Ipswich Town 0 Watford 0 (21/03/2009) 22/03/2009
Posted by Matt Rowson in Thoughts about things.18 comments
Five thunks from the first points dropped at Portman Road in four visits…
1- As a denouement to the “should he have rotated or not” Plymouth discussion, we looked completely knackered. Started both halves brightly and on top, flagging by twenty minutes in, hanging on by the end.
2- Jenkins and Cork have both been terrific, and both did good things in this game… but both look shadows of the players of two weeks ago and our bench was painfully short of options and cover. Whatever the need to get salaries off our books, shipping O’Toole AND Eustace AND Bangura out suddenly seems a little rash. We could do with Brendan securing a loan midfielder, as has been mooted.
3- Scott Loach. Big respec’. Admittedly Ipswich’s approach didn’t test the less reliable aspects of his game, but a flawless performance from the keeper today culminating in a phenomenal save in the second half.
4- Ivan Campo. At Vicarage Road earlier in the season he looked out of place… the game blustered past him. Here, at centre-back, he was the game’s dominant outfield player. We might have helped Tamas by not sending EVERY ball at him up in the air, mind.
5- Pies. Is a pie at a reasonable temperature more or less likely to have been reheated from the previous week? Dad suggested the former… my feeling was that something dodgy was more likely to have been reheated to intolerable levels to kill off anything lurking… thoughts welcome…
Watford 2 Sheffield Wednesday 2 (14/03/2009) 14/03/2009
Posted by Matt Rowson in Thoughts about things.34 comments
Thunks from a very silly game against the Owls
1- I made the mistake of suggesting to ig after about an hour that the ref was doing OK. The ref then proceeded to lose it completely… Jeffers staying on after kicking Loach was extraordinary, Wood’s yellow card utterly implausible (if he fouled Priskin it was long before the covering defenders arrived), Cowie had a penalty shout ignored and plenty of controversy surrounded Wednesday’s late goal….
2-…none of which alters the fact that after an utterly punchless first half, our domination of the second after being handed back Loach’s earlier gift should have seen us comfortably ahead. Unlike Wednesdayduring their first half superiority, we had made more than enough good chances to win the game after the break. That’s where the blame lies… a one goal lead always leaves scope for someone to do something silly.
3- Speaking of which, I do hope the discussion over whether Jon Harley is a left back is over. Love him to bits attacking, love his commitment and energy, but you can’t buccaneer forward when there’s nobody behind you from left back. We need Lloydy back on the left pronto.
4- Lee Williamson’s a decent central midfielder, but one suspects that this was his last outing “in the hole”. His replacement by Hoskins was as obvious as it was overdue.
5- Credit to Scott Loach, who overcame a howler to command his area for the rest of the game.
Watford 2 Nottingham Forest 1 (10/03/2009) 11/03/2009
Posted by Matt Rowson in Thoughts about things.42 comments
Five thunks from a good win over Forest
1- Good stuff again. Another goal would have been nice, we were better than Forest but they weren’t so ineffective that a goal on the break was out of the question. And Forest looked too good to go down, obviously. Ha ha.
2- Not that Earnshaw or Tyson got a moment on the ball throughout the game. Full marks to Williamson and Mariappa after a bit of wobbliness on Saturday.
3- Tamas Priskin may have set a new record for backheels within a fifteen minute period at the start of the second half. Comes to something when Jobi McAnuff’s accusing him of being too flash. Great fun though.
4- Lloydinho. After wobbly spells in his Watford career, surely he’s now a cast iron Watford legend. The focus on him in the celebration for the winner was marvellous.
5- Not that it’s a surprise, but Billy Davies proved himself again to be a graceless nerk. “Knew what sort of game we were going to get here”. Sorry Davies, have you been paying attention? All I saw was your lot chasing shadows as we played you off the park for long periods.
Charlton Athletic 2 Watford 3 (07/03/2009) 07/03/2009
Posted by Matt Rowson in Thoughts about things.28 comments
Five thunks from our first win at the Valley since 1990…
1- In common with his predecessor’s more successful periods, Rodgers increasingly suggests that he knows what needs changing at the interval. We’ve seen tactical switches in previous games… today, one assumes, it was just a much needed kick up the backside that provoked a sterling second-half performance…
2- …and a fightback which really shouldn’t have been necessary. Letting the limited Addicks back into it was sloppy at best – overconfident at worst, as a half-time protagonist not unfamiliar with these pages suggested. Mike Williamson in particular displayed previously unsuggested absence of concentration.
3- Charlton are as dead as a dodo, displaying so many characteristics of a relegated side… plenty injuries, inability to hold a lead, glum silence rather than anger in the stands, inability to change a game (three like-for-like changes). We’re not safe yet, but we don’t look like that.
4- Some blinding goals for the Golden Boys. Make sure that you catch Rasiak’s if you weren’t there. Or even if you were. Wallop. And Priskin’s wonderful winner… my brother’s celebratory text informing a friend of developments contained a single word that said everything. Dink.
5- What a wonderful bloody racket from the travelling support. Keep this up and we’ll risk ruining a hard-earned reputation for decorum and restraint…
BHaPPY (not BSaD) 