Dai Yawn!!. For those that can’t speak Welsh (I only learnt a few phrases) that means ‘very good‘!! Tuesday was one of the best days at work I’ve had in a long time. After months of slogging, everything suddenly fell into place - I couldn’t believe it, the leaflet I had designed was finally ready to go out to the public, not just one but two contracts were signed and as my manager is away on holiday I felt very pleased with myself. And soon enough I was on the way to Watford. Me my dad and Chris have a routine now - head for the chip shop close to Watford High Street station. Then the walk to the ground, Chris leaves us at the press entrance, I mock him because he once told me they were given sandwiches and I mocked him further on Tuesday when he told me they had TV’s to share for the Chelsea game. He mocks me by saying have a nervous breakdown today. Into the Rookery. A look at the odds, me and my dad discuss the merits and whilst sometimes I decide to go for it, I often don’t as I’ve learnt after losing more than I’ve won (not hard as I’ve never won) that Watford will never make me a millionaire. And to the seats, hellos to the season ticket holders around us, a discussion about the disappointment of the Chelsea game, but the pride at a pleasing performance against a side who are still top 3 in the country. Soon enough the announcement comes ‘the two minute bell has just gone’. The Rocky tune starts up - when they first did it I feared it would be a one off, but no, it continues. It makes each game feel epic, sometimes in the past I’ve mocked sides for this but as it’s us it’s great. And it’s Rocky - whatever criticisms there might be about the films in I, II, III, IV and VI music was not one of them. With the end of Rocky comes Z Cars and the adrenaline kicks in. Swansea are the Arsenal of the Championship. They pass it around and when it comes off it probably looks amazing, but, if it doesn’t it must be bitterly disappointing and, a bit boring. I was a bit disappointed when I heard we’d gone back to 4-5-1. It hadn’t worked a month ago, the defence was still conceding and we’d stopped scoring. Priskin alone upfront didn’t seem right either, but Chris was more optimistic. He rightly pointed out that because Swansea ‘always’ pass it in midfield the extra man wont just become lost and was a necessity. As predicted Swansea knocked it around and our players worked tirelessly to close them down and when we did get the ball were thoughtful rather than in the past when we would have needlessly lost possession giving the initiative back to the opposition. The referee was quick to make himself unpopular with both sets of fans with some baffling decisions. He showed he was quite literally unfit to referee when the blocked off Williamson by failing to get out of the way which almost allowed Swansea to score. The jeers grew louder. Despite the attempts of the referee we did remain disciplined, the usually deadly Dyer was kept well under control by Lloyd Doyley and I didn’t go to the F.A Cup match against Palace but had seen the goals on Watford World. We had shown in the second goal we could be quick to counter and rather clinical. It was a similar move that led to the first goal. Tommy raced away crossed low into the box and it fell to the one player we wanted it to. Tamas Priskin. True he will still get criticism for his lack of movement, but so far this season he is proving to be someone who knows how to find the net, a player who doesn’t panic when he appears to be in ‘too much space‘. The celebrations weren’t anywhere near ‘Chelsea’ levels but it was such an easy looking goal it still felt amazing. We got a second towards the end of the half which gave a much needed cushion. Cowie had the first shot which was blocked, there was a bit of a goal mouth scramble before the ball was cleared right to the feet of the only player probably willing to have a crack from outside the box. Tommy Smith stuck it with perfection and the ball headed straight for the bottom corner. Come On!! McAnuff and Priskin were being unfairly beaten up all half and the referee continued to give nothing. He further incensed the crowd when Mariappa not the tallest but who has a good leap headed the ball clear. It came just after a unfair looking tackle had gone unpunished and possibly the header looked a revenge challenge. More jeers. I had that ominous feeling - Priskin in particular is known for feeling victimised and sometimes exerts a bit of retribution which sees him receive an early shower for his troubles. It was all going so well the performance had been tactically spot on, we were never going to wreck it but as you might have gathered I didn’t trust the bloke who was meant to be in charge. The second half was a very efficient display. We continued to attack when we got the chance, could have scored more and apart from a few minor scares kept Swansea at back. If someone made a mistake - someone was there to cover the best example being when Jenkins lost the ball but Demerit did superbly to cover After about 70 minutes, it appeared even the ref wouldn’t spoil it and soon the party atmosphere which had been rumbling in the top right slowly infected other parts of the Rookery. ‘Don’t Wanna go home, don’t wanna go hooooooome this is the best trip I’ve ever been on’ Rodgers had rightly pointed out support works both ways - the players had done their bit, now we had to do ours. The result wasn’t really in doubt but having said that I wonder how much the confidence of the players would have plummeted had they conceded with more than 10 minutes to go having played so well. Next up Blackpool. Last year there was a scramble to get tickets, it was going to be our ‘promotion party’. It wont have been like that this year and yet in some ways this match is more important. I wont be there as I’m in Southampton for a mates birthday (ironically i was in Southampton last time we played Blackpool as well). It’s a shame as I’d have been up for another weekend at the Pleasure Beach though I doubt Valhalla would have been so appealing in the cold! Oh and as predicted work hasn’t been such a good experience since Tuesday, the smile I had Wednesday morning had disappeared by about 9.15.
