Match Day Thread Watford v Southampton Sat 4/3/17 3.00 PM

You're not missing owt. Safe journey, mate. Have a good weekend.

 

Pedantry alert: Watford Gap Services on the M1, about which that song is written, is actually close to Watford, Northants, and is nowhere near Watford, Hertfordshire where Saints play tomorrow. Nice idea though SiS!

 

ah well!

 

Missing the wife and kids

 

What's the emoticon for flabbergasted?

 

Absolutely.

Though I believe Pochettino deserves some credit for Kane's development.

 

What, what.....just said on Sky that Les Reed has just returned from holiday. They'll be saying he is human next.

 

That's a very good point you make. Since the phenomenon that was Rickie Lambert the thought has crossed my mind many times that there are players out there whose opportunities came and passed them by before they even knew they'd been around. We don't know the players who missed those opportunities because they were passed by, but I'm sure that there has been scores of them who could have been ace strikers or defensive and midfield kings.

I know we've written about unknowns missing out, and this is a bad example, but it's the only one I can think of because we know the player's quality - Jay Rodriguez. Before his injury against Man City in 2014-15 he was climbing towards the top of his profession. Week by week you could see him improving. I'm fairly certain that he would have become an established England player. Now look at him. He did well against AFCB, but he's a pale shadow of himself. It's just not there yet. Will he ever get back to where he was.?

 

Yeah, he also would have been first out the door that summer. It was a cruel injury. I don't think he will reach those heights again, but if he stays fit, he can still have a top flight career. But alas, not with us sadly.

 

It's not strictly related but you might be interested in a book by Malcolm Gladwell called 'Outliers'. It's about people who have extraordinary success and the take home message is yes you need the talent and hunger but a HUGE part of it is circumstantial and boils down to being in the right place at the right time. It's a fascinating book, check it out!
But I think it probably applies to football aswell, so many factors we don't think about, interesting stuff (must be why I haven't made it in profesional sport.....)

 

Eh? Same team as Sunday sims on bench.

 

It's Gabbiadini day.

No pressure, Manolo...

 

One of the things that excites me the most about having Gabbi now, is that if we're having 'one of those days' in an away game (like we have a fair few times this season), then we still undoubtedly still carry a threat that we didn't have before and I'll feel more confident about us nicking something. Worth a lot of points over the course of the season.


Oh, and MATCHDAY!!

 

A similar thing could have been said of ManU last Sunday. In parts they were being outplayed, and without their ace match winner in Ibrahimovic I very much doubt they would have won.

But yes, one of the things about Gabbiadini is that we go from a team that outplays the opposition for long periods of a match and still not score [like earlier this season], to one where we can have an 'off-day', yet beat the opposition simply by one piece of magic finishing.

 

Cheers for that TBD. Anyone who is interested in having a dip into this, here's the author reading his own book:

 

Not just Gabbiadini either. Boufal also has the ability to turn a game. Hopefully we will move away from the form we had earlier in the season and show more of that EFL cup final hunger!! Grrrr.

 

Agreed. I think Boufal is going to show more of that talent he has. At the moment I get the feeling that he's just so keen to perform that he's trying too hard. Nevertheless, technically he's possibly the most capable player in the team, and we're not short on skill these days. Plus he, just as much as everyone else, is willing to put in his shift of defensive duties.

Grrrr.!

 

He's turned so many matches so far that i lost count of them. But let me try. Sunderland in the cup. Then, hmmm...no, can't remember any.

 

He hasn't played much though has he?