Oppo Forum: https://wewilljourneyon.proboards.com/ Putting this up early as we've had a long break since the last one. After the first of many International breaks we return to the best league in English football, the Championship for the sixth round of matches. After a pretty damn entertaining 3-3 draw at last season's beaten playoff finalists Coventry, we return to the hallowed turf of Vicarage Road to welcome to visit of the beloved "blue" half of Brum, Birmingham City. Our ex-captain marvel Deeney no longer resides at his boyhood club, but that has in no way prevented them from having a very good start to their Championship campaign. Living the high life: Birmingham have had an excellent start to the season. Scoring a fair few goals along the way, they are looking very good in the early stages of the season and could be an outside early bet for promotion if you took the table and current performances into consideration. However, Birmingham do have a tendency to start some seasons well then badly fall away (a bit like Reading did). Will it happen this time? Still 40 game to play so a lot can change. If they continue to grow in confidence and maintain the majority of their winning side then it is not impossible. Brum have been out of the top flight for a long time, being relegated by Spuds at St. Andrews on the last day of the season. After languishing in the lower depths of the Championship for a number of seasons, and being pretty close to relegation to League One on a number of occasions, seeing them sitting in 4th place after five games must be very pleasing to the brummies. So what about us? Well the start of the season has been good and bad. Good in the concept we have played some nice flowing football and actually look like a team for once under the hand of VI. Bad in concept of scoring goals pre last weekend was a real issue. We might have smashed 4 past QPR but since then we could not hit a barn door with a banjo. With the still not ready Healy (or out of favour, take your pick) we were reliant on our midfield attackers of Martins, Asprilla and Sema to score the goals, with Bayo still the main target man who still works as hard as the rest with finishing chances still a problem for him. So as the latest transfer window slammed shut, we brought in Tom Ince, who to be fair has looked pretty good these last two games and played very well at Coventry. Martins continues to improve and has scored two worldies already. Rajovic got off the mark last week with a brace, and oh so nearly won us the game at the death with a header that went just over the bar. He looks a real handful, and once VI went two up top, he and Bayo played well off eachother, Bayo being involved in Rajovic's second goal when the Coventry players stood still and watched. Having dominated Plymouth but not won the game, had spells in both losses to Blackburn and Stoke, our current position to some does seem a bit low, but football is a results game. If you don't score and keep letting them in the other end you lose points. Rocky Start: Watford have just five points from a possible 15 However, it's not all doom and gloom. We look to have finally found a way to score goals, and as said before, VI needs to stick with what he saw at Coventry when we were on top especially towards the end of the game after the formation change. We know the gaffs of Hoedt and Bachmann did cost us the win, but hopefully these last two weeks have been used to go over the mistakes and put the squad in a better mindset for the vist of Brum. Last season we won this fixture 3-0 without playing that well. But both squads had quite different teams so this time I expect it will a close affair. Birmingham will want to continue their fine start to the season, and on paper this does look like a smash and grab away win is a high possibility. I think (and hope) that our goal scoring drought is over now, and we can slowly begin the climb the table. Birmingham will come with a game plan, and I do not think they will park the bus. They will come at us and expect us to react. It's going to be close, but I think Rajovic can get us a winner in what will be a tight and close affair. Watford 1 Birmingham 0
My gaffer at work ‘supports’ Blues, but only seems to care when they play Watford. For this reason, 7-0 to the ‘Orns.
They have started the season well and will have their tails up. We've used up this months supply of goals last weekend, only getting one point. 0-1.
This will be a tough game, Super Johnny Eustace has got them playing well and they have brought smartly over the summer. Tough one to call but think it'll be 2-1 to Birmingham.
A 2-0 defeat and injuries to Louza and Sierralta leave the midfield looking like 3 boozed up blokes having a Powerleague kickabout.
Ironically, Birmingham at the Vic. 00/01 season - won 2-0 with Neilson scoring a great goal. I remember it because it's the game I slipped down some stairs going home and smashed my leg up pretty badly.
Excellent, so we are way overdue to play well then. I will change my draw prediction to that of a victory.
I see we play WBA on Wed, when did we last play consecutive home games vs teams from the same city, three days apart.
Don't let anyone from the Black Country hear you say that. West Bromwich is no more part of Birmingham than Watford is part of London.
Google says 4.5 miles Hawthorns -> Bullring. 3.8 miles Villa Park -> Bullring. I rest my case m'lud. (Genuinely know nothing about Birmingham geography despite going to Edgbaston twice and going out with a girl from Wolverhampton for 3 years).
As you journey through life, you form opinions based on personal experiences. I've met a few of them over the years, but I've never met a non-smug Bluenose. And they deserve to be in the Premier League of ''fans' who attack scarfers', alongside Burnley. Cnuts, the lot of them.
I grew up nearish Birmingham with most of my friends being Villa or Cov fans, and have worked in various places around Birmingham and the Black Country. For me Baggies fans are by far the nicest and most reasonable. Never above their station and used to perpetual disappointment. Blues fans are fine and self - depricating. Not seen the big time attitude from many. Wolves fans are the worst by a long long stretch.
Oh dear. I shall prepare an offering to the gods of industrial floor cleaner,honey and beeswax. That should do the trick!
Will miss this one as will be on a plane en route to a holiday. The last time Watford played while I was on a flight we won 5-0 away at Fulham in 2014/15 ending a horrible losing streak and ultimately setting us on a course for promotion. Talk about a happy landing!
Yes the Hungarian guy previously at C Palace, who came on to face the Deeney pen after their keeper had been sent off (for bringing down Vydra?).
I can't say I've really known any birminghan fans, except Troy of course. And well, Troy is Troy bruv innit. Safe. As for wolves fans, there was one who was a regular guard out of Euston. He was a big terwatt. Then there was one came in our pub in West Croydon one night going on about soft southern weak beer and what have you. It was a Youngs pub. At the end of the night he was a wreck locked in the toilet cubicle throwing up over himself. Another terwatt. Then of course there was that incident with the hornet milkman a few years back. There was a villa lad at one of the places I worked and he was OK. West brom fans I haven't really encountered. So I would say my order of acceptability of midlands fans would be:- 1. Walsall 2. Villa 3. WBA 4. Brum 5. Wolves
It would be an ignominious state of affairs if a match preview thread didn't move onto a second page of comments prior to Skyla posting 'Shoutbox up!!!'. I am, therefore, doing my non-coin bit...
If we don’t make any silly defensive mistakes, I can see us winning this one, assuming our new striker really does know where they goal is
For someone who is a supposed supporter of the working classes you seem to occasionally relapse into these semi classist/ racist judgements of people who may not speak the Queens English as you see it .
As a Watford fan I hope Watford win this game. A loss would be extremely disappointing. A draw would also be a disappointment other than under exceptional circumstances. For example we go down to 9 men within 10 minutes and are 3-0 down at half time. We then come roaring back in the second half with Bachmann scoring a 99th minute winner direct from a corner (intentionally). That's a point I would gladly take. Edit: worth pointing out that Bachmann gets a second yellow for his goal celebration and we end with 8 men and Sema playing in goal, who goes on to save a 101st minute penalty as we hold on for a draw.
