Watford 0 - 2 Brighton & Hove Albion - 12/02/2022

Joao Pedro was terrible, agreed.

That said….King is suffering from almost being guaranteed a starting place every week. And it could be argued that Joao Pedro is suffering from never starting.

Not sure where the harm is in at least trying something different now really.

 

Went out on the beer after the game. I have a massive headache and intense indigestion. Not used to drinking heavily because of Covid restrictions here over the last two years (not a home drinker). We are ****ed and have been for sometime. It will be a painful process seeing out this season. I am making the decision not to be too angry, as that is self destructive. We punched above our weight for a decade or so and now we are getting our comeuppance. Any visits to the Prem League going forward are likely to be fleeting, unless we get a Russian Oligarch, corrupt State or drug cartel to take us over. In vino veritas (please excuse the spelling I dropped Latin before the final exams).

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but are you some kind of masochist?

 

This is a year out of date. But a year ago Brighton had the 11th highest net spend in Europe over the previous 5 years.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.90...ankedpsg-manchester-united-city-barcelona/amp

 

I raise your Kabba and Bromley with Matt Sadler and muscle-imbalanced Collins John.

 

So it's your fault then. Why didn't you cheer louder?

 

I'd watch with interest, why?

 

Derby and Reading are entirely different situations.

 

"When the light of truth is fading
And the torch of faith burns low"...
Spare ticket for the Palace game.
DM me if you would like it.
Oddly enough I can't find anyone!
Even Mr IBB doesn't want it.

 

Just interested as I genuinely don’t really know where you stand on the owners. It wasn’t an attempt to catch you out on anything.

What do you mean by ‘watch with interest’? Watch to see how well it went and decide if you’d join it in time?

 

The club needs to rebuild. Relegation is a a dead cert, so another season in the Championship.
Who will stay on the playing staff? In my opinion, not many. Too much deadwood, cheap buys, players who would struggle to get a game in another Championship side.
The team was never good enough to survive a season in the Premier league. Many on this forum knew this.

Other forum members are correct, we just cannot complete financially at this level and we have been punching above our weight for a number of years.
Unless we have a new owner or a change of strategy from the Pozzo family, we are just going to float around the Championship/League One with the odd moment of success thrown in.
We are in a mess, on the pitch and financially. Pozzo and Duxbury have learnt absolutely nothing from our last stint in the Premier league, no one thing.
Pozzo owns the club, so Duxbury must go. Pozzo could sell the club, but who would buy Watford?

We need a blank canvas, no matter how painful it is for the fans. The Championship or League One would be good for us if the club has the desire to change direction and build a side instead of buying failures from the jumble sale on long term contracts. An example is Ashley Fletcher, hopeless.

Right now, there is a Watford FC Ltd that Gino Pozzo owns and a Watford FC that the fans support. The two are linked by name only and have completely different goals.

At many other clubs you would see some fans unrest, not at Watford. Many fans are too happy to see poor football and are in love with being in the Premier league.
Reports of stewards telling the fans not to boo the team at the Norwich game and asking why are they leaving the game early?

Yet again, we need another clear out. Watford FC will still keep going, which league or division they will be in we don't know. Will they still be at Vicarage Road or ground sharing, who knows.

What is certain along with relegation is that change must happen at Watford FC.

 

Still feel the same really. They are, compared with your average owner, excellent for a club like us.

They're victims of their own success in that a relegation season from the PL is now seen as protest-worthy.

But, I totally get the apathy, it's massively frustrating and boring to get through as many managers as we do, and it's infuriating that we've flat out refused to invest in a defence that was on its last legs 3 years ago.

In my opinion it's not quite so desperate that I'd spend my time with 'Dont get off the coach' type posters on Occupation Road, but everyone is entitled to express how they feel.

 

I agree that a ‘protest’ isn’t really the route to go down (yet). But I do wonder what kind of things the fans could do to get Gino to talk to us openly. I think it’s high time that he took questions and perhaps ones that make him uncomfortable.

I just wonder what the catalyst would be for him to do that, as I think for the fans relationship with the club (and with one another given the polarising of camps that’s happened), it’s vital he does so. Would it be fans demanding he does via protests? Someone of real note posting an open letter?

Maybe I’m wrong but it doesn’t feel like the club is sleepwalking back into a season of being at the top of the Championship again. It feels to me like we are drifting back to exactly the state Gino found us in on the pitch. And empty seats in stands etc

I don’t know. But I personally struggle a bit the apathy towards doing something.

 

I agree with you. I am still pozzo in, I just wish they'd return to their old methods.

 

Highs are never as high and lows never as low

We're not heading for league 1, we're heading for the Championship where we'll be one of the bigger clubs and better financed (from parachute money) and fighting for top 6

Sarr and Dennis will be sold, and likely rake in £50M+ to keep the wolves from the door, some others will go, some will join etc etc

The cycle starts again

How well it goes depends on 2 things - who the next manager is, and how patient the club is with them

That's where the key mistakes keep being made

 

The two year the manager will be sacked/move on model has now eaten itself. They used to boast about that model but they now surely can’t be anything but embarrassed when it means the managers are getting roughly 10 games. We’ve had what, 15 managers and only one has been approached by another club, that’s what happens when you couple poor recruitment with only employing managers who aren’t employed. It worked fine when they at least got a full season, but when you’re going through at least 3 then some serious reevaluation is needed.

 

Oh yeah, I was referring to just watching the highlights. I'm not part of the grammer polees,

 

Have we ever really protested anything? Not in my time as a fan. Whenever the dentist is mentioned, he’s talked about like he was driving the club towards the cliff but I don’t recall a protest against him. He had his supporters both on here and in the stadium.

If we didn’t protest him, I highly doubt we’d protest anything else. I can’t see Roy Moore and his merry band of silent warriors spending their time doing that. They’ve got Borehamwood to fall back on.

Watford fans are the most apathetic of the lot.

 

The problem is Poxbury are lurching from one terrible decision to the next. I have absolutely no faith in them appointing the correct manager. We will not have Sarr as a cheat code next season and will be stuck with average players approaching their mid-30s on good wages.

I genuinely think this the last time we'll be in the Premier League for a long time.

 

Webster is about to score Brighton's second here. Every Watford player is back to defend yet NINE have ended up the wrong side of the ball and are literally standing there watching as Kiko and Foster try to keep it out. It's absolutely horrendous, you'll see League Two teams defending their goal better than this.

 

Why League One? We've only been at that level for 2 out of about 40 years.

If this ends up being the result we will be worse off than when Pozzo took over.

 

The lack of organisation and leadership captured in one picture.

Cathcart is experienced, but he's not a leader.

 

The cheat code in the champ isn't Sarr, it's parachute payments which split the league into those with and those without

More so than ever since covid left most EFL clubs in a financial state with little opportunity to get out

It's no guarantee of promotion, but its a hefty advantage

 

The cheat code was definitely Sarr last season.

RE-parachute payments, you need to either somehow convince our better players to stay, or trust the club to get recruitment right.

Which do you foresee happening?

 

Who are in P1 and P2 in the championship

Why do you think they are there?

Like I say, it's not guarantee of success, the club must get the next coaching appointment right, back them, and be patient

Its a hefty advantage though

 

I know. I laughed so hard in the stand, the stupid little kids in front of me who’d spent the game screaming at each other even stopped for a second.

As soon as Potter made that double change to stem the flow of attack, our players knew it was over and for the most part gave up.

I’d say it’s shocking. But it’s the norm. Hilariously normal.

 

Long-term contracts for players combined with two or more head coaches per season is a recipe for indiscipline. If "lessons have been learned", isn't the most important one to employ a manager who knows the English game and give him time to build?

 

Bonser out!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Fulham and Bournemouth, who are minted anyway.

I think the easing of COVID restrictions etc, will ensure other Championship clubs are more financially competitive next season.

I can see teams like Stoke and Forest being strong, plus the 2 others who get relegated.

Next season will not be the same as last season, by any means.

 

Will they still do the £10 streams in the championship?

 

Yes. I presume Welbeck was one we couldn't afford to pay because he wanted too much. I don't know that, of course, but he was doing alright for us (although Pearson didn't help). and we let him go.

 

What about the protest against Jack Petchey during and/or after the 3-0 home defeat by Grimsby in March 1994 in front of one of the lowest ever Watford crowds (something like 4K)?

 

He mis-hit it and couldn't believe his luck. His goal-scoring record (and his team do provide him with chances) is not particularly good. He is part of the reason Brighton are so boring.
None of this means Brighton are a poor team. They have steadily improved the quality of the players and are way better than the current Watford team.