17/09/11 Championship Barnsley 1-1 WFC

[watfordfc88]

Barnsley 1-2 Watford (Hogg and Sordell)

[wfcthroughandthrough]

Won't be an easy game, but with another assured performance such as saturdays and with Marv hopefully fully fit, i've got a good feeling we can pick up a win. We need to!

[El distraído]

Feeling confident after last week's win over Reading.

2-0 Watford.

[WhiteyBFC]

Hey there 'Orns.
I thought Id register ere and give an opposing perspective.
First off, Id like to say how impressed I am with Ashdons efforts at a preview, with help from a few Reds off TykesMad. Its refreshing to see such an in-depth piece on your next opponents. Its something that TykesMad, and our most popular board 'The BBS' are both lacking in. And seeing your effort Ashdon has inspired me to try getting a similar thing going on our boards in the future.
Just to clear up one or two things though. This is our 6th season in the 2nd tier after our return in 2006. Its a common mistake for some reason. Wikipedia and many other sources have got that wrong. Strange really as its not difficult for them to check.
And the Luke Steele thing with logo was way back during our FA Cup run of 2007/08. And back then the rules on such things were quite obscure. Im not saying you were wrong to mention it. Just that it was a one-off thing that season.
My final bit of nit-picking () refers to the formation against Leicester last weekend. Ashdon had it spot on APART from Butterfield actually played in a free role ahead of Perkins and Drinkwater, just behind Gray.
But those discrepancies aside, it was a fine preview matey..

. . . . . .
But here is my take on the Reds thus far:

Our self-made Barnsley born millionaire owner Patrick Cryne made it clear when taking control nearly 10 years ago that he wanted our club to be self-sufficient. But over the subsequent seasons he has personally topped up the clubs finances, and funded transfers and player wages out of his own pocket.
This changed recently. There are a few reasons why.
The man is a diabetic, and his health has suffered lately. The stress of a much-publicised court case involving the multi-million pound company he founded must also be taken into consideration. Do a google search on it if you want to realise the severity of his alleged financial wrong-doing.
And after backing managers such as Simon Davey and Mark Robins to the tune of a fair few million - with little reward - he (and the majority of fans) feel its time we DID become self-sufficient. To adhere to the new rules being brought in and only spend/live within your means.
Unfortunately (or not IMO) Robins didnt fancy working under those conditions and this summer left Oakwell. As did many underperforming high-earners including recent NEWS maker Garry O'Connor.
And on June 1st Keith Hill was appointed as the new man in charge, with the remit being to work on probably the lowest budget in the division. He had done this with enormous success at previous club Rochdale. I for one wanted him appointed, and he appears to be a breath of fresh air after the cliche spouting dullard Robins.
Keith and Flicker (Dave Flitcroft) - nicknamed 'Hillcroft' - definitely come as a pair. And they have certainly been brave with many of their low cost acquisitions from the lower leagues.
. . . . .
Im running out of characters here so ill have to reply below.

[WhiteyBFC]

We lost Jason Shackell this summer too. Despite signing a 3 year deal just 12 month ago, and being both the captain and POTY, the guy saw pound signs at Pride Park and left for under a million pounds. Which angered us greatly. Not the fact he went, but the fact that yet another talent had left for a bargain price due to a clause in his contract. The same clause that saw us lose Adam Hammill for just 500k in January to Wolves. The same Adam Hammill that ran riot in the division, and the same Adam Hammill that cant get a look in at Molineux.
Whenever these STAR players leave Oakwell, theres a 90% chance that their career will go downhill. For example - Daniel Bogdanovic, Brian Howard, Craig Hignett, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Jacob Burns, Daniel Nardiello etc etc. The list is endless really.
And so Keith delved into the lower leagues to bring two of his old players from Dale with him for a combined fee of 250k - Winger Matty Done (pronounced as in Phone) and right-back Scott Wiseman.
Another former player of Hill's (and teammate actually) David Perkins signed on a free from Colchester. You cant miss the busy midfield terrier - he's albino with shocking white hair.
Chesterfields 25 goal top scorer Craig Davies also came in on a free, as did Blackpool center-half Rob Edwards. Brighton left-back Jimmy McNulty arrived for a nominal fee, followed by the out of contract winger Ricardo Vaz Te.
We also have 3 loanees. Derby cripple Miles Addison who hasnt gone down well so far with fans. Young Middlesbro winger Cameron Park. And of course former 'Orns loanee Danny Drinkwater.
We hear he was a let-down at Vicarage Rd. But he must be a different player then because in his 2 starts so far he has arguably been MOM. In fact, he played SO good against Leicester that it amazes me that Man Utd dont pick him instead of Michael 'God-Awful' Carrick.
. . .
And so far this season its been steady, after a difficult start fixture-wise.
. .
0-0 at Forest
0-1 home defeat to Soton
1-3 home defeat to Boro
2-1 away win at Reading
0-0 draw at Millwall and a
1-1 draw at Oakwell against Leicester last time out.
The new team has got better with each display. Yes we lost back to back home games, but we nearly nicked a point against Saints. And tbh, I agree with our manager that both Boro and Soton will probably finish top six. Boro in particular ripped us apart. Pretty similar to the way we took Svens boys apart last week. But unfortunately, our weakness is goals. Kasper Schmeichel and our woodwork stopped our 60% possession from counting. Oakwell was rocking too for the 1st time in ages.
Reading away was a great day out too. It would have deservedly been 2-0 if the ref hadnt given them 3 penalties in 10 minutes. 2 of which Superman Steele saved brilliantly..
. . .
Anyway, good luck and I hope you turn up in force and take advantage of the £16 prices. Its usually £30! How bad is that?!
So please get up to Barnsley and enjoy your day out.
Speak soon perhaps..

[AshdonWFC]

Cheers for your comments WhiteyBFC, and welcome to wfcforums!

I greatly appreciate your comments with regards to my preview, and will make the necessary ammendments based on what you have informed me of here.

I don't know how I managed to get your current stint in the Championship wrong - I counted myself using the watford official site league tables - however, that was at 1am, so I was probably wrong!

As for the formation and team, i'm familar with the positions of the vast majority of the players in the Championship and Premiership, but obviously the formation is quite fluid and changes a lot! I try and get a fairly accurate representation of what it is though, and when I saw there were 5 midfielders who started against Leicester, I assumed one would be in an attacking midfielder-esque position, just didn't know who!

And finally, as for Luke Steele - I saw that the undergarment thing was a few years back - I just thought it was quite amusing and a little unique thing to put in to seperate him from most standard keepers. A keeper I rate very highly!

But yes, thanks very much for your feedback, and i'm glad that this kind of thing is inspiring you to get a similar thing going on Barnsley sites. It is a lot of work though, so it's maybe worth getting a few people who can chip in and share the load, like we do on here. This is only my 3rd Preview, but there are two other members in Prentice and alip01, who have been doing them for a while, and have come up with a good structure and format for the previews.

Any questions for us which you may have for yours in the return fixture, I, and i'm sure many other, Watford fans on here will be happy to answer!

Cheers, and good luck Saturday - but obviously not too much!

[wfcmoog]

Must win for Dyche.

[krisvad]

Must win for Dyche.

Positive as always Moogster.

[inayellowshirt]

must win

(for a pleasurable journey back down the M1)

[domthehornet]

I would be happy with a draw here considering our record at Deepdale. There are bound to be goals in this game, hopefully...

[Bubble]

I would be happy with a draw here considering our record at Deepdale. There are bound to be goals in this game, hopefully...

Yeah, thank f**k Preston are in League One nower days....

[SM#16]

I'm up already, going to Barnsley to play against their "IFA" supporters club this morning, then popping over to the game this afternoon, shall keep you posted.

[domthehornet]

Oakwell it is indeed, don't have a clue why I thought it was Deepdale. Apologies for my mistake.

[Supporter in Spain]

Good write up.

Excellent thread. I get fed up with some of the nonsense written on some threads, so to read a really constructive and informed debate is great, especially as I live in Spain and rely the forums to keep up to date.

[Ray Bay]

1-3 (2x Sordell, Yeates)

[Hairyfrog]

Excellent thread. I get fed up with some of the nonsense written on some threads, so to read a really constructive and informed debate is great, especially as I live in Spain and rely the forums to keep up to date.

[matimbers]

The M1 is proper jammed up

[Welshhornet]

Away win....Loach to pick up MotM

[YellowHornets]

When was the last time Watford won at Oakwell, I think we will win 0 - 1 today anyway.

[Smithy]

TEAM NEWS: Watford are unchanged - Loach, Dickinson, Taylor, Mariappa, Doyley; Eustace, Yeates, Forsyth, Hogg; Weimann, Sordell