We were talking about this yesterday. It really has become very noticeable recently. It's not just Watford. A Cardiff supporting mate says he's become aware of it among the young boyos too
Yesterday was great but we're still going down. We've left ourselves too much to do and we're too inconsistent. Yesterday was one of those rare days where the team played as a complete unit. But we often follow up a good performance with a terrible performance in the next game, so I'm expecting a limp 1-0 defeat to Palace.
It's pretty poetic really that our next opponents are the very same ones we faced when we were looking to capitalise after a shocking and famous victory in our last relegation battle, and, of course, meekly capitulated to. Especially when you take into account that they were managed by our current manager at the time. Narrative City.
I don't care who is making the noise, as long as someone is making the noise. Being there it is difficult to be objective, but it seemed to me that for most of the game the away corner was generating more noise than the rest of the stadium combined. Also, don't you just love it the first time the home fans are hostile to their team, happened after about 60 minutes with an unforced error .
Valid points, but I think the importance of winning back-to-back games is a little overstated. A team could complete a season with the sequence WLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWL and finish upper midtable (throw in a few draws and they qualify for Europe). The same sequence including yesterday's win will see us finish on 39 points, which could be enough to keep us up. Norwich have won two in a row twice and it doesn't seem to have done them much good. But yes, in our position getting back-to-back wins or at least an unbeaten run to speak of helps by producing some momentum and giving us the confidence to climb to safety.
Even if we had a better right sided defender than Kiko, I would still keep him in the team, his ability to deliver critical passes to Sarr is going to be very important in our remaining matches.
It might be overstated in a vacuum, but it's a bit of a strange thing to say in our current, contextually-relevant situation! We are desperate for points, and we are facing another opponent that we theoretically could take points from. We have barely won a game all season, and the effect on the players confidence and cohesion has been plain to see for months. We are running out of games to get anything at all, and the next two games directly after Palace are Arsenal and Utd, so that's already out in terms of either being a realistic 'W' target for the pattern. Plus, we all know we have a historic brittleness that has earned us a reputation for being unable to capitalise on a victory or positive result in the context of the table with another. If we just go on to lose straight away (and only four days after, to boot) it will just seem to further confirm that, and could well have an added negative effect on morale - especially given that it's a home game. It could hardly be more important to string results together whenever we can - as Roy literally said in his post-match presser last night - there's a danger we lapse into thinking we've done what needs to be done by winning one game against Villa, and the only way to avoid that is to put in another strong performance of the kind that will be required to win on Wednesday.
I wouldn't take too much notice of Foster being given MoM by the BBC. They had Cucho as runner up and Kabasele in third place BTW, good to see CK back in action if only for a cameo. I know he can make mistakes, but at last we are beginning to get strength in depth for key positions.
Kabasele is just one of a number in a certain position. Like Sema, like Kucka, like WTE, like Fletcher..... It's just a sign of depth in numbers, not a depth of strength/quality.
Sarr is inconsistent, so we never know which Sarr will turn up on wednesday. Winning two consecutive games will really boost our chances of staying up and will put pressure on the teams above us, so a win on wednesday is nonnegotiable. Kalu should be starting over Cleverley on wednesday, it's a home game and not an away game! Kalu playing means we have another creative players to assist Dennis in case Sarr is having a bad game. And if Sarr turns up, the pace and skills of Sarr, Kalu and Dennis will be too much for any team to deal with. But if Sarr doesn't turn up, and we have Cleverley on the other wing, a point against Palace is the best we can hope for, so we will have to spend the whole 90 minutes defending and trying to stop Zaha from scoring. Sent from my TECNO P701 using Tapatalk
The atmosphere from Villa fans was no better than we are at home. Not beating us doesn't help though!! I thought we made a decent amount of noise to be fair but I also generally think we are quite noisy away from home
Thank god he didn't, the way he's brushed off the ball so easily, the wind could have done some real damage to him
42 is the meaning of life, we live in a computer simulation, 1's and 0's, 42 x 10 =420. 69 just because you know, 69.
69 is a good time, unless she starts choking on you and due to having a weak bladder from past childbirth leaks a bit in your mouth, thank the lord for Listerine.
Great to see the Cocaine Hornets supporter group in full voice. Maybe Asprilla could bring a load over in August, if he hasnt snorted Medellin dry by then of course. Great player development by the club: sign a talented young player, give him more money than he's ever even dreamed of and then leave him in Medellin for 6 months to spend it. What could possibly go wrong!!
Brilliant atmos in away end. Love Villa Park, classic ground with as much history as you gonna get in a football ground. Cathcart excellent today. He gets slated by the usual toxic bunch, but he keeps getting picked by many of all the multitude of managers we have had, so clearly does something right. Just needs a dominant/leader style CB next to him. Louza was very good. He didnt have as much time to show his silk yesterday but showed plenty of steel which was great to see and made a great pass to Sarr for goal. Looking like a very decent signing considering he is just 22. Sarr was not at his best, but even on bad days he affects games. Great cross for Dennis who was aggressive enough to win the ball even though Young was holding him back. Very similar finish to Norwich goal. Lastly, good to see Young getting an absolute slating from the away fans.
Yeah Ive said this in other posts. Pozzo player recruitment has been generally good, sometimes exceptional. The appointment of managers has been poor and haphazard, with a few hits that in retrospect look to be more luck than judgement.