I have to join those that disagree with you, Shane was clear, the guy took one for the team and knew he had to go, as is said, he didn't dispute the red, he did berate his own players for allowing it to happen.
I think I was a Watford fan, I'd be happy with Watson's decision making. A bit further up the pitch, and it would have presented Tadic a great scoring opportunity, but as it was, it was just slightly too far our for a shot. And given that I am confident that Long would have had a one-on-one chance with the keeper without any foul, and given the time left on the clock, it was a sensible foul for Watson to make in my view.
What a fantastic day for my first trip to St Mary's (even though I was sitting there at half time saying that I was never going to go again - I was obviously a jinx ) Even though the result and performance weren't perfect - obviously - everything felt better because I met FLT, Fran, Tom, Chilcs, Dave etc etc Højbjerg was brilliant, Redmond very, very promising (though I thought that he was going to get at least booked if not sent off for moaning at the ref so many times), VvD was immense in defence as usual and Tadic was excellent. They did all seem a bit lost in the first half with the formation (so was I!) but things definitely improved. I've partly lost my voice from all the yelling at the players to go forward and they listened a bit more in the second half I want to say a huge "Thank you" to flt, not just for picking me up on the way but for a lot of laughs and non-stop chat in the car, as well as for lunch which he sneaked in. It's been a long but fun day - roll on the next one!
Have to agree with most. The first 25/30 minutes we were awful, but we did get better, and did take control, even when it was 11v11. Cedric's crossing was dire, and if he is going to slide a pass along the ground for Long, when Long has his back to goal, he needs to hit them harder. I lost count of how many times the defender stepped around Long and brought the ball out. A few, last week, took me to task over my comments about how all our corners are being hit into the same zone, basically centre of goal, around the edge of the 6 yard box. Every corner today was in that same place. Fortunately Gomez flapped one to Redmond, but most keepers will just gobble them up. They really do need to be varied.
Which is strange, as our one constant this summer is Dave Watson - who does our set-pieces, and I'm sure (though maybe wrong) they were more varied last year.
Cedric was poor, but Long needs to take some responsibility for the comment you made about the passes into him. I spent a long time moaning about Pelle not coming to meet the ball to hold it up; Long was like that today on occasions. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and blaming the Euros
To be fair Gomes has been notorious as a flapper his whole career and pretty much put on a masterclass of poor handling today, so that was the perfect place for them to be. Must have been 5 times in the game he messed up claiming the ball from crosses or shots that as you say most keepers would gobble up. So in that case, crowding the 6-yard box and forcing Gomes to come for them was pretty much the best case scenario, especially given their height advantage. Might have been completely coincidental and dumb luck, but don't think you can condemn the deliveries in this instance.
Sorry didn't get to the pub, wasted more time on the motorway that Watford did in the match. Over 5 hour journey when normally under 3 meant didn't get into Southampton until 2:15. The risk of taking on 5 motorways to get there, had everything from a stray dog to roadworks and accidents. Ah well was it worth it? I did wonder at half time but of course it was. Disappointing result but a decent performance and good to see a full house. Credit to Watford fans too. Agree with most post match comments and the positives from the game. Whatever formation we are playing there is no excuse not to make the most of the ball. Targett has slot to learn still and needs more confidence in his forward play. A fit Bertrand would have made a difference today. That said I would like Targett to be given the chance to improve that side of his game. All in all, a solid enough start
Yeah Cedric was extremely sloppy but I sympathised a lot with him and Targett in the first half. The options when they looked up to find a pass around the half way line were both incredibly limited and constantly changing until Watford started to sink deeper and we found a rhythm. Takes me back to last season when Targett was deputising the first few games and we played some pretty funky and unbalanced formations, with JRod and Long nominally playing from the left a few times and a 5 at the back a few times. Bertrand was certainly painfully missed and Targett was crucified for his complete lack of impact with the ball, but somehow through every game he ended up stuck the only source of width on the left facing tight 1v1s and 1v2s just inside the opponents half where he can't lose the ball. Going to be by far the hardest and most important thing about adapting to the diamond I feel, requires a huge amount of fluidity about who will be helping out the fullbacks going in both directions as most teams these days attack and defend with two dedicated wide players.
