Always a pleasure playing any south coast team. We beat them convincingly on their own turf last season but that was before Silva turned reptilian. I’m expecting a better performance than we saw Saturday hopefully with the big man starting and prove us is all wrong with a scintillating display and a masterful hat trick to boot. Dirty cheating Muff 1 Ornz 4.
Cheating charlatans! Who'd have believed that such chiselling, snidey, swindling, snot-nosed, flim-flam artists could sneak their way to Premiership survival each year? THIS is our moment. Our single most important game of our season. I don't care if we don't get another point or score another goal after this one. But for justice. For fair play. For the very good of football itself. We need to remove the festering thorn of that foul of that awful afternoon. That bleak day. Make no mistake. Do not allow yourselves to become distracted. As Brother Smudger has pointed out in his fine introduction to this thread. Bournemouth represent all that is wrong with modern football. Cheating, weaselling, smarmy. Slyly stealing a premiership spot. 0-5 and Muff to miss a pen is my wish.
Home win sadly. Eddie set up to beat our 4222 last time around and expect him to do so again. If that fails one of them will always fall over.
Aké went off injured yesterday, will be a big loss for them if he's out. They already have problems in defence with Smith and Francis out long term.
Not on the telly. This game was moved from new years day, as the Muffins game with Manure was moved from Saturday to Sunday for Sky. Hope we win this, but unlike most of you, I hope the Muffins don't get relegated, I like my two weekends away in Bournemouth. (The other when we play Southampton).
One of the games I’d want to win that little bit more than others. But Bournemouth away is one of (if not the) toughest games outside of playing the big 6. As always I’m sure we’ll have decent spells and create some chances, let’s hope someone can stick them in.
As much as I admire Nathan Ake, and would never wish ill on him, I hear he could be out for Wednesday match with an hamstring injury. That would be a big boost for us, as he's a very important player for them. Add to that Simon Francis, Lewis Cook, Dan Gosling and Adam Smith all out, they are really hit with injuries right now.....bless them. I suspect the FA will suspend their match with us until they are back to full health, just to give them a better sporting chance, the little cherubs. https://ghanasoccernet.com/akes-injury-concerns-howe
Shout out to the lovely couple I met on the train back to Milton Keynes on Saturday night who, if I remember will be going to this as you go to all away games. I can't remember your names because beer, but was nice to meet you both and hope you enjoy the game and come back with a win!
You could still stay in Bournemouth when we play one of the promoted teams. Norwich? Leeds? For the greater good.
I see we've been appointed with another rookie referee in David Coote. This will be only his 6 ever Premier League match of his career. I don't have a problem with this official as such, but it's clear the FA only appoint these officials to the less glamourous fixtures. Not once has an inexperienced referee been appointed to a fixture involving a top 6 club.
They're currently ravaged by injuries to their defence. They'll also be demoralised and tired after being battered by Man Utd, and having had a long trip back to the south coast with one day's less rest than us. They'll def be there for the taking! Muff 4 - 0 Watford
That's life, as in most jobs one has to make ones way up the ladder to the top. I am sure he will be appraised after a certain amount of games and then given more glamorous ties if his performances merit.
Suspending would be too extreme. A couple of extra penalties for being "good sports" and going ahead and playing us should suffice.
I don't accept that as being correct. If an official is deemed fit enough to officiate a Premier League match, then he should be available to take ANY fixture. There should be no grading in which game he should be exposed to. Watford deserve as much respect as Liverpool or Manchester United when it comes to the quality of officiating. For a referee, it should not matter whether he's officiating Watford v Cardiff or United v City. The rules are the same for everyone, or should be. If the game is to be seen as fair and unbalanced, then all referees in the Premier League pool of officials should be able to take any match. It's a clear indicator of favouritism towards the elite clubs, and backs up the notion that the bigger clubs get all the beneficial decisions.
Would you really be happy with a Spanish referee making his La Liga debut and being given El Clasico in the Bernabeu? Also, do you feel equally as passionate about refereeing bias in Spain when Barcelona are getting decision after decision against smaller teams?
Some games are higher stakes with more pressure than others - that includes both top of the table clashes and "relegation six-pointers"; Watford's games lately haven't tended to be either.
How do you know this? Do you follow Spanish football? In Spain it doesn't really matter, as Barcelona steamroll every team anyway, whether they get good or bad decisions. The contrast is far more balanced. If an official is deemed good enough for a La Liga match, then yes, he should officiate Barca v RM, why not? Officiating in Spain and the rest of Europe (from what I've seen) is far superior to that of England. England has the worst standard of officiating in all the top leagues in Europe.
I don't think calling them rookies or inexperienced is quite right. They've been refereeing for years. What they're not used to is the exposure and scrutiny that comes from refereeing in the PL and so I guess it's inevitable they're going to be given lower profile games at first. And we tick that box every which way. Incidentally one of the other newer PL refs, Andy Madley, made an excellent decision to overrule his linesman and allow Brighton's goal against Everton at the weekend.
You call me a W****** then complain when I give you some back? Unbelievable. Don't throw stones if you cannot take it. My comment is every bit the joke as yours was.
That's my point. They should not be given JUST the lower profile games. It's wrong, and I'm surprised fans are ok with this. It breeds an elitist attitude and is probably one of the reasons why bigger sides get favourable decisions. There should be no difference from the arbiters of the game towards clubs. We should be as important as Manchester City in terms of applying the laws of the game. To my mind it really questions the integrity of the game if this favouritism is so open and widely accepted. What's the difference for a competent referee, if he's doing the Chelsea v Arsenal match or the Bournemouth v Watford match? There should be no difference at all. If an official is capable of officiating a Watford game, then he should be capable of doing a match with a top 6 club.
Their strikers will make a run across our defender, away from goal, in the penalty box. They will go down under absolutely minimal contact. Penalty and 1-0 Bournemouth. Saint Eddie will smirk as his team systematically cheat to victory. Dive, free kick. Dive, free kick. And so it has always been. And so it will be again.
Common sense to promote favouritism? It's like saying Spurs can have 4 points for a win and Watford get 2, because Spurs are more important than us. There has to be a level playing field across the board. This message has to be driven from the law makers in the game. It's shocking that this is not the case, and supporters seem to be ok with it. Accepting that smaller clubs are not as important as the perceived bigger ones. Every club should have equal importance, when it comes to those running the game.
