Match Day Thread Watford v W.B.A.

One I think (2 bookings)

Defence will probably be as it ended tonight..

As said above a win against Swansea will do - lets say they lose tomorrow and don't beat West Ham (which isn't an easy game to call) they would be at best 8 points behind.

Like Hull they will want to win so be attacking which might suit us so long as we play well...not certain I know!

The fact we are 9th and still having doubts says it all about the teams outside the top 7.

 

Very enjoyable game, great atmosphere.
2 good goals.
Poor ref allowed WBA players to get away with too many niggly fouls plus a couple of really bad fouls that went unpunished.
Mapps, having not played all season, was up to speed and excellent and will be starting at Spurs I expect unless Prodl recovers. Jamnatt also looked like he played on after re-injuring his groin so he may also be out.

We played good football and played as a team. Where has this team and performance been hiding? We have seen them fleetingly for 4 or 5 games this season, the rest of the time another turgid, disjointed team turns up.

Dacoure best player for 3rd match running.

 

He was, when it mattered, .... pony.
We are told: never let your performance be a legacy for next week's referee. He's missed that one , with three big calls all wrong: 2 assaults on Holebas in the quick succession unpunished and a horrible, horrible red card for Britos

 

I think Britos gets a 2 game ban as it's his second red of the season - it would've been 4 or 5 games if both had been straight reds. A makeshift defence at WHL on Saturday and they may have Kane back.
We spoiled Pulis's 100th game in charge of Brom, and he's the first WBA manager to lose a league game at the Vic for 23 years. Whatever we think of WM, there are a few poor runs against certain teams that have been broken this season.

 

See WM managed a couple of sentences in English in the interview. No mention of the dug out tiff - probably just as well.

And Deano spoke well. "We've let in some bad goals, guess it doesn't help when your striker puts them in" or words to that effect.

But in cold light of day a great game I think. And a Brough win tonight and I reckon we are there. C'mon the Boro

 

best performance of the season and the first display of team spirit. good to see!

 

Yes, team spirit and even though we played well against Sunderland last night there was no bickering, no arm waving, just all getting on with it.

 

A very good win, and very good performance. Think our front 6 are looking really good at times. That midfield 3 is looking solid right now, especially Doucoure and Cleverley, and think their energy is helping Capoue. Niang is looking a great signing and hopefully we get him signed up before anyone else starts taking notice. Amrabat can still be a bit frustrating with a lack of end-product, but he works hard and gets back to help!

WBA were truly awful though - from the start you could see they were letting us have all the ball and wanted to try and win free-kicks/corners. Chadli should have done better at 0-0 but beyond that, they rarely threatened - even when down to 10...

The ref... A bit of a shocker really but in all 3 big decisions probably could have been helped more by the lino - especially the 2 on Holebas, which were right next to him. The Britos 2nd yellow was harsh but you can kind of see why it's given. An attacking player will always go down in that situation and imagine we'd be screaming for a yellow card in that situation. Does leave us very short against Spurs though. If Janmaat did tweak his injury, can see a back 4 of Zuniga-Cathcart-Mariappa-Holebas! Against an in-form Spurs, that is pretty scary!

As it is Britos' 2nd red card, I assume it will be a 2 match ban - so lets hope one of Prodl or Kaboul is back soon, but what a great opportunity for Mariappa to stake a claim in the squad for next season, and maybe in the team for the rest of season

 

http://www.skysports.com/football/n...fside-goal-call-correct-says-dermot-gallagher

Dermot Gallagher reckons Britos should not have been sent off.

But Mazzarri should have been...

 

Well I made it this time! A really enjoyable game, with an atmosphere that built as the game went on. Some great backs-to-the-wall defending that didn't really give them a sniff. Generally was disappointed with WBA considering how much pundits have gone on about them this season. Great Niang goal just in front of us, and some really solid performances. Thought Mapps did really well when he came on into a makeshift defence really. Couple of dodgy moments from Gomey and Janmaat but what a great 4 days to settle the nerves!

 

Really glad you enjoyed it A1 and tx for a first-hand view. While streams give you replays and commentary being there you get a real feel for the emotion in the stadium and how the players are reacting. I'm envious but soon I will be there

 

What a great game to choose to drive from Cheshire (and back - how come the M1, M6 & M5 are all SHUT at midnight ?).
Anyway, first game of an evening for years - terrific ! But I have a question about the ref, who tried hard to ruin the game for us but failed.( He obviously thinks Mclean is really an innocent youth.) When Deeney was pursuing the ball for his goal, it looked to me that Evans brought him down, from behind - and was last defender. Should Evans have been sent off - irrespective of the final outcome ? Certainly refs. go back to situations after advantage has been played to book players, even when the advantage is beneficial. Or did Evans get enough of the ball so it wasn't a foul. It looked much worse then Britos on Rondon, which I saw as 50-50 (I didn't see the shurt tug, and apparently neither did the lino).

 

Ditto for me and the A1 being closed at Huntingdon!

 

The sanction is for denying a goal scoring opportunity. It obviously wasn't denied. One could argue for a YC for the challenge but no referee would bother imho.
How Dawson and mcclean (I will not give that cretin the honour of capital letters) remained on the pitch is a mystery to me.

 

Thanks for the explanation - I hadn't thought it through.

 

Not a big fan of Pulis but have to give him some credit in seeing that Holebas was getting at Mclean and took him off at half time to avid losing him to a red card. Agree about Dawson extra physical for some reason and you could easily add Nyom in to the list in the second half