Pearson gets a lot of criticism over his substitutions, but I thought taking off Hughes for Cleverley was the right call. Hughes was on a yellow and the last thing we need is for a silly late lunge to see him given a red.
He was endlessly played on the wing but still tried hard. It was clear his best position is in midfield. Still not convinced he's a holding midfielder though.
Who knows what the final points total will be to survive. We may have enough points already, or we may need 4 more. Personally I believe we need at least 4 more. We need to beat Newcastle and avoid defeat at West Ham. Do that, then I think that should be enough to just scrape by, giving us a couple of free hits at the end of the season, without any real pressure. You never know, under those circumstances we might even get more points, when we don't actually need them.
4 more required would mean Muff or Villa would get 7 from 15, or 2W 1D 2L. I just don't see it with their fixtures, especially Bournemouth's. Obviously we should assume the worst and fight for every point like our lives depend on it, but it would take a significant upturn in form and performances for either of those teams to require us to put another 4 on the board. On top of that, if Spurs/ManUre both win in the next couple of days (and they really should) that ask becomes 2-1-1 instead of 2-1-2. That's a really, really tall order, especially given that Villa play West Ham. If Villa get 3 points against them, it gives us another team to potentially leapfrog (especially if Burnley do them tomorrow). Possible? Certainly. Likely? I don't think so.
Yes, of course I was nervous as he's our best player these days, but it turned out well. Should be relatively fresh for Newcastle now too, which is an added bonus
I didn’t think the time wasting started until the last 10 minutes really. Slightly unfair to say we were at it for half an hour.
Massive day for the happy clappers. Shoutbox Heros are left to lick their wounds and examine the table with the hope that Villa can pick up 2 wins and we lose the rest of our games .
Assuming we stay up , which I’d put a 75% chance on, poor old Nige is going to get the boot despite being the manager who has saved 3 different teams from relegation when they ve been bottom at Xmas , when it has only been achieved 4 times ever ( since Football began in 1995). Still he ll be able to take over Big Sams mantle of taking over whatever team is bottom at Xmas for a fat fee . Should pay for enough wolf taming holidays for him and Mrs P in bizarre Eastern European forest destinations for the rest of their retirement years to come.
We won, but after the woeful performances and results against Burnley and Southampton there is no way we should be getting ahead of ourselves. Villa looked ok against Liverpool and we can't ignore that Chelsea lost to West Ham because they didn't turn up or Arsenal losing to Brighton
I have never been as nervous watching a football game in my life, honestly, I expected us to bottle the game today. Once we went 1-0 down I was getting plenty of text and WhatsApp messages from fellow hornets just saying how pathetic we are, my Dad messaged me saying that he was going out for a walk as he couldn't watch it. However, I always felt that Norwich was fragile at the back and that we would get chances. The moment I saw Jamal Lewis marking Dawson I was praying for quality delivery from Will Hughes and for once it was. For me, Capoue was miles better today he made a lot of tackles his passing was much better, Doucoure never really done much but it was good to see him driving into the box like his old self. Hughesy was industrious as usual although I thought he was a bit sloppy in possession at times and I thought it was the correct decision by Nigel Pearson to put Cleverley on he did very well. Sarr was always going to be our main threat going forward, but it was nice to see us try and attack down the left-hand side as well today. Defensively though we are not good a better team would have beaten us today we rode our luck. Deeney seems unfit to me from the top of my head I can't even remember him touching the ball, winning any free kicks or even doing anything very beneficial for the team. He chased back slower than he usually does as well, a blind man could see that Welbeck offers us so much more down the middle. I hope that has given us a psychological boost and provided us with some much-needed confidence. We have another massive game and great opportunity coming up against Newcastle. Hopefully, Manchester United and Tottenham will do us a favour and beat Villa and Bournemouth on Thursday. The performance wasn't amazing but we did what we needed to do and got 3 points. You Orns!
Crap performance, but at this point, the only thing that matters is adding another victory to our win column. Kiko was rubbish. Norwich must be dreadful at defending set pieces, because we actually looked capable of scoring on several occasions from dead balls. Fair play to Dawson, his goal came from pure desire to beat his man and get the ball into the net. Defensively, we’re dogshit. There can be no doubt major reinforcements are required at the back if we manage to stay in this joke of a league. Whether Gino and Giraldi can be trusted to deliver this, remains to be seen. I’m not convinced we won’t see the same back four line up on opening day next season. A commanding central defender, who can play the ball a bit is a necessity (frankly, two of these are required), as is a reliable right-back, who can defend and contribute more in attacking areas. Capoue looked better. Hughes has been a standout performer since we came back, though it’s really been his commitment, rather than any genuine quality to have stood out. Sarr threatened regularly, and I think his delivery was improved this evening. Unfortunately, Deeney absolutely refuses to make a near-post run. It’s beyond a joke now. You can watch his approach to the box when Sarr gets into space to deliver, and he constantly takes up space immediately behind a defender, with zero effort to get across and in front. It’s almost like he’s scared to get into goalscoring positions. Despite playing from the left, Welbeck got himself into goalscoring positions on a couple of occasions, and probably should have scored with one of his headed attempts, both of which came because he gambled, and showed the desire to beat a man by getting ahead and being first to the ball. Would love to see Pearson show some balls and play him through the middle. He’s a better footballer than Deeney, and each game as he gets fitter, we’re seeing that more. Foster’s distribution isn’t good enough. I think one more win will probably be enough, though I echo the thoughts of others who back Muff to beat Spurs now. The way United have been playing, you’d think they’d put Villa to the sword, but I just don’t trust Spurs.
I have just watched the match highlights on YouTube and I have just realised what it was actually Capoue who crossed the ball for the first goal. I am always criticising Craig Dawson so credit where credit is due he has scored two very important goals for us since the restart. I also forgot about the saves Foster made, I think Big Ben needs a mention as well.
I think people who criticise Kiko are being harsh. He’s poor defensively but his pace is indispensable to us at the moment. He’s been one of best performers since the restart.....not saying much I agree. I thought yesterday highlighted our need for a more disciplined CDM. We were far too open against a very poor side. Anyone else in the league and we’d have got beat.
Hughes is probably trying because there would be no guarantee any clubs would come in for him if we went down.
On top of that his 1st management job was at Carlisle. He took over in December and they avoided relegation on the final day. He also joined WBA as assistant manager in November 2004 and was involved in their 'great escape' of 2004/5 when they avoided relegation from the prem.
I have a new strategy for Watford matches which keeps the blood pressure down: 1. On no account watch them or go anywhere near the Shoutbox. 2. Find something else to watch - yesterday I started watching “Dead To Me” (2 episodes in; v good so far) 3. Deputise someone else whose football opinion you trust to watch the match in case you require a post-match analysis (Mr HH in my case) 3. When you feel you’re about to succumb to temptation, have a quick score check on the BBC website (other score check websites are available); you will feel your anxiety levels rising as you do this but all will be fine as long as you do not, on any account, turn over to the match 4. At the final whistle, either (a) In the event of a win: turn over, enjoy post match interviews and analysis, watch match highlights and read WFC forum or (b) In the event of a loss (or draw in a “must win” game such as yesterday’s) : mutter and swear for a couple of minutes about WFC and how you’re done with football and then return to alternative programme; try to ignore anything football-related (you will inevitably fail on the latter point and read the ensuing meltdown on the forum but, hey ho, can’t have everything) Followed this for the first time yesterday and, for the first time since the restart, we won. You’re welcome.
