Let it go let it go - 14/15 Horns Darlings watch

a Fessi double and Daniel Pudil scored yesterday

 

Felt for Vydra today.

Replaced after an hour and I don't recall him receiving the type of ball he thrives on once.

Looks a lost soul.

 

As Reading lost 1-0 to Wolves - the second time in two seasons that Vydra has had that result on Boxing Day.

 

The judge ordered you to stop doing that

 

Highlights from today's games:

Premier League

Tom Cleverley got a 90th minute winner as Everton beat Newcastle 1-0.

Adam Johnson played the full game and Danny Graham was replaced after 68 minutes Sunderland lost 4-1 to Man City.

Jordon Mutch was taken off at half time as Palace played out an inspiring 0-0 draw with Bournemouth.

Ashley Young played at right back as Man Utd lost 2-0 to Stoke City.

Jack Cork came on at half time as Swansea secured their first win in two months against West Brom.

Sebastien Bassong played the whole game but couldn't prevent Norwich from losing 3-0 to Tottenham, who kept Danny Rose on the bench.

Championship

Gabrielle Angella played 90 minutes but QPR conceded in the 90th minute to lose 2-1 to Ipswich. Daniel Tozser didn't make it off the bench.

Forestieri was replaced (incidentally by Lewis McGugan) after scoring Sheff Wed's first (37 mins) and second (48 mins) as Sheff Wed beat Birmingham 3-0, taking him to 10 league goals for the season (two behind Gray and McCormack, level with Austin and Blackman). Daniel Pudil played 90 minutes and Tomas Kuszczak kept goal for Birmingham.

Jonathan Bond played 90 minutes and Matej Vydra played 62 minutes as Reading lost 1-0 away to Wolves.

George Thorne played 83 minutes and Weimann played 10 minutes as Derby beat Kacaniklic's Fulham side 3-0.

League One

Uche Ikpeazu came on after 80 minutes but Port Vale lost 1-0 away to Coventry.

David Mirfin (!) played 69 minutes as S****horpe beat Doncaster 1-0 away.

Harry Forrester played the whole game as his Peterborough team beat Chesterfield 2-0.

League Two

Luke O'Nien's Wycombe put our old friends at Luton Town to the sword, winning 2-0 at The Dump.

Gavin Massey came on after 86 minutes but Colchester - who were missing Marvin Sordell through injury - lost 2-0 to Southend.

Throw-back

Matty Whichelow completed 90 minutes as Chelmsford City, where he is on loan from Boreham Wood, won 1-0 away at Dartford.

 

Vydra's history with us: Good season, crap loan season, Good season, crap loan season...so next year he's gonna smash them in when we win the league

 

Vydra's got the quality to make it in the Prem one day. So far he's not shown the right temperament though.

 

I still think Vydra can be a winner in the prem !

 

we are looking for a back up to Iggy and Troy , we already have him !!

 

He's far too quick for me to catch!

Wednesday fans seem to love Fernando.Happy he's doing well.

 

Sheffield Wednesday fan here. Just a quick thanks for selling us Forestieri, i'm in love with the little genius. He's a joy to watch. Fantastic ability and his work rate is top top draw, he gives his all for the team. He's just unstoppable at the moment and it must say a lot about the quality in your side if Fessi couldn't get a game.

No doubt he'll be a Premier League player soon, hopefully with us.

Also Pudil is an absolute diamond. Thank you Watford.

 

Both great lads. Fessi on his day is unplayable, however he just did not fit in our team. I don't see where we could squeeze him in at the moment. Delighted to see them both doing well for you. Hope Wednesday come up this season, good club with good fans.

 

Happy to see both are doing so well for you. Would love to see both play for Wednesday at the Vic next season! Good luck to you.

 

2 goals short of Andre Gray

I love The Pozzo's but never going to let this one slide.

Hope we've got a clause or something in the sale.

 

I still miss him

 

Kind words, refreshing to see Watford doing so well in the Prem, hope you keep it up.

FF has been playing wide left for us and that is easily where he has been most dangerous. No doubt he's in the form of his life.

 

We all loved his character - same with Pudil. He was however frustrating at times - I particularly remember before we got the second at Brighton he had the chance to kill the game and instead lost the ball. But then there were the times he was unplayable. Ultimately I don't know how he'd fit in this line up. £3 million seemed a bargain at the time but also weirdly still felt a good deal for us at the time. Personally I didn't expect him to be so prolific and maybe he was worth a bit more in hindsight.

 

If he stays free of injury he has the potential to be in the top few percent of Championship players. No doubt about it. And I have sympathy with those who suggest he might have been better placed to provide competition from the bench compared with the attacking players we signed in the summer. But he was injury prone and inconsistent and £3m was about right for him at the time. And given our massive upturn in fortunes he'd have been good for a few months only before inevitably being replaced as there's no way he's a player for where the Pozzos want the club to be.

He went to a mid-table Championship side who were prepared to give him time to develop further don't forget. I don't think any other PL clubs were in for him, let alone the gaggle of top Championship clubs seriously about promotion. That says it all. It's good to see him doing well and scoring goals for Wednesday in his Watford shinpads though.

 

Despite singing Bournemouth's name loudly at the final whistle in May your fans were very magnanimous outside the ground when I left, (before the celebrations began), and wished us well in the Prem. Hope you get a top 6 spot.

 

Great cross by Prince Buaben for Hearts equaliser against Celtic.

Yet another one that slipped through the net.

 

They weren't very friendly in moon under water before the game - quite bitter tbh but only a minority and if we'd won I wouldn't have cared

 

Wide left? I don't ever remember him being played in that position. His defensive contribution wasn't that great as well for us which is probably why.

I'm still convinced seeing him go was the right decision despite me loving him as he can be incredibly frustrating at times and I wonder whether he would've done it in the Prem. But I would be one of the happiest if he proved me wrong because there was very few players that the Pozzos brought in from abroad that loved us more than him (possibly Pudil and Abdi). I had you down as my dark horses for the play-offs and signs show you'll do it. How is McGugan btw?

 

Hardly dark horses when you're spending what they are.

 

I suppose if you include that then no. I was going on last year's league position alone and said after we drew with them they'd be up there. Gut feeling, plus the fact that they were able to get positive results against us and Muff.

 

Moved him out there the past few games and he's got 5 in 3. Also shoved him out there earlier on in the season at half time against Forest and he got the winner. He's flourishing wide left, he can go down the wing with it or cut inside and have a pop, easily where he's most dangerous. Coming in at the far post from corners as well.

Strange about his work rate, he busts a gut every game for us. Tracks back, closes down and the amount of times he wins the ball back after losing it for a little bloke is astonishing. I think it has had an impact him being the main man here, maybe that wasn't the case at Watford. He is quite clearly our most influential player and he probably knows it and is taking responsibility. He's 25 now I think? Coming into his best years so I think we've signed him at the perfect time.

McGugan was a star for us last season, but he is our resident benchwarmer this year. He just doesn't play with the same intensity or put in the same amount of work as his competition to earn a place in the side. I still like him though capable of magic every now and again, but not as good as Barry Bannan or Kieran Lee.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaBlIbqJci4

Could watch this all day

 

One person who'll have definitely been watching it all day is Gary Rowett. No doubt wondering where the feck his defence disappeared off to. Almost an unchallenged goal there. Commentator was right to point out there was no one near him. Nice quick passing to set FF free though.

 

Tbf to us we played 3-5-2 so we were never going to play Fessi in the LWB position. If we played 4 at the back last year we might have done what you've done but that's just shooting the moon there. I'm glad you've found another good position for him and that he's kicked on cos he's got a hell of a lot of potential. As for his work rate, maybe I phrased it wrong, but sometimes he would just switch off or over-complicate things. A good example is that Brighton away game last year (you'll find the full highlights on YouTube) where in the last 5 minutes we had a 3-on-1 situation, Deeney squares it to Fessi who takes too long with the ball and loses it. He does run back but to little success. Unfortunately that happened too many times for him to truly be considered useful in the Prem.

As for your description, sounds perfect. He just gets sad when he's not picked and then doesn't do much. He's a luxury player IMO who unfortunately acts as baggage- there's a reason that despite him being "highly" rated by pundits for the last 5-6 years, he's not actually starred in a promotion-winning side.

 

28 December 2015

Premier League

Ashley Young played the whole game at right back, helping Man Utd to a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against Chelsea.

Hector Bellerin played 90 minutes in Arsenal's 2-0 win against Bournemouth.

Danny Rose somehow avoided a booking for diving in Tottenham's 2-1 win against Watford.

Sebastian Bassong played 90 minutes as Norwich moved three points clear of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa.

Tom Cleverley came on after 26 minutes for Everton with the score at 1-1, and was substituted off at 65 minutes with the score at 2-2, in a game that ended with Stoke winning 4-3.

Jack Cork played the entire game but Jordon Mutch didn't make it off the bench in Crystal Palace's 0-0 draw with Swansea.

Championship

Fernando Forestieri and Daniel Pudil both came on at half time and Diego Fabbrini came on after 62 minutes, but Middlesbrough's 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday was decided by a first minute goal. Lewis McGugan was left out of the squad entirely.

Matej Vydra was brought on by Reading at half time, who started Jonathan Bond in goal, but couldn't prevent a 2-1 loss to Brentford, for whom Tounami Diagouraga played 90 minutes, Josh McEachran came off after 59 minutes and Jack Bonham stayed on the bench.

Daniel Tozser made a rare start, completing the whole of QPR's 1-1 draw against Huddersfield, who played Jonathan Hogg for the whole 90 minutes. Gabrielle Angella didn't make it off the bench for QPR.

Joe Garner was substituted after 94 minutes as Preston beat Hull City 1-0.

Michael Kightly played the whole of Burnley's 4-0 win over Bristol City.

Tomas Kuszczak kept a clean sheet in Birmingham's 1-0 win over MK Dons.

Lee Williamson couldn't make it off the bench, despite his Blackburn team losing 1-0 to Bolton.

League One

David Mirfin scored S****horpe's equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Rochdale.

Uche Ikpeazu didn't make Port Vale's squad for their 1-0 win against Bury.

Mark Yeates came on in the 62 minute for Oldham, assisting their only goal in a 2-1 loss to Doncaster. Oldham, for those interested, kept Dom Poleon on the bench for the entire game.

Matthew Briggs, Gavin Massey and Marvin Sordell all started for Colchester, with Massey replaced after 76 minutes. They couldn't prevent a 1-0 loss to Gillingham.

Tom Aldred's Blackpool lost 4-2 to Barnsley.

League Two

Luke O'Nien and Stephen McGinn played in Wycombe's 1-0 win Crawley, which moved them up to fifth place.

Scott Loach didn't get off the bench in Notts County's 2-2 draw with Morecambe - it seems a long time ago that he was in the England squad!

John-Joe O'Toole's Northampton beat Piero Mingoia's Accrington Stanley 1-0

Jazzi Barnun-Bobb played all of Newport County's 2-1 loss to Plymouth.

Andy Yiadom and Gavin Hoyte started Barnet's 2-1 loss to Cambridge.

Jobi McAnuff was replaced after 73 minutes as his Leyton Orient side lost 2-1 to Bristol Rovers.

National League

Dale Bennett started Forest Green's 3-0 win over Kidderminster.

National League South

Jordan Parkes played all of Ebbsfleet's 1-0 win away to Whitehawk.

Ogo Obi came on as a sub for Hemel Hempstead, who started Matt Spring for their 3-2 win over Maidenhead.

Eddie Oshodi scored for St Albans, who also fielded Jorell Johnson in their 1-1 draw against Matty Whichelow's Chelmsford side.

Luton Watch

Luton were kept in a 0-0 draw against Portsmouth by their goalkeeper, leaving them in a remarkable 14th place in the table. Well done, Luton!

Other

As an addition to Boxing Day's list, Michael Bryan played 70 minutes of Harrow's 5-5 (!) draw with Hendon.

 

Good work! How long did that lot take?

 

Top stuff! I thought Cleverley came OFF in the 65th minute though!

Edit: Cleverley came on for McCarthy in the 26th minute and was replaced by Naismith in the 65th minute. The BBC report c0cks it up in the team line-ups but shows it correctly in the live text.

 

Not too long to be honest, it gives me a chance to have a look at the results in the lower leagues which I haven't been doing half as much this season!

Ah balls, you're right. I'll edit it for clarity!

In other news: "Fernando came to talk to me and said 'I'm not ready to play 90 minutes because I don't feel energy'," Carvalhal told BBC Radio Sheffield.
"He said 'If you need me during the match I am ready'." - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35193098