Oppo Forum: https://www.owlstalk.co.uk/forums/ A phrase of "six pointer" is thrown around a lot in football. It generally means that a win for either side would be huge in the context of said clubs season. Here we are, game number twelve, at home to winless and bottom club Sheffield Wednesday who are also (at the time of writing) managerless, and this is just the sort of game we are facing at this point, this season. Our start to the season has been hardly ground breaking, having finally managed to reach double figures last weekend with a creditable draw at Cardiff, which really should of been all three, had a certain crow been more prolific in front of goal. We conceded another sloppy goal though, and despite them leading early, we dominated the second half with a much improved display than the Sunderland no show Wednesday night before hand. Sheff Wed have been a sort of a "party pooper" club for us in the past. They scored a last minute leveller to deny us the Championship title on the last day of the season, making the muffins top dogs. They also ended our wonderful start to the 00/01 season by easily beating us 3-1 in a game I attended and was pretty amazed at how well they played that day. Better Best Forgotten: Former Hornets' boss Xisco Munoz was dumped by the Owls A proud history, Sheffield Wednesday are seen as a "sleeping giant" of the football pyramid. Since their relegation the same season we went down with Wimbledon in 2000, they have struggled to really challenge to get back into the Premier League, having been main stays there for a very long time. With their bitter rivals also having a terrible start to their PL campaign, you would forgive an Owls fan a slight snigger at their current plight. Xisco Munoz, who many of us remember as Mr. Smile and guided us back to the Premier League, took over the reigns from Darren Moore but proved with a limited squad, his coaching ability was very much below par to put it mildly. Two points from ten games going into the weekend, it was almost no surprise when he was shown the door swiftly after losing 1-0 at West Brom. So what about the game then? Well, depending on which Twitter (Sorry, 'X') rumours you believe, this is still seen as a make or break game for current hornets coach Ismael. Despite being handed a contract extension, two wins from ten games is not great form wise, and despite us generally playing better than last season as a unit, sitting one point above the drop zone is going to get a certain Italian Owner's trigger finger itchy. What worries the most going into this, is we are so, so good at giving a struggling side a boost in confidence by putting in a shower of a performance "cough" QPR "cough". This is a game we should win, and have the players when focused to do so. However, despite an upturn in performance at Cardiff, it's very difficult to judge just how much 45mins of better football will change the sides mentality as a whole. With still no return date for the King of Hertfordshire Sema, I would expect a similar line up to Cardiff. Bayo will lead the attack with Martins and Asprilla on the wings. Not sure if Louza has shown he can start a game in training, while Porteous continues to be good or shocking as of late. Rajovic is an idea if we are losing late in the second half and Livermore was surprisingly good at keeping the ball last weekend, so no problem him starting either. I do not think that Sheff Wed will come to the Vic and park the bus. They will play a counter-attacking style that will wait for one of our many mistakes we have been making, and we will be punished. On a brighter note we are scoring goals again, and MotM Bayo will be eager to miss, sorry, score another goal. It's not exactly a mouth watering prospect of Championship football, but for both sets of fans' it's a very big game. It's going to be very nervy especially early on, and it could be a tight 1-0 to either side. A draw will do no side any favours at all right now, but I am going to regret this for sure, and say we will get our party favours out and let it slip again. I think we will play well, but if we go behind early on, Sheff Wed will pack the defence and sit on the lead. We struggle to break down defensive units, so this could be our downfall. Watford 1 Sheff Wed 2
Wednesday, liberated from the dark, oppressive cloud of Muñoz's authoritarian regime, will smash us for a surprise 0-4 win. Knocking it around to each other casually after 75 minutes looking for a fifth, to delighted olés from the away supporters. Martins does his hamstring and is out for the rest of the season. One of Wednesday's goals is a horrific Bachmann blundsr on the edge of the centre circle.
Why do you insist on giving us false hope? We all know this is just a dream and it'll be nowhere near as good as this.
Really peed off Wednesday couldn’t wait just a couple more weeks to sack Xisco. We could’ve thrashed ‘em and waved Thankyou and goodbye to our smiley ex. Now we’ll have a new manager bounce to play against. Also never forgiven them for stealing our Championship Champions title with last minute equaliser (or the d-ckhead fan who ran on the pitch - was he ever named and shamed)? Hope we stuff them. 1-1
Despite being a ST holder, my first visit back to the Vic since QPR on the opening day due to various family reasons. I'm hoping my attendance is the key to unlocking this teams winning performance.
In honour of this game I am travelling to Sheffield for the day. Sadly Micah Hyde is unavailable to accompany me or to take part in the pole.
I’m on at 13/1. Lose this and you won’t see these high odds anymore. P.s. It is my insurance to try and insure Watford do stay up.
This really is a must win. Two clear weeks to work on stuff against the bottom team. I know they've been hugely hampered by having Xisco in charge and not replacing key players from last season but even so, if we don't win this will be very hard to be optimistic about the rest of the season. First thing you try and do going into a club like that is tighten up the defence so think they'll sit back and be compact. So expect a lot of passing around the back whilst we try and look for openings. Frustrates the life out of me as he's so nearly a good player but think we have to start Asprilla, he's the best we've got for a killer pass. Hoping that Louza not being in the Morocco squad might give him a kick up the arse. Might not care that much about playing for us but I'm sure he'll want to be selected for his country (disclaimer: haven't bothered to check if they had games but assume they do).
They drew with Cote d'Ivoire yesterday! They've now got a big time super smasher of a fixture against the footballing giant of Liberia on Tuesday for AFCON qualification.
Going from what I saw at the WC Morocco have a strong team ethic and they work hard for each other, something Louza doesnt seem to have about him sadly.
Sheff Wed are truly one of the worst teams I’ve seen in a long time, nothing about their team looks Championship standard. Watford 1 - 2 Sheff Wed
I was chatting to an Owls supporting colleague the other day, who’s very much looking forward to them kickstarting their season against us.
I think we will win this which is a shame because I was looking forward to seeing people kick off on here and Twitter.
Really don't know what to expect here. Sheff Wed have typically played in a style which we've generally fared well against (low block, not much pressing etc), Rohl coming from the Red Bull coaching school I imagine is likely to tear that up. However i'm not sure how much he'll have been able to get across to them in just over a week and how much their squad is actually suited to it. A game full of unknowns which doesn't suit us at all. Least Fletchers likely ineligible to play as this would be a certainty for one of his few goals of the season.
The noose is tightening and the result is omni important. It means absolutely everything right now. Lose and the fans will almost certainly kick off post game. Even though it appears to be not the case, it really wouldn't surprise me if Ismael is sacked. A draw would probably keep the status quo, but a win will keep the wolf from the door and would be promoted as green shoots blah, blah. Personally the result could go any which way, but I'm tending to fear the worst. Had Xisco still been in charge I'd have been confident we'd win, but a new manager usually makes players try that little bit harder. All the expectation will be on Watford and that never bodes well. A win for Sheffield would really hit hard but seems fitting in the context of this season.
That pitch invader was my co-worker and supported QPR using another ST Holder's seat. Suffice to say he and the ST Holder had a stadium ban. Couldn't ******* believe my eyes when I saw who it was.
We're going to smash this lot. Our Owl in the box plus the Crow flying high will have them stripy owls in a right flap at the back. Watford 5-2 Chef Wed
Everything clicks, The Crow gets a brace. 4-0 to the promotion bound Orns with Martins and Louza scoring the other. I'm on holiday so will miss this. The only other home game I missed was the first half against QPR!
In all my years at Vicarage Rd, I'd say the biggest away end limbs ever was when Wednesday equalised on the last day of the season to hand the title to Bournemouth. Funny though because after that they failed twice in the play offs and spent years of nothingness in league 1.
When you are a big club who has had very little success for so long, I guess you indulge the good things your club does as much as you can.
