My key priority for the Jan window was for us to sign a goalscorer - instead we sign another weak as piss, slow Carlos Kickaballs on loan who some of our fans got overexcited about because he has an over-inflated release clause and "at least he's not one of Mogi's". Davis isn't really up to it either, but at least he actually did something when on the pitch. The one time Araujo did get the ball in a good shooting position in the penalty area, instead of going for goal he just rifled a pass at Sarr who wasn't in a better position anyway. Crazy that we signed two strikers in Jan (the other one being Ar5e-ombalonga) and Davis is still probably our first choice. Bachmann, Sarr and Hoedt all poor for their goal. Hoedt was a real mixed bag - very good with the ball and got a good goal, but not that good at tackling and got bypassed far too easily a couple of times. Porteous seems a rare positive note - future captain material for sure; a good, inexpensive pick-up for once. Sema, Cleverley and Louza all seemed decent and to make a difference when they came on, but it was a bit too little, too late. Martins is one who Udinese are welcome to have back next season (unless he's happy being a bench player here). Shout-out to Kone who managed to be in front of an open goal but put the ball wide of the opposite post to where he was standing. He was at least a bit more at the races again in the rest of his game than in previous weeks though. It seems very unlikely we go up this season, and one way or another Bilic surely won't be here next one, so the question will be if we bring the next manager in now or give him a start in pre-season.
Don’t seem to have a striker that can consistently find the net and that will hamper us badly. Assombalonga looks miles off the pace and the players don’t see to know how to play with Araujo and Davies. They make runs in behind but are missed time and again. Pedro and Louza might be the be key to help unlock stubborn defences but I know Sarr and Martins are not. Martins has youth on his side but Sarr has no excuse, just utter gash week in week out
Not sure if a draw was the right result. Thought we started very off balance and gave a lot of the ball to Rovers. Their goal was more down to Bachmann palming the ball back into the danger area, but a good finish. That more or less set the tone of the game, we struggled until the break and were thankful for it. Second half was better, but my god, Martins.... HOW DO YOU MISS FROM ONE YARD OUT? My gran could of scored that, heck even Bayo could of. We missed chance after chance second half as when we equalised it was obvious Blackburn were going to sit back and take a draw. I did like the way we pushed for the winner but we cannot keep chucking points away like this. Sarr and an iffy game, some crap passing and crosses but did the odd bit of skill. Great to see Louza back on the pitch but couldn't really turn the tide for us. I think this result has to go down as a point gained due to most of our returning players being back and getting back into it, so we were never going to be gung-ho from the off. JP did alright but never really saw much of the ball. I sighed when Davis came on second half and muttered, "why"?. Looking at the other results, Boro' won easily, Bristol beat Norwich, Swansea got smashed and Lootown only drew. Sheff Utd and Burnley won at a canter again. That's only 2 points from our last 9, it's more relegation form than playoff hunting form. We go to leaders Burnley next. There is some food for thought. I think Bilic again had no real idea what shape or style we were going for today, and it's happening more and more. Again, it's hard to really be harsh on the players as they did try to win, but my god we need shooting practice. Our next two games will not define wheere we finish, but anything we can get out of either will be a bonus.
Thought we played relatively well, at least in parts of the second half, frustrating that JP had to go off, Assombalonga was dreadful. Sarr had one of his better games. Also thought Koné had a solid second half after a shaky first, although really should've scored, missed that golden chance where he passed the ball back across the face. Both Hoedt and Porteous were excellent, great seeing defenders that can actually pass forward. Having said that, their goal came from poor defending, or moreso poor goalkeeping from Bachmann, parrying the ball straight to Dack. Didn't think Davis was great to be honest, and would've liked to see Araújo on a bit longer, but could understand the change at the time. Overall though just more huff and puff and couldn't really break the Blackburn defence down. Be interesting to see what excuse Bilic makes this week now he can't use injuries as a reason.
We played okay, but didn't do enough. As a Watford fan who grew up with the second GT era and to a lesser extent the Boothroyd era, I miss us having players who are nothing special on paper achieving more than we should. Currently we are the exact opposite. I still believe when the returning players get up to speed we will have enough quality to go up, but my word we are making it harder than it should be.
It was Kone who missed that (unless we had two players miss from one yard out in the second half and my stream cut out during Martins' one?)!
Yes it was Kone' - my mistake. Still, he really should of scored anyway. Btw Hive Live is getting worse and worse, kept going down. We pay £10.00 per game, surely spend some of that on matainence?
Porteous, Hoedt, JP and second half Kone all very good. Apart from that it was pretty average, a really poor result given the players we had available today. Sarr was pretty disgraceful today, apart from one run in the second half he didn't look bothered at all. The clock is ticking for Bilic, once again it was all a bit wishy-washy while we waited for JP to do something. I'm sure Manga has someone lined up, it's just whether it happens now or in the summer.
Has he not been sacked yet ?! Better 2nd half after a poor one and good strike by Hoedt . Not sure too many of our strikers would have scored that. Pedro best attacker unsurprisingly. Most of that team won’t be here next season .
Also, Sarr had the best individual moment of the game with a run down the wing, which Martins refused to shoot on. Just lessen your expectation from Sarr and you’ll probably be less disappointed.
I'm fed up of Sarr on the left and Sema on the right, they both are so one footed that they cut in on to their stronger foot and invariably slow down any attack. We have a big lump in Davis who we should be swinging crosses at but don't. Not that the lazy lump would sprint to get on the end of them.
It's rather frightening isn't it, how Davis looks a lot like Deeney in his decline... should be busting a gut to get on the end of a cross, but hardly moves.
Very encouraging. It's a lot of new and returning players but we were comfortably the better side. Write off the Burnley game, but the season starts against West Brom. Porteous is fantastic.
Sod the result. Who wants to go up anyways? We’ll probably end up in play offs simply because the rest of the league is so piss poor. We’d struggle to get a win in the Prem. On the contrary, all that matters now is the fact that Porteous is already (and by a long way) the best Centre Back we’ve seen in a Watford shirt for a long time. You can knock the Scots and their shoddy league, but to give ‘em credit, they do produce some real talent up there. Porteous is the definition of a no nonsense centre back, and I love it.
Rubbish again, just heard it’s 3 wins in 12 for Bilic? Hadnt realised he’d been quite that bad, Edwards was sacked for less Porteous was very good and liked Hoedt also Kone was poor, Sarr was poor, Kamara was poor and sick to death of the bad attitude of the latter now Britt ‘worth a punt on a 6 month deal’ Assombalonga was exactly as out of shape, off the pace and useless as anyone with a brain predicted Just more average players putting in more average to poor performances in an average season. I think the idea that we’ll comfortably make the playoffs is an arrogant delusion - could easily finish closer to midtable
With all our better players coming back, I would now like to see us start with two central strikers. We showed in the brief period after the equaliser that we have the pace, power and skill to dominate most teams. However in the first half Araujo, despite having a couple of half chances, was rarely involved in the play so, as usual, we went through the tippy tippy opening period which often results in conceding the first goal making everything so much harder. Think positive, get on the front foot from the start and dominate the opposition. I’m sure we would win more games that way.
I agree - it's an experiment of Bilic's which hasn't really paid off. I can understand why he's tried it given most top teams do play with inverted wingers, but Sarr is unusual in being generally better at crossing than shooting. Sema is also pretty similar in that respect. It doesn't really make sense having inverted wingers/forwards unless they are actually decent at shooting when they cut inside. We should at least be swapping them around during the match whenever them playing on opposite flanks isn't working. Martins might also be similarly, if not more effective, if switched to the left when on the pitch.
Not sure what game I was watching as I was really encouraged by that performance as compared to the rubbish we’ve been watching over the last few years. two decent signings at the back and we looked to go forward on many an occasion. Martins was gash and sarr, away from a great run down the by line, was ordinary at best apart from that, get those players back to full fitness and a bit of confidence and I think we will have a good chance of the play offs
He's like a mixture of DeMerrit and Holebas. Holebas was a bit of a 'bad boy' at fouls, but he gave a damn. From what i've seen so far of Porteous, he ticks all the right boxes.
Porteous was excellent BUT and I may be wrong as I haven’t watched it back but pretty sure his really poor pass down the line led to the goal. If he just got rid at that point, that goal doesn’t happen. But long reach, it’s mainly Bachmann’s fault.
I actually enjoyed the match today. Thought we dominated it, but we’re caught with a sucker punch for their goal. I really liked what I saw from Hoedt and Porteous. Both excellent on the ball. I saw Hoedt got beaten easily for their goal, and I’ve not seen what happened with their disallowed one, but overall they both had great games. They are not just defenders. They can progress with good passes are both threats at the other end. Let’s face it. My mum could have scored the Kone miss, and Sarr’s header over was not much better. Pedro should have scored in the first half also. They were three easy chances yet we have a habit of missing them. It was a dreadful result but encouraging performance. Should have won comfortably, but didn’t. That’s been our season. Good to see all those returning players. Louza, Cleverley and Sema will make a big difference for the run in, even if it’s from the bench. Not too impressed with Britt though. He looks overweight and a bit off the pace. Will we make the play offs? I don’t see it now. We are far too inconsistent. Not saying it’s beyond us, and if anyone can put a run of form together, it’s probably us, but we are not good at grinding out results.
Once again, another flat disappointing day out. This isn't August/September. The time for 'encouraging signs' has passed long since, plus we all know that any green shoots we show quickly die. We had plenty of supposed talent available today and first half especially we were abysmal. We did come into the game for a spell after the break, powered by Sema, but then Assombalonga came on for Pedro and we were absolute shyte again. We are not a promotion team. Far from it. We are an absolute mess still, just we've thrown a few new players into the melting pot. For me, positives were Porteous, Hoedt and JP (not his best game but still better than playing without him). Plus Sema coming on and totally changing the game with guts and determination. Negatives were Martins, Kone, Sarr, Assombalonga, Araujo, Bachman and Davis. All utter crap. More signings made and many of them, as predicted, not what we needed Look forward to the summer where the Pozzos and Manga get applauded for getting rid of half of these players they've just signed. Being a Watford season ticket holder continues to be an utterly joyless chore.
Surprised by the negativity towards Sarr today, I am usually one of the first to call out Sarr for his poor displays but not today. In my opinion he had a decent game. Some of his passing was wasteful but he did cause Blacburn problems with his pace today and was heavily involved in much of the build up play.
