Match Thread Watford (a) - Sat 14th Sept (23 Viewers)

[Evo1883]

I didn’t downplay his achievements at all. Don’t put words in my mouth. I have in other posts actually lauded his accomplishments. But he has just overseen the spending of around 40M pounds or so and we’ve not performed up to expectations have we? We’re sitting in 14th. He’s done well with us but not very well with other clubs. I don’t recall any of his teams every starting seasons fast off blocks and his game management is sometimes slow.

Is that fair and more to your liking? Give it a rest will you?

There aren't too many managers that don't have a flaw .

Mark robins has given this fanbase the best years since the Premier league , it's that simple really

He took us to within a penalty kick of the Premier league , that would be 3 promotions with club that looked dead and buried 7 years ago and one that's out performed financially by many many clubs at this level .

He's revived the fanbase and turned us into a club that has a good reputation with recruitment and young player development and one that has a good style of play .

I think some fans should remember what he's done for us and stop being overdramatic twats

 

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[Jamesimus]

I've not fully given, I'm just bored already. Completely and utterly bored of it. I don't think Robins knows his best team, which is laughable.

I couldn’t be bored of that first half, just was a bit annoyed it was only 1 at half time because I knew what was in store second half!

I think he has just learned his best defence today tbh. Seemed happy with the defending post match - I thought it was a bit wafty at times today though still.

 

[The watchmaker]

Today was a massive improvement mate at a good sid . I'm actually struggling to see what people are so unhappy about with todays performance if I'm honest

I agree on the performance and I'm probably one of the 'happy clappers' but I get why people are frustrated. 1 win in 11 in the league, no clean sheets this season, finding a way to drop points from winning positions, 2 rather mixed transfer windows, we've forgotten how to win whilst most of the usual suspects we thought we might be moving past have made their way to the top of the table...

Its an entertainment industry and I'm all for the 'sexy football' but a scruffy win and a clean sheet or two would be welcome over the next few games.

 

[Evo1883]

I agree on the performance and I'm probably one of the 'happy clappers' but I get why people are frustrated. 1 win in 11 in the league, no clean sheets this season, finding a way to drop points from winning positions, 2 rather mixed transfer windows, we've forgotten how to win whilst most of the usual suspects we thought we might be moving past have made their way to the top of the table...

Its an entertainment industry and I'm all for the 'sexy football' but a scruffy win and a clean sheet or two would be welcome over the next few games.

We don't really count the last few games of last season as current form

 

[Perennial Lurker]

There aren't too many managers that don't have a flaw .

Mark robins has given this fanbase the best years since the Premier league , it's that simple really

He took us to within a penalty kick of the Premier league , that would be 3 promotions with club that looked dead and buried 7 years ago and one that's out performed financially by many many clubs at this level .

He's revived the fanbase and turned us into a club that has a good reputation with recruitment and young player development and one that has a good style of play .

I think some fans should remember what he's done for us and stop being overdramatic twats

 

[RegTheDonk]

It's becoming a bit of a problem tbh , loads of divs on twitter all feeding off each other's negativity , loads of divs on here all pretending that a point Watford is a bad thing because we missed 3 great chances .
Tiring

Wether some agree or not , there's a massive amount of entitlement amongst fans atm

I think a point today is fair enough, Watford were only 3 points of top themselves and with our slow start, most reasonable people would have taken a draw before KO. Trouble is, money has been invested and lots of experts reckons we have a stronger squad - people expect success (or at least those 3 chances going in). New players will take time to adjust of course, I think my only concern is negativity spreads like a cancer with the fans, just hope it's not something that affects the team too much.

 

[Perennial Lurker]

We don't really count the last few games of last season as current form

Some do , it fits their agenda

 

[Evo1883]

Some do , it fits their agenda

It's weird , because there's different players for the teams you play and your own team.

Plus it's a 3 month gap

 

[Tommo1993]

Some do , it fits their agenda

It’s as sad as comparing your missus to your ex.

 

[TomRad85]

I couldn’t be bored of that first half, just was a bit annoyed it was only 1 at half time because I knew what was in store second half!

I think he has just learned his best defence today tbh. Seemed happy with the defending post match - I thought it was a bit wafty at times today though still.

I really hope we're back on it with Thomas and Kitching.

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[Evo1883]

I really hope we're back on it with Thomas and Kitching.

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I actually quite like the idea of a more progressive MVE whilst tats is out too

 

[2024/25 League 1 Champs?]

I wouldnt know but all I know is they are cheaper than ours both adult and kids and they will have far superior supply and demand for tickets

as for our kids tickets. I have a season ticket with my girl. shes 8 and having to pay £21 for her ticket is ridiculous no matter who we are playing. I paid a fiver for her today

well kind of proves the point, and of course they will have higher demand, most fans won’t have seen or ever expect to see a big prem team other than once in a blue moon

and whilst I don’t outright disagree with you re kids prices per se, unless they are a JSB kids pay this price for ALL category A matches, so I guess why should this be any different?

 

[Jamesimus]

I agree on the performance and I'm probably one of the 'happy clappers' but I get why people are frustrated. 1 win in 11 in the league, no clean sheets this season, finding a way to drop points from winning positions, 2 rather mixed transfer windows, we've forgotten how to win whilst most of the usual suspects we thought we might be moving past have made their way to the top of the table...

It’s an entertainment industry and I'm all for the 'sexy football' but a scruffy win and a clean sheet or two would be welcome over the next few games.

Yeah I get the frustration considering what we’ve spent. Seeing glimpses of performances though gives me that bit of hope.

If we could have rotated the midfield today second half with some fresh legs that were of a similar quality I don’t think Watford would have got that foothold back in.

But also, as we didn’t capitalise on our dominance in the first half, I kind of wanted to just see us Wycombe Wanderers the second half and come away with three points. We definitely don’t have the personnel to do that though.

 

[pusbccfc]

When you double your match going fanbase in a couple of years you’re gonna end up a minority here for the ride.

We haven't doubled away from home.

 

[pusbccfc]

Very loud on the tv watching

Very surprised by that. It was very quiet in the second half.

 

[TomRad85]

I actually quite like the idea of a more progressive MVE whilst tats is out too

He's certainly good enough to play there as he's an excellent footballer. That does mean we lose him at RB though.

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[Evo1883]

We haven't doubled away from home.

We have added several hundred to the average over the last 3 seasons

 

[Perennial Lurker]

I really hope we're back on it with Thomas and Kitching.

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They were a fantastic partnership last season when we had our great run . They seem to compliment each other well in terms of ability and role in the side .
Mention for DaSilva today who was largely very competent against a difficult opponent.
Hopefully when Sheaf And Saka return we will see a stable back line

 

[Jamesimus]

I really hope we're back on it with Thomas and Kitching.

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They compliment each other well and I think they need a run of 10 games together for us to start seeing the best of them.

 

[Jamesimus]

They were a fantastic partnership last season when we had our great run . They seem to compliment each other well in terms of ability and role in the side .
Mention for DaSilva today who was largely very competent against a difficult opponent.
Hopefully when Sheaf And Saka return we will see a stable back line

Yeah Dasilva was good. Thought he tired towards the end and when they brought that big unit on, I felt that was actually time for Bidwell.

 

[Tommo1993]

The worry is you give with putting MvE in a more advanced role, but then you take by putting Lati at RB (or anywhere).

 

[TomRad85]

They were a fantastic partnership last season when we had our great run . They seem to compliment each other well in terms of ability and role in the side .
Mention for DaSilva today who was largely very competent against a difficult opponent.
Hopefully when Sheaf And Saka return we will see a stable back line

Tbf I think many have wanted Thomas and Kitching back in for a while, I certainly have, I think its our best partnership. And while I wasn't a big fan of Dasilva last season, what I've seen of him this season is preferable to what I've seen from Bidwell, who's been rubbish.
So I would say currently those 3 certainly make up 3 of our best back 4, with MVE at RB.
Again though, and I will stop complaining I promise it seems to take Robins way too long to see the blindingly obvious sometimes.

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[Brighton Sky Blue]

The worry is you give with putting MvE in a more advanced role, but then you take by putting Lati at RB (or anywhere).

Cannon or Christie on a free to sort that?

 

[Cally Fedora]

Back in now and reading this I genuinely wonder if I’ve been watching a different game. First half was simply excellent. A couple of cool heads and we go in 3-0. Second half not so good but we still had excellent chances. Some of the play was sublime. Rudoni has transformed our set piece. I was really encouraged by that and am baffled as to how others saw it. The Champ is a dogfight, there are no pushovers. Not sure our expectations are realistic.

 

[Perennial Lurker]

Tbf I think many have wanted Thomas and Kitching back in for a while, I certainly have, I think its our best partnership. And while I wasn't a big fan of Dasilva last season, what I've seen of him this season is preferable to what I've seen from Bidwell, who's been rubbish.
So I would say currently those 3 certainly make up 3 of our best back 4, with MVE at RB.
Again though, and I will stop complaining I promise it seems to take Robins way too long to see the blindingly obvious sometimes.

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He is incredibly loyal at times to players and gives them a lot of time to prove their worth when most of us would change them

 

[Perennial Lurker]

Cannon or Christie on a free to sort that?

Would definitely take Cannon

 

[scubasteve]

Thought we played well today and the better team. Gifted them too many chances though. If we had gone 2.0 up I felt we would have won the game.
Feel we are starting to click and not worried just hate it takes us 10 games to get going.

 

[COVKIDSNEVERQUIT]

Yeah should've ran them into the ground all week ......

Don't be silly, we have a new Squad of Players, they need a much Time on the Training Pitch as they Can Get.

This is One of the Reasons Why they have a Slow Start to the Season.

 

[chiefdave]

With respect they said we will give it a go .. we are 41 games short of the end

Saying you will give it a go isn't saying we will win the league and get promoted

This, let's be honest you've got to be a complete fucking idiot to take a football clubs marketing spiel when they're trying to sell season tickets as some sort of promise of promotion. They all do it all the time. The only time we haven't had it was when SISU were here and they didn't give a shit about selling season tickets.

Has everyone forgotten Operation Premiership? As far back as when I was a kid I can remember a yearly letter from Bryan Richardson promising this would be the year, top 6 finishes, European football and other such bollocks.

And the reality is even with all the marketing bullshit they didn't promise what a section of the fanbase is expecting. It wasn't King or Robins talking about finishing in the automatic promotion places, but there's plenty of posts on here saying just that.

King has repeatedly said he wants the club in and around the play offs consistently, that's nothing like a promotion guarantee. Just the other day there was another interview with King repeating the same mantra "So I’m not in a Billy Whizz rush. I’m in a position where I want us to be successful, where I want to challenge at the upper end of the Championship for a long time. I’ve put on record that we want to be in the play-off mix in three out of every five years, and hopefully in one of those we sneak through the door. I think that is a realistic ambition". Not sure how you read things like that and jump to promises of promotion this season.

And Robins has said pretty much fuck all about being promoted.

 

[torchomatic]

Our support, in terms of noise, is rapidly declining. The booing of the Doug song today completely killed the atmosphere. Barely a peep from the away end after that.

Yeah, mentioned it on another thread. What a weird thing to do. Why did some boo it? Ticket prices? Lack of signings? Both?

 

[pusbccfc]

Yeah, mentioned it on another thread. What a weird thing to do. Why did some boo it? Ticket prices? Lack of signings? Both?

Ultimately there's a few on here and Facebook who have ramped up the hatred for Doug.


Against Norwich is was sung loudly. Today it was booed. Baffling.

 

[Sky Blue Harry H]

Back in now and reading this I genuinely wonder if I’ve been watching a different game. First half was simply excellent. A couple of cool heads and we go in 3-0. Second half not so good but we still had excellent chances. Some of the play was sublime. Rudoni has transformed our set piece. I was really encouraged by that and am baffled as to how others saw it. The Champ is a dogfight, there are no pushovers. Not sure our expectations are realistic.

Agree - really enjoyed the game as a spectacle. We played well.

 

[LilleSkyBlue]

Very loud on the tv watching

Yes. I got a dodgy stream and maybe the boom was right in with the Coventry fans but the noise from us all game (apart from when my dodgy stream kept cutting out) was incredible. The Twist and Shout made me very happy in the first half.

 

[fatso]

Stoke have only beaten us, we have only beaten Oxford and we are Oxford’s only defeat.

The Championship in a nutshell

Stoke and Oxford are both pretty poor teams at this level.

Oxford are having a decent start (9 points from 15) they are over achieving but it won't last.

We are underachieving. Hopefully that will change when Sheaf and Sakamoto are fit, but we all know our squad is missing a couple of quality players and that could cost us a top 6 spot if not addressed.

 

[The watchmaker]

We don't really count the last few games of last season as current form

Some do , it fits their agenda

Well... I get why you might not but I do think it is legitimate to. That is our league form. Some of the things we were doing wrong Cardiff City onwards (soft goals, not showing up, throwing away leads etc) have carried over to this season and most of those games still had something riding on them.

In isolation this game, this performance even the result - all good; win against Swansea and this could be considered the game where things turned around. But the reality is that no one was surprised when Watford equalised. No one would have been that shocked if we had lost. We just need to get back into the habit of winning games and a lot of this negativity will go away.