Shame though. Only get to one or two games a season and don't have Sky, so a match on the BBC gives me a chance to see an extra game but it just wasn't that enjoyable to watch!
I think not enjoyable is putting it mildly. It was excruciating. Apart from one or two passing moments towards the end of the first half, it was hoofball at its purest - marginally less so than under Boothroyd in 2008 but still "whack it and see what breaks"! Forest were a poor side but they realised early on that if they defended in depth and strung their big blokes across the back then they would restrict us to one or two chances - and so it proved. The absence of quality in our side is staggering, considering we did spend a fair bit over the summer. Forsyth looks lightweight and delicate, Garner wouldn't know where the goal was if it was lit up in neon and Yeates is a lower division journeyman without a penetrating pass in his body. Hogg - where was he? I didn't notice one interception, one telling pass, one shot from him.....nothing. I've seen all our relegations since 1971 and I can tell you that all the signs point to a season of huge struggle and we are kidding ourselves if we think otherwise........
Yet we controlled the game at Reading and defended well for the point at Barnsley. I'm not saying today was very good, it wasn't, but I wouldn't write us off for relegation yet either.
Forsyth one of our best? Was I on a different planet today? What you do in the area counts, but outside of it he was terrible. Yeates was mediocre, but he looked lively and at least got some balls into the box.
Problem is that it's largely home form that determines how successful a season is. The longer we go without winning at home, the more pressure is put on the away games. 1 point from 12 at home is relegation form, however you look at it - even allowing for the game against a Parker inspired West Ham. Forest and Derby are hardly sides that we should be losing to and no amount of gloss on a 2-2 with Brum disguises the fact that the point at Vicarage Road is the only one won by them away from St Andrews so far. As for the win at Reading - great, but one swallow and all that. The point at Barnsley was hardly deserved - and sometimes one has to look past the result and to the performance. We should have gone up there brimming with confidence and at least matched them - but we were out thought and outfought and should have been beaten by 2 or 3. So let's not kid ourselves - GT used to say that the position after the first 10 games gives a good indication of how the season will pan out. With 2 games to go (and one of them at Southampton), it's not looking very hopeful.
I do agree with this though. Poor as we were, 80% of the time we would have taken a goalless draw from that. Forest didn't look like scoring in a month of Sundays until we gave them the lead. Also want to say that I thought Doyley and Mariappa were magnificent today.
Ok I\m still seething at that utter garbage ! I agree we are in a relegation scrap based on todays game! What concerns me is Seans apparant lack of nous! the subs were way to late , murray on in the 91st min when were losing , what was the point apart from wasting time for forest!! When I spoke to him at the end of season do ,I asked him would he aspire to be a no 1 , I think he was spot on when he told me he wasnt ready yet!! Sean O driscoll has been dumped by doncaster ,a good manager used to the championship low budgets etc ! , If were not going to sack Sean (which would be unfair and hasty) then to give him an experienced voice to listen to couldnt do any harm ! The 10 games in and see where were at is looking very concerning! The Millwall game now imo becomes a six pointer and frankly this early in the season that is alarming! Play like that and Southampton will kill us ( already considering the option of staying in Yates!) Beforehand I have said that its good not to be reliant on loanees , we missed Andi today ! The other main problem is lack of creativity in midfieldwe are in dire need of another attacking creative midfielder Marvin worked hard with little support and was to often isolated or offside! Loach I really am reaching the end of my tether with his blunders and lack of communication and lack of coming out! Going back to SoD at least his teams played football ! this evening we were back to the hoofroyd era with a vengeance! Am concerned we are moving backwards on the pitch as much as we seem to be moving forward off it! From a watford viewpoint I am struggling for a man of the match! How does Sean put this right ! could do worse than go back to MM`s way of trust in the youth and ditch the journeymen !, at least then were developing our own academy talent , (by the way I dont buy into this they have done too much too fast bullshit from dyche!) If your good enough your good enough ,it doesnt matter your age! two or three older heads to run the show is all you need ! Today we played with limited ideas and telegraphed lumps upfield this simply will send us down!
This I believe is what makes football such a good thing to talk about, especially if you are in a pub after a game and have the time to chew it all over. Before I say any more today we were awful, but different people here have seen different things. Just how did that goal happen? Tiny ducked to let the ball go over his head, Dickinson seemed to be surprised. Had Loach made a call to say that he was coming, because if he did he stopped and waited for the ball to come to him. As a keeper in my younger days, I was taught that if you started to come out for a ball you just kept on coming even if you would get clattered. My suspicion is that Loach was at fault, but I was not close enough to him to hear if he did call. If he were to blame he did make one good save when he could only have seen the ball very late. Forest came for a point with three centre backs and just hoped that they would get a lucky break, which they did. Seeing what a big tall side they were I think that I might have put Iwelumo on much earlier in an attempt to win some of the higher crosses. There were some good crossed balls in, but Sordell and Garner were just not anticipating them. The sooner that Sordell learns to look across the line and stay on-side the better, or he will start to assume the mantle of Tamas. From what I hear most weeks and have seen today, mid-field creativity is where we are lacking most. The Cleverleys and Lansburys of this world are not easy to get in on loan, but maybe we need one of that type as well as another winger.
Or we could recall and continue`the development of some of the playing staff we have shipped out on loan For example whichelow ,I fail to see how being at Exeter at the moment is aiding his development! While I m on the subject Bond at Brackley , Isaac at B/wood, surely a league 2 or blue square side would be more beneficial!
What's worse, a keeper staying on his line too often but generally making the best of dodgy positioning, or coming off the line with no conviction because coaches and fans say so? I know what Loach would rather do, and I know what he did do. As for Dyche, I think he's taken it too far the other way with youngsters, but that doesn't mean he's completely wrong. If a youngster is really starting to struggle, you need to be able to take him out of the team. We haven't had that luxury with the likes of Hodson and Jenkins in recent seasons, and I think that has been to their detriment. Even GT, who usually has a policy of saying nothing about the first team, has said precisely the same thing in recent months, bar naming the actual players.
I think you are placing too much faith in the youngsters to perform week in week out. A couple of games at a time is usually reckoned to be enough As for where the players go surely has to be what is convenient for WFC and the club that takes them. With non-league sides they are only training twice a week, so the youngsters are spending the other days training at Watford.
For a goalkeeper I don't think it matters. Isaac would ideally be playing regularly for our reserves now and going to a League 2/Conference side in January, but there are too many people ahead of him here, hence the Borehamwood loan. Going to Wealdstone didn't do Sordell and Massey any harm.
that is the positive side Frenchie at least they are still in contact with the parent club! NNW would rather have a keeper that commanded his area "Coton "style We dont seem to have one at the moment! This has cost us points last season and is costing us again now!! Agreed he has definately gone too far the other way we have bought in quantity not quality it appears!
I don't think that's the problem. We desperately, desperately needed the numbers. The problem is that he has youngsters who can give an underperforming professional something to think about for 4-6 games, but has not given the slightest hint that these youngsters will be given a chance to do so. Even if he gave Murray or Whichelow 2-3 starts almost as a token measure, it would gently remind the other twenty-somethings that their places are not set in stone.
Difference between brackley and even wealdstone ! we at least trust the stones set up! No point in bringing numbers if they are rubbish! lets hope today was a collective bad day at the office , although we seem to be havingtoo many of them ! I think we have to consider that 1) the general Dyche theory is flawed or the majority of newbies Dicko excepted are rubbish! and dont offer us anything our kids could have done!
Careful Norway, I do know quite a lot about Brackley Town FC. They are a very well organised little semi-pro club very much on a par with Wealdstone and he had a successful spell with them before.
A disappointing game. Never really got going and agree on the lack of pace point but not sure if we really deserved to lose. Another daft cheap goal to give away with at least 3 defenders potentially to blame (a former hornet up the in Legends area though Taylor was the main one at fault...) and we missed a couple of great chances beforehand. Not sure if Garner role was up front alongside Sordell or just behind. Thought Mariappa was MOTM. Given Millwall hasven't scored in ages Tuesday might be pretty dull...
The midfield debate has surfaced many times over recent years. We desperately need a creative midfielder (or two!) yet the truth is they are very hard to come by, especially for a club with little money. Many visiting Championship sides are in the same boat. We rarely come away from games raving about one of the opposition midfielders unless, like Scott Parker, they are really Premiership players. We need to improve the quality of the passing of the midfielders we've got and their job would be made considerably easier if there was better movement among the players expecting to receive the ball. Sordell does his best to make himself available, but it's hard when he's marked by two defenders. A bigger problem seems to me to be among the midfielders themselves who seem to think once a pass is made there is no urgency for them to look for space. I'd also add that our best hope for some creativity probably lies with the likes of Whichelow and Murray and it's very difficult for them to come into a losing side.
Frenchie as a matter of interest whats the difference in the league pyramid between southern league prem and isthmian league prem! Secondly would it not be better to send our youngsters to pro side rather than a semi pro side! It concerns me that we are sending the kids too far down the league structure! we really are suffering from binning the reserve league!
We were rubbish and got found out by another struggling team, No idea, no clue, no leader, no flair, defender MOTM at a home game Mariappa and Doyley played well and earned their wages but the rest were dross. We could not buy a win at home! We are going to struggle to survive in this division, Simples!
