So the start of a new chapter in the roller coaster that is Watford FC. The Age of Aidy is well and truly over. Brendan Rodgers is now our new manager and his philosophy is a compete contrast to that we have grown used to over the past few years. I wont be a hypocrite, I will admit Rodgers wasn’t my first choice, but then I did want a ‘fresh’ start once Aidy was sacked and we do have that I guess. In the past it seemed a new manager would come in to a struggling side and get instant results, but I’ve been thinking about it tonight and it doesn’t really happen anymore. QPR got in Sousa for the match with us – they lost, Newcastle got in Joe Kinnear he didn’t ‘hit the ground running’, in fact I can think of only one man who has and that is Harry Redknapp. However, there are two fundamental differences: Harry knows the league he is in better than most, and the Tottenham squad should probably be in the top 6 not bottom 6. In contrast, our new manager probably knows very little about the Championship and unlike last season our squad is not expected to be in the top 6. We might be underachieving slightly (I hoped for comfortable mid-table) but we are no longer one of the big sides. Change takes time, but, if it’s going to happen sometimes it is best to bite the bullet rather than constantly waiting for the right moment because what if that moment never materialises? I said to Chris on my way into Watford I hoped the slight optimism I was feeling wasn’t misplaced. He felt the same, but as he now writes for a local paper and had been able to go the press conference he was impressed with what was said. It is clear Brendan Rodgers is not as charismatic as Boothroyd, but whilst ‘Boothroydisms’ were funny at first, once the gloom sunk in, they got increasingly frustrating, and seemed to suggest that he was out of touch. I do hope however Rodgers has enough to get the players motivated – team talks will be important, but again the amount of half time leads we’ve lost already this season suggests charisma is not the only quality required to say “get out there don’t give away the ball and score more goals than them”. If it only it were so simple. But now I’ve got the positives out of the system I’ll move on to the match. Whilst it was refreshing not to see a ‘hoof’ straight from kick off, it quickly emerged that whilst the players had passed level one in passing, they had not yet learnt what else to do – for example level one movement or the more skilful level three ‘pass and move’. We have gone from one extreme to the other, and whilst there were moments yesterday when we looked very good, unfortunately there were more moments when we looked completely and utterly hopeless. Despite large amounts of possession, caused by attacking into Doncaster’s half, getting in a good position then deciding to pass it all the way back to Loach to start the move again we did nothing with it. Doncaster had the better chances and should have gone 1.0 up. Their fans thought it had gone in, but the ball hit the bar, landed on the line and was cleared. Instead it was the ‘Orns who took the lead and it was a very well worked goal, it was also the firs time Priskin had received some support when he was holding up the ball, and as a result had someone to give it to. He also made a run to receive the ball again. Personally I do believe he was going for a cross, and it’s the type of cross goal keepers can’t judge, the type just in between themselves and the defenders, Smithy was making the run at the back post and made it 1.0. It evidently gave the players a lift and there were a number of attacks in quick succession. However, as half time approached the match had become boring again. The half time team talk was going to be crucial as the defence had again looked fragile, and Doncaster had looked dangerous on the attack. Whatever was said wasn’t enough. Maybe in hindsight the 1.0 lead was not a blessing as it merely papered over the limitations of our new style. The second half began, and after what felt like an age had passed I looked at the scoreboard and discovered to my horror it was still only 51 minutes. Not soon after the Rookery had become vocally restless and were chanting for John-Joe. Why not randomly chant the name of someone on the pitch? I said at the time I saw no point in this change, we were pretty poor but at that point it was only boring, not dire as well. The two in central midfield were doing ok and taking anyone else off would change the shape. Maybe having seen how well the 4-5-1 had worked the decision was made to leave Priskin alone upfront. If there had been 15 minutes left it might have been ok, but with 30 minutes it just showed we were happy to defend a 1.0 lead and gave Doncaster further initiative. It was also a shame, because whilst Hoskins hadn’t been great, Priskin had hugely benefited from having some proper support and for the final 30 minutes confusion seemed to reign as to who was playing where. Worse was to come when the best player, Chelsea’s reserve team player Liam Bridcutt, was taken off. Lloyd Doyley replaced him. Doncaster continued to push forward and it seemed a matter of time before they scored. Warnings were not heeded, players kept dropping back, when the ball was cleared Priskin had no support and lost it. The passing which had been boring, but at least stopped Doncaster getting the ball, suddenly became **** as they started to pile on the pressure and our players panicked as QPR did last weekend. Eventually the equaliser came. It’s hard to know who to blame, there are quite a few errors, Loach seemed to have the same problem as their keeper had had for our goal, and Doyley and Mariappa seemed to both expect the other to block Brooker who had sneaked in between them. Why is it ex strikers always score against us? Why is we have to play Birmingham next week, where the most prolific of our ex players now resides? It almost got worse, Donacaster almost won it, and if they had we really would have been in trouble (if we aren’t already). Yesterday felt like a must win, and one was expected after the good performances against QPR and Bristol City. We didn’t get it, but Neil Price on 3 Counties was surprisingly upbeat and he spoke sense. Rodgers himself said we passed it when we shouldn’t, and that alone is a reason for optimism. Malky tweaked his system, lets at least give Rodgers the chance!!! The players should never have been booed off at the end, yes we were cold, yes the game was awful and 2 shots on target at home is woeful but we didn’t lose. Though Doncaster are bottom they are far from whipping boys, especially in recent weeks. I’m not trying to sound unjustifiably positive because the match was poor, but I remember Boothroyds first game at Burnely that was worse, but the players weren’t booed off at the end yet we’d lost 3.1 leaving us facing relegation. Things eventually got better, they might not this time, they might get worse, we don’t know yet but its only fair we give the new system a few games. Spurs will be a baptism of fire, Birmingham will be equally tough but hopefully by Norwich and Coventry two important winnable matches – the system will be working more effectively. Who knows global warming might even have hit in by then
haha, feel the same! I might take a winter sleeping bag with me next match - kill two birds with one stone...
