day”.

This coming Thursday (Nov 19th) from 6pm to 8pm I’ll be signing copies at Waterstones in the Harlequin. Perhaps more enticingly, Watford manager Malky Mackay and legend Nigel Gibbs will also be present signing copies.

It would be good to see you there.

That is all.

Five thunks from another fine home victory.

1- It’s a long time since we’ve been as utterly on top as we were in that first half. Glorious stuff it was, too, verve and movement that was in part responsible for Preston standing around looking very stupid for much of the time. The slight concern, of course, was that 2-0 didn’t remotely capture the degree of our domination but we were never in trouble.

2- Cherry on the icing on the cake was that magnificent second goal, for which there are scarcely sufficient superlatives. Lansbury’s second consecutive fine home performance adds credence to his argument that centre midfield – rather than “in the hole” is where he’s best employed. There was more than a hint of Steven Gerrard in his run for the second goal, powering through challenges, retaining sufficient composure to pick the perfect pass as Graham and Helguson distracted around him.

3- My word weren’t Preston, to a surprising degree, a pile of lumpy awfulness though? From the first minute where Preston’s defence watched a cross float to the far post with the immobile, distracted air of kids at a firework display it was evident that fun could be had. And yes, DM, I’m concious that we played a very great part in making them look lumpy but lumpy they very much were. Worst of a poor bunch was full-back Michael Hart whose display reached comical levels of incompetence; it’s difficult to conceive how a team in the top half of the division is capable of defending that badly (what? oh yes…)

4- And, to state the bleeding obvious, surely the most unit weight per striekr of any side in the division in Parkin, Mellor and Brown. Only Stephen Elliott, so frequently a scorer against the Hornets, came off the bench to challenge the average.

5- This is all rather fun, isn’t it?

For those of a certain vintage – well, quite a number of vintages – the cartoons of Terry Challis are as much a part of the identity of their own personal Watford as the memorabilia, the programme covers, the photographs that clouded around the football club to form something worth a special place in anyone’s heart.

You won’t need to have a Terry Challis cartoon in front of you to conjure up an image of that familiar style in your mind’s eye: the pithy, witty and often rather insightful commentary on the week’s events, followed by the inevitable highlighting of the last game’s star player, name embossed underneath. In days before blanket coverage and instant highlights, it always seemed particularly vital after a distant, unseen away game, as much a part of the reportage as Oliver Phillips’ account alongside.

If the Watford Observer was essential reading for so many years, it was because there was an ethos behind it all. A commitment to quality, a strongly-opinionated but essentially constructive outlook, a sense of personality behind the names. It was an ethos that echoed the club in good times, but put it into rather awkward relief when standards at Vicarage Road slipped.

For me, Terry Challis’ name will always ring loudest in the largely barren nineties. It was one of the times when Watford Football Club most needed some wry commentary…but also when it needed the essentially positive tint he applied with great subtlety to his work, even at the gloomiest of times. It needed that ethos, an ethos that he so helped to shape and represent.

There’ll be many others with much more personal memories of the man behind the pen. But I can recall being among the editors of the You Are My Watford book, raising money for the Supporters Trust in past times of need. Along with lots of others, we asked Terry Challis for a contribution, hoping perhaps for a drawing or two that might enliven a couple of pages. Instead, we received an original two-page cartoon covering the entire history of the club in typically charming style. As one of my co-editors said, “He’s done us proud.”

Yeah, well. He did Watford proud. Thanks, Terry.

Terry Challis’ cartoon from the You Are My Watford book. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge. Enjoy.

Right then. Answers to the quiz. Disappointed in the quite pathetic number of people prepared to have a guess… we had three completely correct responses from John Slaytor, Trefor Jones and Avi Govind. At least one of you already has the book… if the other two want a copy, mail/comment me your details. Big respec’ to Mike Peter, as ever, for at least having a punt.

q1a – which is the largest squad number to have been used by Watford?
41. Yves Makaba-Makalamby had no 50 when on loan from Chelsea a few seasons ago, but never made it onto the pitch.

q1b – Which two players have worn this number
Yohann Cavalli in 2006/07 and Lee Hodson last season.

q2 – Which player has made the most appearances for Watford over this period.
Tommy Smith is the answer to this one with 285, some forty clear of Lloyd Doyley (245), who would have been my guess, followed by Neil Cox (242).

q3 – Three players have worn four different squad numbers. Name them.
This is the one that provoked most accusation, discussion and hassle over email and at Cov last night. The answer is Tommy Smith (17 from 1999-01, 9 from 2001-03, 29 in 2006-07 and 21 from 2007-09), Neil Cox (36 in 1999-00, 2 in 2000-01, 29 in 2001-02 and 5 from 2002-05) and Anthony McNamee (33 in 2001-02, 16 from 2002-04, 23 in 2004-05 and 19 from 2005-08)

q4a – Which player appeared in the same shirt number in the largest number of seasons?
Alec Chamberlain – easy points here, surely?
q4b – Which shirt number did he wear?
no. 1
q4c – How many seasons did he wear it for?
Seven – from 1999-01 and from 2002-07, Espen Baardsen usurping for one season
Which two players tie for second place in this regard?
Micah Hyde and Heidar Helguson, with five seasons each at nos. 8 and 18 respectively. Jay Demerit, Richard Lee and Lloyd Doyley record their fifth seasons in their current shirt this season.

q5a- Which player has played the most games in one shirt number?
q5b – Which shirt number?
Micah Hyde again, with 187 in the no 8 shirt. Heidar in second with 177 at 18, Lloyd in third with 157 at 12.

q6- Which shirt number has been used in the largest number of games?
no 8, with three steadyish incumbents in Hyde, Mahon and Eustace. Shirts 9, 5 and 4 each some 40 apps behind.

q7a- Which two shirts have had the largest number of incumbents?
Another hotly debated topic. Yes, OK Walker, 7 is one of them, 33 the other.
q7b- How many incumbents has each of these shirts had?
Nine each. Wearers of no 7 are (in chronological order) Michel Ngonge, Carlton Palmer, Allan Nielsen, Bruce Dyer, Carl Fletcher, Chris Eagles, Damien Francis, Liam Bridcutt, and Don Cowie. Wearers of no 33: Dominic Foley, Fabien Forde, Anthony McNamee, Scott Fitzgerald, Dominic Blizzard, Junior Osborne, Trevor Benjamin, Jordan Parkes and Liam Henderson. None of the wearers of 33 have worn it for more than one season, and it has of course its tenth incumbent this season in Lee Hodson.
q7c- How many shirt numbers have been sported by one player only?
None.

8a- Which shirt number is the most cherished, in that the average number of appearances per incumbent is the largest?
That would be no 8 again, by some distance, with its three incumbents (see above) averaging 123.3 apps each. No 18, averaging 68.5 apps, and no 3, 64.4, some way behind.
8b- And which shirt number has been worn only once by each of its incumbents?
The number 40, worn once each by Theo Robinson against Newcastle at the end of 2006-07, and Andrei Stepanov in his record brief Watford career vs Southampton ast season.

The answer to the tie-breaker, in how many of the 508 competitive games that we’ve played over these ten seasons was the most used shirt employed, is 370.

Five thunks from the chaos against Cov…

1- This was, of course, what we were always at risk of with our thin and inexperienced squad. The continued absences of Helguson, Demerit and (effectively) Severin deprive us of experience where we have little to spare; the additional absences of Ellington, Jenkins, Cathcart and (ultimately) Hodson left us looking very sparse indeed. But it’s lack of nous that’s the issue really… there’s no way that points should have been dropped from half time onwards against a lamentable Coventry City side.

2- In particular that centre-back pairing of Wright and Ward was something else. A less mobile defensive partnership hasn’t been witnessed at Vicarage Road since Merthyr Town fielded a wood stove and a wardrobe at the back in 1928. That said, Leon Best’s equalising goal was slapstick stuff. A quite astonishing number of yellow shirts standing around watching… both sides had horrible nights at the back, Coventry’s win ultimately accidental.

3- An interesting test of Danny Graham’s mettle coming up, as he experienced his first bad night at Watford. We could probably do with something going in off his backside against Cardiff, thanks to the international break it’ll be a long wait before his next chance to get over yesterday evening.

4- Graham wasn’t the only one to miss chances… Will Hoskins’ slightly unfortunate miss in the opening minute nonetheless defied belief, whilst Liam Henderson’s late miss was another costly error. Kieran Westwood meanwhile was undoubtedly the man of the match… the two first half saves denying Graham’s breakaway and later Hoskins’ flicked backheel were something else.

5- Can those booing the attempts at short corners explain themselves please? Once again we started with no six footers outfield last night against a goalkeeper confidently taking everything (see 4) and a defence that wasn’t much cop at anything beyond occupying space (see 2), lumping it into the box wasn’t likely to be a fruitful option was it?

Look, we weren’t there, ok? So if you’re looking for insightful thunks you’d better look somewhere else; the reasons for non-attendance shall, as ever, remain private but it should go without saying that it was fairly heavy stuff.

I’m assuming that people will want to discuss the match anyway, so do so here if you really must. However in an attempt to wreck any thoughts you had of doing some work over the next couple of days, here’s a quiz. I sincerely hope it does your head in…

All questions relate to the ten seasons from 1999/2000 to 2008/2009, these being the ten (completed) seasons during which Watford have worn squad numbers. The answers are all workoutable, but in most cases only if you’re very sad (like me) and even then I’m guessing that it’ll take you a while to work out rather than guess – on that basis answers will be revealed on Wednesday morning whilst I’m waiting for my house purchase to complete (!!!).

You can enter by commenting on this message… responses containing quiz entries will not be “approved” and published before Wednesday, so don’t include Reading commentary and quiz answers in the same response.

In all questions an “appearance” means in the starting eleven or, equally, an active (used) substitute. A squad number is only “used” if the incumbent starts a game or comes on as sub.

And remember…2009/10 not included.

The prize for the winner is a copy of some book or other. If they’re bothered….

That is all.

1a- Which is the largest squad number that has been used by Watford? (1)
1b- Which two players have worn this number? (2)

2- Which player has made the most appearances for Watford over this period? (1)

3- Three players have worn four different squad numbers. Name them. (3)

4a- Which player appeared in the same shirt number in the largest number of seasons? (1)
4b- Which shirt number did he wear? (1)
4c- How many seasons did he wear it for? (1)
4d- Which two players tie for second place in this regard? (2)

5a- Which player has played the most games in one shirt number? (1)
5b- Which shirt number? (1)

6- Which shirt number has been used in the largest number of games? (1)

7a- Which two shirts have had the largest number of incumbents? (2)
7b- How many incumbents has each of these shirts had? (1)
7c- How many shirt numbers have been sported by one player only? (1)

8a- Which shirt number is the most cherished, in that the average number of appearances per incumbent is the largest? (1)
8b- And which shirt number has been worn only once by each of its incumbents? (1)

Total out of 21.

Tie Breaker: wrt q6… in how many of the 508 competitive games that we’ve played over these ten seasons was the most used shirt employed?

Many of you will know this already, and therefore this post contains nothing new. Visitors from other clubs who have chanced upon BHaPPY are of course welcome, but perhaps won’t be overly interested in what follows. For those of you who’ve been directed here in search of information on growing fruit and vegetables I am genuinely sorry, far more so than I am for the Watford supporters who felt that our Five-a-day Awaydays (see category listing right) were something of a betrayal. Get over yerselves.

However, the two or three of you that remain unaccounted for in the above may be interested to learn that I’ve penned a book on the Hornets, due to be released a week today (Sep 11). “Watford On This Day” chronicles the club history by running through the calendar year and detailing an event or events that happened on each day from January 1st through to December 31st. I’m dead proud of it. I would say that, of course, but I’m saying it anyway.

The book goes on sale at the club shop next week, and will also be available to order online. You can also order direct from Amazon and the book will be available at all your favourite high-street stores (at least in Watford…), but the club have a couple of weeks’ exclusivity… so if you’re going to Barnsley or Leicester you’re better off buying it from the club anyway and saving yourself p&p.

If you’re too tight to spend your hard-earned coppers on it, you might want to try entering the Official Site’s on line competition and win a copy signed by everyone’s favourite pie-eating pint-quaffing Watford manager; the answer to the question has been discussed on these pages previously for those of you paying attention.

We now return you to your regular programme. Thanks very much…

Well that took a while… but finally it’s all over. It’s been an awfully long time coming, but a chapter has closed, a new one begins. Eight years since Pompey lost to Palace at the end of the season sparing the Eagles from relegation to the third tier, eight years since my co-editor spat into his beer “why do bloody Portsmouth always manage to f*** things up?”, we finally have closure. It would appear that Pompey have, finally, decisively, not f***ed up.

It’s a peculiar passage of events that sees the departure of our standout player, our one reliable source of wit and invention and safest source of goals, result in so many Watford fans chuckling themselves silly as pictures appear of yer man in his new shirt.

Such has been the impact of Brendan Rodgers and Reading’s magnificently ham-fisted handling of the whole saga. A good proportion of Watford’s support appeared to treat his departure to Berkshire with more generosity than I found myself able to, but this relative goodwill was soon dissipated by Rodgers’ attempts to first unsettle our star player, and then to pinch him on the cheap. Having derided an offer of £1.6m from Cardiff as Watford manager at the start of the year, Rodgers saw fit to offer £750,000 barely six months later, presumably with a straight face.

Sheffield United obliged by weighing in with a more sensible £1.8m within days, setting Reading’s bid in its proper context… terribly convenient from our point of view, particularly as Smudge turned them down. Since then Reading have shown a distinct lack of both class and intelligence… drawing out the exercise by slowly upping their offer, giving us maximum opportunity to talk up a bidding war whilst antagonising further by Rodgers claiming that Smith “wanted to join Reading”, despite not having been given permission to speak to him. One wonders whether Reading have such a thing as a press officer, such is the unmonitored and counterproductive garbage which Rodgers continues to produce…

I don’t need to tell you what happened next. Reading finally do what they really should have done earlier in the summer and make a sensible offer. And with comic timing, Pompey steal in with a better one, a Premiership offer. There are safer ships in the top flight than Pompey, but obviously Reading weren’t as tempting as Rodgers believed. I won’t have been the only one killing themselves laughing at the mental image of the awkward press conference that Smith blew out at the Madejski Stadium, or punching the air when he finally confirmed his destination.

All of which, as already suggested, rather clouds the fact that we’re somewhat stuffed without Smudger. Our one source of creativity, comfortably our most dependable player, Player of the Year for two years (and one could argue a case for him deserving the Premiership season award also), he’s a massive loss. We’ve lost iconic players in the recent past to a similar sense of desolation… King, Helguson… and recovered. But it’s difficult to see the attacking verve suggested by the last couple of performances and much of last season being sustained in Smudger’s absence. It’s also difficult to imagine that any Watford supporters wish him anything but the best with his new club… few footballers are simultaneously so ferociously effective and instantly likeable as people.

Reading follow this up by signing Jobi McAnuff; it’s tempting to suggest that this is a double whammy, they’ve been done twice in two days, particularly having given him a long contract and presumably on wages not less than the reported £13k a week he was on with us. It will be interesting to note whether the electric form and hitherto unsuggested level of consistency McAnuff achieved at the end of last season really were down to his new manager; Watford supporters will now be cheering rather than deriding every diffident performance but if Jobi’s savage showings against former club Palace are any guide, we shouldn’t expect one of his limper outings against us in September.

As for Portsmouth… just when they’d manage to earn forgiveness for the crimes of May 2001, they whack in a bid for Mike Williamson. At the time of writing that offer has been knocked back, along with Williamson’s disappointing transfer request, but it’s all pointing in a horribly inevitable direction.

A stern test of all of the new manager’s ability awaits. It looks like a rocky road ahead… we can but hope that our friends at the Madejski continue to provide comic relief.

Let’s be absolutely clear.  If you want a well-thought out, well-researched, balanced preview based on rational consideration, perhaps peppered with wit, anecdote and insight then you’re in the wrong place altogether.  If, however, you’re after a half-baked load of tosh, cobbled together in spare minutes in between trips to the hospital to visit my infant daughter (a month early of all things, yes she’s fine thanks) and in the middle of the night when I really needed to be sleeping, read on.  Just don’t say I didn’t warn you…

BARNSLEY

INS: David Preece (Odense, Free), Onome Sodje (York City, Free)

OUTS: Heinz Muller (FSV Mainz 05, £600,000), Diego Leon, Kyle Letheren, Dennis Souza, Marciano Van Hoemoet

OUR EX-TYKES: None

THEIR EX-ORNS: Martin Devaney

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Steele

Hassell             Foster                Moore            Kozluk

Campbell-Ryce      Colace           De Silva          Devaney

Macken              Bogdanovic

VERDICT:
An unconvincing escape from relegation last term has been met by the rationalising of a squad that, at the time of writing, looks painfully thin, particularly in defensive positions. The Tykes’ messageboards are not happy places, with Simon Davey’s star seemingly on the wane; one pundit suggests that the only way Barnsley will escape a relegation battle is if they’re so far bottom that any sense of fight is long-since extinguished by easter. There’s quality in the side – Jamal Campbell-Ryce was amongst our more impressive opponents last term – but a tough season ahead nonetheless; relegation candidates.

BLACKPOOL

INS: Billy Clarke (Ipswich Town, Free), Jason Euell (Southampton, Free)

OUTS: Shaun Barker (Derby County, £1,000,000), David Fox (Colchester United, Free), Stuart Green (Wycombe Wanderers, Free), Ashton Bayliss, Marlon Broomes, Franceso Carratta, Claus Jorgensen, Matt Kay, Jermaine Wright

OUR EX-SEASIDERS: Danny Graham

THEIR EX-ORNS: None

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Rachubka

    Coid             Baptiste                 Edwards                Crainey

Taylor-Fletcher       Southern            Vaughan             Clarke

 Nardiello             Burgess

VERDICT:
I’ve still not really decided about Ian Holloway. It’s tempting to pigeonhole him as either the ultimate backs-to-the-wall sows-ear manager, skilled at making the best of any situation, or as a hapless fool whose ready soundbites earn him more credence than his results merit. The truth is probably somewhere in between, but in Blackpool he’s taking on a task that might see him definitively classified as one or the other. One defeat in ten at the end of the season doesn’t disguise that the Seasiders are amongst the more modest sides in the division; a bad season, bad luck, bad managerial appointment, bad injuries that others might get away with will send Blackpool the way that Rotherham and Crewe have gone before them after a couple of years of defying gravity. It won’t necessarily be this season, but Barker is a loss and the side lacks goals. Relegation candidates (though I said that last year, what do I know?)
 

BRISTOL CITY

INS: David Clarkson (Motherwell, Undisclosed,) Dean Gerken (Colchester United, Undisclosed), Danny Haynes (Ipswich Town, Undisclosed), Lewin Nyatanga (Derby County, Undisclosed), Andre Blackman (Portsmouth, Free), Paul Hartley (Celtic, Free)

OUTS: Dele Adebola (Nottingham Forest, Free), Izzy Iriekpen (Hamilton Academicals, Free), Scott Murray (Yeovil Town, Free), Jennison Myrie-Williams (Dundee United, Free), Chris Weale (Leicester City, Free), David Noble, Peter Styvar (Skoda Xanthi, Season Loan)

OUR EX-ROBINS: Sean Dyche

THEIR EX-ORNS: Lee Johnson, Gary Johnson (Manager), Keith Millen (Assistant Manager)

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Basso

Orr           Carey            Fontaine        Nyatanga      McAllister

Elliott                       Hartley

Clarkson

Haynes                    Maynard

VERDICT:
City’s summer recruitment should see them maintain their position in the top half of the division; the capture of Hartley was impressive, and if Clarkson is an unknown quantity then he and City’s other additions do provide depth to an increasingly convincing looking starting eleven. Will need a prevailing wind to make the play-offs, but that’s not an unrealistic ambition.

 CARDIFF CITY

Marshall

Quinn      Hudson        Gerrard         McNaughton

Burke          Ledley         McPhail         Whittingham

McCormack          Chopra

VERDICT:
Some significant ins at Cardiff, but significant “outs” also – one confirmed and a couple rumoured at the time of writing. Thing is, whilst new recruits might work out there’s by their nature a greater element of uncertainty than with the established faces heading out of the door – even (or perhaps particularly) in the case of Chopra after his sabbatical in Sunderland. Combining this with the “new stadium” thing leads me to think that Cardiff’s promotion challenge will be rather more theoretical and peripheral this time around. Tenth.
 

COVENTRY CITY

INS: Sammy Clingan (Norwich City, Undisclosed)

OUTS:Daniel Fox (Celtic, £1,500,000), Scott Dann (Birmingham City, Undisclosed), Robbie Simpson (Huddersfield Town, Undisclosed), Liam Francis (Redditch Town, Free), Andy Marshall, Michael Mifsud, Kevin Thornton

OUR EX-SKY BLUES: John Eustace

THEIR EX-ORNS: None

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Westwood

Wright        Turner           Ward        Hall

Bell       Gunnarsson       Clingan       Doyle

Eastwood         Morrison

VERDICT:
With undue optimism emanating from the West Midlands about Cov’s prospects this time last year, I must confess to a degree of satisfaction at having stuck by Cov’s natural magnetic pull towards seventeenth. This season the suggestion is the opposite… those who travelled to the Ricoh Arena at the end of last season saw a desperately poor side, irrespective of a flattering two-goal lead, who were rather fortunate that the season didn’t last a month or so longer. Since then they’ve lost two of their “big four” in Danny Fox and Scott Dann without replacing them (Fox’s last act for Cov to get himself red carded against us) and City suddenly look strong relegation candidates. Seventeenth anyway, obviously.
 

CRYSTAL PALACE

INS: Darren Ambrose (Charlton Athletic, Free), Stern John (Southampton, Free), Matthew Wright (Swansea City, Free), Freddie Sears (West Ham United, Season Loan)

OUTS: Rhoys Wiggins (Norwich City, Undisclosed), Carl Fletcher (Plymouth Argyle, Free), Scott Flinders (Hartlepool United, Free), Paul Ifill (Wellington Phoenix, Free), James Scowcroft (Leyton Orient, Free), Shefki Kuqi, John Oster

OUR EX-EAGLES: Jobi McAnuff

THEIR EX-ORNS: None

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Speroni

Clyne      McCarthy       Fonte           Hill

Carle          Derry           Danns

Sears         John           Moses

VERDICT:
Having finished the previous season so strongly, Palace’s 2008/09 campaign must have seemed a bit of a damp squib. Warnock has performed some necessary surgery by cutting loose some dead wood – which I’d be reassured by – although signing other people’s dead wood (Stern John, Darren Ambrose) might not seem too inspiring. Sears of course could be the exception, and he along with Palace’s impressive crop of kids should certainly see Palace comfortably mid-table again, even if the likes of Victor Moses and Nathaniel Clyne continue to attract attention.
 

DERBY COUNTY

INS: Shaun Barker (Blackpool, £1,000,000), Dean Moxey (Exeter City, Undisclosed), Lee Croft (Norwich City, Free), Jake Buxton (Burton Albion, Free), Saul Deeney (Burton Albion, Free), Ben Pringle (Ilkeston Town, Free)

OUTS: Emmanuel Villa (Cruz Azul, £1,700,000), Liam Dickinson (Brighton & Hove Albion, Undisclosed), Tyrone Mears (Burnley, Undisclosed), Lewin Nyatanga (Bristol City, Undisclosed), Mile Sterjovski (Perth Glory, Free), Andy Todd (Perth Glory, Free), Paris Simmons, Lewis Price (Brentford, Season Loan)

OUR EX-RAMS: Nathan Ellington, John Eustace, Danny Graham, Tommy Smith

THEIR EX-ORNS: Jordan Stewart

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Bywater

Connolly        Addison          Barker          Moxey

Croft             Green              Savage         Commons

Varney           Hulse

VERDICT:
Now here’s an odd one. It’s not as if Clough Jr isn’t used to living in his father’s shadow; he played under him for almost a decade at Forest, and has since cut his teeth in management in the Midlands with Burton Albion. It’s just that… taking the seat at a club that Dad guided to unthinkable success is rather bold. He will inevitably be compared, and how can he hope to be compared favourably given more entrenched obstacles to success than those Brian countered nearly 40 years ago. You’ve got to respect his transfer policy… a solid defender from Blackpool, cherry-picking from the lower divisions, bold enough to cut his losses on Ellington and yet… are players from Ilkeston and Exeter really going to cut it at this level? One of the more interesting watches of the season. Nearer the top than last time, I’d guess. Beyond that, not a clue.
 

DONCASTER ROVERS

INS: None

OUTS: Richie Wellens (Leicester City, £1,300,000), Gordon Greer (Swindon Town, Free), Jason Price (Millwall, Free), Tomi Ameobi, Darren Byfield, Gareth Taylor

OUR EX-ROVERS: None

Sullivan

O’Connor          Mills         Hird          Chambers

Spicer         Shiels           Stock           Woods

Heffernan           Hayter

VERDICT:
Donny took a while to get the hang of it last time, but ended the season very comfortably despite a modest goalscoring record that included an astonishing 16 at home. Goals will be the problem again, at a guess, and I suspect that Donny will be hoping that Forest bugger off and leave Matt Mills alone sooner rather than later. Whether they can emulate last season rather depends on a solution to the goalscoring thing, one suspects – Billy Sharp mooted at the time of writing – but on last season’s evidence it will take extreme poor fortune with injuries for Rovers to struggle.
 

IPSWICH TOWN

INS: Colin Healy (Cork City, Undisclosed), Damien Delaney (Queens Park Rangers, Undisclosed), Lee Martin (Manchester United, Undisclosed), Troy Brown (Fulham, Free), Shane O’Connor (Liverpool, Free)

OUTS:Danny Haynes (Bristol City, Undisclosed), Jordan Rhodes (Huddersfield Town, Undisclosed), Dean Bowditch (Yeovil Town, Free), Chris Casement (Dundee, Free), Billy Clarke (Blackpool, Free), Dan Harding (Southampton, Free), Tommy Miller (Sheffield Wednesday, Free), Ivan Campo, Jai Reason, Matt Richards, Kurt Robinson

OUR EX-BLUES:None

THEIR EX-ORNS: None

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

R.Wright

D.Wright        MacAuley        Balkestein         Delaney

Walters          Norris       Healy       Garvan         Martin

Stead

VERDICT:
Well… I’d be a little worried, frankly. Roy Keane, for all that he got Sunderland promoted, didn’t seem to leave with the best wishes of his former charges; his strategy thus far at Portman Road has been to adopt the same approach to recruiting his countrymen as characterised his time in the North East, whilst jettisoning what appeared to be promising players quite cheaply – Haynes, Clarke and particularly Rhodes. Maybe there’s a grand plan. I dunno. Can’t see Ipswich challenging with what they’ve got at the moment though, and where they finish kinda depends on the outcome of what looks like an inevitable mid-season crisis. Not that I’d tell Roy Keane that to his face.
 
 

LEICESTER CITY

INS: Richie Wellens (Doncaster Rovers, £1,300,000), Danny N’Guessan (Lincoln City, Undisclosed), Astrit Ajdarevic (Liverpool, Free), Wayne Brown (Hull City, Free), Robbie Nielson (Hearts, Free), Chris Weale (Bristol City, Free)

OUTS: Joe Cobb (Wycombe Wanderers, Free), Lee Cox (Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Free), Barry Hayles (Cheltenham Town, Free), Patrick Kisnorbo (Leeds United, Free), Billy McKay (Northampton Town, Free), Ryan Beswick, Marc Edworthy, Paul Henderson, Bruno N’Gotty, Billie Kee (Accrington Stanley, Six Months Loan)

OUR EX-FOXES: None

THEIR EX-ORNS: Wayne Brown

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Weale

Neilson       Hobbs          Tunchev          Berner

Oakley           King         Wellens            Dyer

Fryatt           Howard

VERDICT:
What popular opinion records as a side rather unfortunate to have gone down in the first place looks reasonably well equipped for a season of “consolidation” back in the second tier. It’s hard to see them pulling up any trees, but there’s enough there to drop anchor for a season. Fifteenth, and comfortably enough so.
 

MIDDLESBROUGH

INS: Mark Yeates (Colchester United, Undisclosed), Danny Coyne (Tranmere Rovers, Free)

OUTS: Stewart Downing (Aston Villa, £12,000,000), Ross Turnbull (Chelsea, Free), David Knight (Darlington, Free), Mido (Zamalek, Season Loan)

OUR EX-BORO: Danny Graham

THEIR EX-ORNS: Adam Johnson

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Jones

Hoyte          Huth          Wheater           Grounds

Yeates          Digard          Arca            Johnson

Aliadiere          Emnes

VERDICT:
Whilst the contorted, unlovable monstrosity that is the Premier League is such that it’s almost difficult to feel for any side getting relegated, I’m finding myself sympathising with Boro’s predicament more than ever seemed possible under Bryan Robson’s leadership a decade or so ago. There can’t have been many other Premier League sides to have fielded ten or eleven local(ish) lads as Boro did last season, and having a manager who was born on Vicarage Road is no bad thing either. Of the relegated sides, despite the loss of Downing and, presumably, Tuncay Boro look amongst the best equipped to go straight back up. If someone is going to tonk the hell out of the division, as sides that can tie consistency with quality tend to do, rather Boro than any of the other realistic candidates. Promotion, anyway.
 

NEWCASTLE UNITED

INS: None

OUTS: Obafemi Martins (VfL Wolfsburg, £9,000,000), David Edgar (Burnley, Tribunal), Michael Owen (Manchester United, Free), Claudio Cacapa, Peter Lovenkrands, Mark Viduka

OUR EX-MAGPIES: None

THEIR EX-ORNS: None

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Harper

Beye         S.Taylor        Bassong          Kadar

R.Taylor      Nolan           Barton         Duff

Ameobi         Carroll

VERDICT:
Snigger.
 

NOTTINGHAM FOREST

INS: Chris Gunter (Tottenham Hotspur, £1,700,000), Dexter Blackstock (Queens Park Rangers, £1,600,000), Paul McKenna (Preston North End, £750,000), Paul Anderson (Liverpool, £250,000), Joel Lynch (Brighton & Hove Albion, £200,000), Lee Camp (Queens Park Rangers, £150,000), David McGoldrick (Southampton, Undisclosed), Dele Adebola (Bristol City, Free), Radoslaw Majewski (Polonia Warsaw, Season Loan)

OUTS: Hamza Bencherif (Macclesfield Town, Free), Ian Breckin (Chesterfield, Free), Paddy Gamble, Liam Hook, Adam Newbold, Tom Sharpe, Emile Sinclair, Richard Tait, Ryan Whitehurst, Mark Byrne (Rushden & Diamonds, Six Months Loan), Joe Heath (Lincoln City, Six Month Loan), Brendan Moloney (Notts.County, Six Month Loan), Shane Redmond (Burton Albion, Six Month Loan), James Reid (Rushden & Diamonds, Six Month Loan), Matty Thornhill (Brighton & Hove Albion, Six Month Loan)

OUR EX-FOREST: Will Hoskins

Gunter          Chambers         Morgan            Lynch

Anderson          Moussi          McKenna         Tyson

Blackstock             Earnshaw

VERDICT:
I don’t like Billy Davies. I’m probably being unfair, but hey this is my column, where else can I be wilfully irrational? Davies comes across as peevish and miserable, the sort of bloke with a chip on his shoulder whose motivation in all he does is to be able to turn around to all those who are Out To Get him and shout “See? See? Ha!”. So I don’t like him. But Forest’s board certainly seem to, and have backed their man royally as Forest have set themselves up as the big spenders of the division. It would be ironic if their near-neighbours act of appointing Clough Jr as manager finally rid Forest of one of their greatest problems – the shackles of the spectre of Clough Sr’s achievements looming over the City Ground. Top half. Probably more. Hope not, though.
 

PETERBOROUGH UNITED

INS: Toumani Diagouraga (Hereford United, Undisclosed), Danny Mills (Crawley Town, Undisclosed), Tommy Rowe (Stockport County, Undisclosed), Lee Frecklington (Lincoln City, Free), Krystian Pearce (Birmingham City, Season Loan)

OUTS:Mark Tyler (Luton Town, Free), Chris Westwood (Wycombe Wanderers, Free), Craig Braham-Barrett, Liam Hatch (Luton Town, Season Loan), Alfie Potter (Oxford United, Season Loan), Scott Rendell (Torquay United, Season Loan)

OUR EX-POSH:None

THEIR EX-ORNS: Toumani Diagouraga

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Lewis

Martin          Morgan         Zakuani           Williams

Whelpdale    Diagouraga           Lee          Boyd

Mackail-Smith     Mclean    

 VERDICT:
Another side managed by a son of a famous father, the Posh are the fashionable selection as dark horses; in Mackail-Smith, Mclean and Boyd there were over 50 goals last season, and with England U21 keeper Joe Lewis between the sticks you’d certainly expect Peterborough to have more than enough to survive. How much more than that though is difficult to predict; after two consecutive promotions, a steadier season might be in order. I’ll go with twelfth.
 

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE

INS: Reda Johnson (Amiens, Undisclosed), Kari Arnason (AGF Aarhus, Free), Carl Fletcher (Crystal Palace, Free), Bradley Wright-Phillips (Southampton, Free)

OUTS:Jermaine Easter (Franchise FC, Undisclosed), Emile Mpenza (Sion, Free), Graham Stack (Hibernian, Free), Roudolphe Douala, Dan Smith

OUR EX-ARGYLE:None

THEIR EX-ORNS: Carl Fletcher

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Larrieu

McNamee       Seip           Johnson           Sawyer

Summerfield         Fletcher        Duguid         Clark

Barnes           Mackie

VERDICT:
Argyle’s final placing perched above the relegation zone needs to be viewed in the context of the five point margin that separated them from relegated Norwich. Nonetheless, two wins in their last ten didn’t suggest a side ready to push on; relegation candidates.
 

PRESTON NORTH END

INS: None

OUTS:Paul McKenna (Nottingham Forest, £750,000), Simon Whaley (Norwich City, Undisclosed), Chris Neal (Shrewsbury Town, Nominal)

OUR EX-LILYWHITES:Tamas Priskin

THEIR EX-ORNS: None

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Lonergan

Jones         Mawene          Chilvers       Davidson

Sedgwick        Nicholson         Chaplow           Wallace

Elliott           Parkin

VERDICT:
Big respec’ to Alan Irvine for opting to resist West Brom’s approach to stay on at Deepdale. Reason to be cheerful for the Lilywhites, despite another failure to progress through the play-offs. One of the more likeable sides in the division, I find myself looking at Preston every summer and thinking “well you can’t see them doing that well again”. So I’m going to fight off my instinct and go for another play-off challenge for Preston, although the loss of McKenna is a grave one.
 

QUEENS PARK RANGERS

INS: Alejandro Faurlin (Instituto, £3,500,000), Alessandro Pellicori (Avellino, Free), Adel Taarabt (Tottenham Hotspur, Season Loan)

OUTS:Dexter Blackstock (Nottingham Forest, £1,600,000), Lee Camp (Nottingham Forest, £150,000), Damien Delaney (Ipswich Town, Undisclosed), Jake Cole (Barnet, Free), Jordi Lopez (Swansea City, Free), Zesh Rehman (Bradford City, Free), Chris Arthur, Samuel di Carmine, Danny Maguire, Liam Miller

OUR EX-RANGERS:David Kerslake

THEIR EX-ORNS: Lee Cook, Heidar Helguson, Gavin Mahon

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Cerny

Ramage          Hall        Gorkss           Connolly

Routledge      Rowlands       Faurlin         Balanta

Helguson         Vine

VERDICT:
A year ago I made the mistake of suggesting that Rangers’ owners were being responsible and intelligent in directing their investment modestly and measuredly. Hey ho. Twelve months and two managers later Rangers appear to be anything but a sensibly run club; it’s notable, too, that Jim Magilton’s track record doesn’t suggest an in-depth knowledge of the Italian second division any more than Iain Dowie’s did a year ago. Bottom half.
 

READING

INS: Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea, Season Loan)

OUTS:Kevin Doyle (Wolverhampton Wanderers, £6,500,000), Alan Bennett (Brentford, Free), Michael Duberry (Wycombe Wanderers, Free), Scott Golbourne (Exeter City, Free), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhamtpon Wanderers, Free), Gary Frewen, Tom Hateley, Leroy Lita, Graeme Murty, Sam Sodje, Damien Spence

OUR EX-ROYALS:None

THEIR EX-ORNS: Dean Austin (Assistant Manager), Nigel Gibbs (Coach), Brynjar Gunnarsson, Karl Halabi (Physiologist), Frank Lampard (Sort of Consultant), Brendan Rodgers (Manager)

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Federici

Rosenior       Cissé          Pearce          Bertrand

Tabb        Harper        Matejovsky

Kebe         Long           S.Hunt

VERDICT:
Well… what’s to say really. As regards Rodgers we’ve been there, done that on this site already, so there’s no value in going there again. As for the side… a much-needed clear-out seems to be underway but in the last season of parachute payments rebuilding the side involves challenging decisions for all concerned. Of greatest interest will be whether we see the Royals adopt the directionless, soul-sapping crab-football that characterised Rodgers’ first month or two at Vicarage Road, or the more incisive and effective variant that resulted in our climb to mid-table. Either way, few in Hertfordshire will be rooting for the Royals, fewer still if Rodgers continues his ham-fisted approach to “negotiating” with us for our players through the media. The real shame, lost in the detail, is that fate has left Nigel Gibbs at the same club, someone not worthy of the vitriol that’s likely to be directed at his colleagues. Top half, but that’s all.
 

SCUNTHORPE UNITED

INS: Rob Jones (Hibernian, £350,000), Michael O’Connor (Crewe Alexandra, up to £225,000), Josh Wright (Charlton Athletic, Free)

OUTS: None

OUR EX-IRON: None

Murphy

Byrne        Jones          Crosby          Morris

Sparrow    O’Connor       McCann         Woolford

Hooper         Hayes

VERDICT:
I must confess to not expecting to see Scunny back up here so soon. After one season in the second tier following the departure of Brian Laws and his replacement with ex-physio Adkins, and with bigger hitters jostling for promotion from the third tier a spell back in the lower reaches seemed more likely. Still… here they are, and owed the gratitude of anyone with half a brain for blocking the promotion of the Franchise (lots of “Gowonn Scunny!” from around the country in May, I’d guess). Still got to fancy them to struggle again now they’re here though.
 

SHEFFIELD UNITED

INS: Ched Evans (Manchester City, £3,000,000), Lee Williamson (Watford, £500,000), Leigh Bromby (Watford, Undisclosed), Andy Taylor (Tranmere Rovers, Undisclosed), Ryan France (Hull City, Free), Kyel Reid (West Ham United, Free), Keith Treacy (Blackburn Rovers, Six Month Loan), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur, Season Loan)

OUTS: Adam Chapman (Oxford United, £15,000), Kyle Naughton (Tottenham Hotspur, Undisclosed), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur, Undisclosed), Jamie Annerson (Rotherham United, Free), Nicky Law (Rotherham United, Free), Ben Starosta (Darlington, Free), Ugo Ehiogu, Sun Jihai, Mamadou Seck, Danny Webber

OUR EX-BLADES: Jon Harley, John-Joe O’Toole

Bromby        Kilgallon          Morgan          Taylor

Cotterill          Howard          Williamson     Reid

Henderson       Evans

VERDICT:
Not quite the Watford old boys’ eleven that seemed likely for a while, but more than a few familiar faces up at Bramall Lane nonetheless. They should be there or thereabouts again, even if £3million seems an extraordinary amount to spend on a striker with limited first team experience. They’ll need to finish top two to go up though you’d fancy, as Blackwell once again suggested that he doesn’t have the bottle to take the Blades up via the play-offs and frankly I just can’t see them doing that. Top six, probably, but that’s all.
 

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY

INS: Darren Potter (Wolverhampton Wanderers, Undisclosed), Tommy Miller (Ipswich Town, Free), Darren Purse (Cardiff City, Free)

OUTS:Kenny Lunt (Hereford United, Free), Sam Liversidge, Liam McMenamin, Wade Small, Steve Watson

OUR EX-OWLS:None

THEIR EX-ORNS: None

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Grant

Buxton         Purse           Beevers           Spurr

Johnson      McAllister     O’Connor        Gray

Tudgay          Sodje

VERDICT:
I have to confess to having been astonished at Wednesday’s comfortable mid-table finish last season, but buoyed by a number of talented home-grown lads (particularly at the back) and by some intelligent investment they did OK. They’ll be confident going into the new season also – Darren Purse is a magnificently pragmatic recruit, an experienced, hard-nosed bastard to provide what the kids might not be able to, and Tudgay committing himself to the cause despite, ostensibly, having the option of a top flight move suggests that the Owls aren’t the basket case that they appeared to be a year or two back. They’ll do well to challenge the play-offs, but shouldn’t struggle either.
 

SWANSEA CITY

INS: Nathan Dyer (Southampton, £400,000), Stephen Dobbie (QUeen of the South, Free), Jordi Lopez (Queens Park Rangers, Free)

OUTS: Jason Scotland (Wigan Athletic, £2,000,000), Chris Jones (Grimsby Town, Free), Owain Tudor-Jones (Norwich City, Free), Matthew Wright (Crystal Palace, Free), Dennis Lawrence

OUR EX-SWANS: None

THEIR EX-ORNS: None

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

de Vries

Rangel           Monk           Williams          Tate

Britton      Bodde     Pratley      Gower      Dyer

Pintado

VERDICT:
All bets are off as far as the Swans are concerned. Playing some very fine football under an apparently very decent manager, said manager and at least two of the crown jewels have upped sticks to Wigan and you’d have to worry about the Swans in the season ahead. Paolo Sousa was a fine footballer but as yet is unproven as a manager (although his spell on the Loftus Road ice rink probably shouldn’t count against him), and I’m far from convinced by Nathan Dyer. Could struggle.
 

WEST BROMWICH ALBION

INS: Simon Cox (Swindon Town, up to £1,900,000), Youssouf Mulumbu (Paris St.Germain, £200,000), Reuben Reid (Rotherham United, Undisclosed)

OUTS:Sherjill McDonald (Germinal Beerschot, £650,000), Kim Do-Heon (Suwon Bluewings, £350,000), Paul Robinson (Bolton Wanderers, Season Loan), Jared Hodgkiss, Carl Hoefkens, Pedro Pele

OUR EX-BAGGIES:Nathan Ellington

THEIR EX-ORNS: None

POSSIBLE STARTING ELEVEN:

Carson

Zuiverloon     Barnett     Olsson          Cech

Brunt         Greening        Mulumbu      Koren

Cox         Beattie

VERDICT:
It should go without saying that Albion, whichever division they’re in, will continue to reinforce their national ranking 20th-and-a-half. The squad they’re left with should certainly be strong enough to challenge, the one real wild card being manager Di Matteo whose recruitment on the basis of one OK-but-no-cigar season with the Franchise looks a little bit of a punt from this distance. You’d still fancy the Baggies for play-offs at worst though.
 

 

 

Loach

Mariappa     Demerit       Williamson       Doyley

Smith         Severin       Jenkins      McAnuff

Graham       Priskin

VERDICT:

 

 

Not a headline I thought I’d be using on a BHaPPY entry. Nonetheless… I have been alerted to a golf fundraising day at Bowood Park Golf Club, Camelford on Wednesday September 16th. This is a day after we play at Home Park, Plymouth which is an hour or so away, so folk of a golfing persuasion may wish to make a break of it.

£120 per team of four gets you 18 holes and a two-course meal, plus prizes from the golf shop, raffle and a putting competition. The fundraiser is to raise money for local churches.

Further details available from Jim (who I’m sure will reply to this posting if I’ve gotten anything wrong) on 01840 214877 or jim@benton-evans1@demon.co.uk.

That is all.