I object! We fought for everything we got today, and didn't get half of what we should have got from the ref. We won that game inspite of the circumstanes, not because the circumstances handed us any lucky opportunities. Deeney may well have been off side for the first, but he could also have been given a penalty because the defender was clearly holding on to him.
UPDATE: a country can not have more than 7 teams across both European competitions. So unless the team finishing 8th wins the fa cup this season they can not qualify for Europe (this is based on the top 6 clubs staying in the top 6)
That was one battering performance played by two equal teams, a brilliant 3 points which rightly so make our recent stats very impressive! COYH!
Turns out one of the sources I was using for my Troy and Deulofeu post earlier was yet to update, and so today's game actually saw Geri match his best ever top flight 'points' tally, the free kick assist being his 5th of the season to add to his six goals. Even better.
Thought it was a foul but just seen the recording and was one of the less obvious ones - can see why he didnt give that one. As for the other 15, i have no idea
What was the reception for Brenda? Didn’t see any blowup snakes or rats. Lesta listened to Troy’s advice and had at least 3 players taking turns to foul him. All over his back and we got nothing. Moss doesn’t like Troy or Watford on this showing. Biased on 50:50’s and booking Deeney for legitimately going for the ball outside the area. Unintentional foul not a booking. I just can’t understand the constant negativity on Mariappa. He has the odd poorer game but his anticipation, the blocks, the tackles, the clearances he puts in and he jumps with springs in his heels. I’m convinced it’s because he’s a 5’11” centreback so looks lightweight. If he was 5 inches taller so looked more like an EPL CB I just don’t believe he would get all the criticism. Why does Javi keep picking him with a fit Britos and Kabasele? Gray’s first touch was brilliant and a great finish. Taking his shirt off showed his frustration not getting much game time. As has been said, a captains performance from Troy, and he said on Five Live this morning that the team were trying to show they’re not mentally on the beach after 40 points safety. Whoever asked that at the ‘At My Place’ forum deserves a beer - he’s taken the criticism from past seasons to heart. Great win, Hughes, Deeney, Capoue, Doucoure stood out for me. Just need the snake to lose today (Richarlison benched) and it will have been a good weekend. Roll on Palarrse.
We made a substitution and scored in added time. Refs tend to add more time for both these things plus the goal celebration was (understandably) drawn out. Gray was subsequently booked for over celebrating.. another thing refs add time for. Actually i thought there would be more time added overall as there were two long stoppages for injury. Anyway i don't think we should be feeling too hard done by from the officials as our first goal looked suspiciously offside.
That was one of the most satisfying wins of the season. Last minute goals always give you that feeling, but when it's against a manager like Rodgers and against a referee who was trying his best to influence the match, then it's one where you can give two fingers to the ****s that want to constantly crap on you. Did we play sparkling football? No, but this win is down to teamwork and desire. Pure and simple. It's not the first time we've won a game like this. We are playing nowhere near the level we were at the beginning of the season, but we battle away, stay in the match and somehow grind out a win. Leicester looked in control for large parts of the match, but rarely did they threaten. In fact we should have been leading before the 5th minute, when Mapps missed an absolute sitter, with the goal gaping he elected to shoot straight at Schmeichel. I thought the Deulofeu freekick had gone straight in, but clearly must have glanced off Deeney's head for the first goal. Good chances were at a premium though. Even though Leicester had a lot of the ball, they didn't really open us up a lot. This is huge credit to the defensive work and after we were destroyed against Liverpool, it's good to see we were on top of things today and confidence was not crushed. For me, we had far too many touches on the ball and too many misplaced passes throughout the game to give Watford any cohesion, but it was a difficult game to judge Watford on, because of the nature of Jon Moss' game plan. It's very hard playing a side that can foul all your players without fear of giving away a freekick, and when they fall to the ground they will get a freekick every time. Players quickly tune into this and the game becomes difficult because everyone knows what's going on, but can do nothing about it. It's a tactic Jon Moss uses every time he officiates us. My only hope is we don't have him in the FA Cup. I was pleased Vardy went off, as that really blunts them. I think it gave Watford a little bit of confidence to push forward without fear on getting caught on the break. So 43 points, with 9 still to play. The next couple of league matches are going to be tough, but after that I think we should do well. No reason why we cannot win all our home matches, and if we do that, I think we will finish 7th, as that would mean beating Wolves and West Ham. That last minute goal will ensure we are last on MotD, but I don't really care. We won.
Moss was carp but he did pull the play back for a free kick when there was no advantage leading to the goal Our sometime boo boys were brilliant today..thought Deeney and Maps were phenomenal Celtic fans certainly liked us playing “just can’t get enough” at the end (which I believe they play too) I’m really enjoying the football, the manager, the owners, the 1881 and feel “connected” to the players this season...brilliant stuff
Actually he waited until Deeney had broken free in the box before calling play back. It was sheer luck (and frustration for Moss) that we actually scored from the freekick, as we certainly had a good advantage before he stopped play.
I said to my mate after Gray''s winner and the ensuing celebrations that I didn't see a more dejected looking man on the field trudging back to the half way line than Mr Moss himself!
I think it's worthy of debate, seeing as Pereyra is being heavily criticised and Hughes is not, yet their stats from today are very similar. Similar number of touches and pass accuracy. Pereyra made two key passes to Hughes' zero. He made 5 clearences to Hughes's 1, in spite of criticisms of his defensive work. Stats aren't everything, Pereyra can clearly do far better and this isn't a criticism of Hughes in any way. I just think some of the flak is unfair.
Bloody hell! We won, we were awarded a goal that looked suspiciously offside, one of the so-called "fouls" that Deeney and the Watford crowd were baying for was shown in the replay to be Deeney just falling over, and Deeney got away reasonably lightly with a couple of ropey challenges himself - and still people on here are bitching about the referee being biased against us. He may not have been very good but he wasn't biased against us. Get a grip! And I don't think Deeney helps himself with referees sometimes.
2 minutes stoppage time in the first half was ridiculous given one goal and a long delay for the Foster-Vardy collision. I thought 4 mins was a bit short for the second half but was happy with that as Leicester looked the more likely to score, if only from a dodgy pen
Two players in the box looking for the ball, and Troy in a position to drill one in low. Turners out OK, but if I had the choice, I would have let it go. Even better, Moss could have allowed it to play out then go back. That would truly allowed advantage. In isolation, it seems a good decision, and I said it was fair at the time, but with the rest of his clear bias, whether conscious, ignorant or otherwise, it can fairly be described as just another act by which he appeared to reduce our chances.
Both teams were going at it full pelt and the keepers were barely holding the ball for more than a couple of seconds before putting it back in play. I imagine Moss just wanted to get off asap for a lie down.
According to the BBC the game did go to 96 minutes. But i believe refs usually add on 30 seconds for a substitution, an overly long goal celebration or a booking. As we had all 3 in added time 96 mins was about right. First half should definitely been more than 2 mins added, in which time we could have scored a second.. or of course they could have equalised. Seems to me that refs are more likely to add on time at the end of a game than first half stoppages.
When the offside was shown properly on Sky with the line and everything, it was literally so marginal it would’ve been impossible to call. Deeney’s hand was marginally ahead of everybody else, that was it.
...but he had the ball at his feet close to the corner of the 6 yard box - it was an odd call to take play back for a freekick. Glad he did though !
