Watford FC - Media Watch

Boo. I thought this was a thread highlighting negative press received thus allowing me to boil my pi ss in a highly satisfactory manner.

 

So in the Times today the report says that 'Watford looked surprisingly organised against Everton despite having 11 starters all from different nationalities'

As long as they understand basic English I really dont see why organisation and nationality are related to each other

 

It seemed like it was to do with his use of "ok". They all kept on dropping ok in to their responses. Totally xenophobic and given Merson can't even string three words together, feels like people in glass houses. I wish my Spanish was as 'poor' as QSF's English.

Before that I thought Phil Thompson's analysis was reasonably fair.

 

Everyone knows that everyone with a different nationality are inherently arch enemies

 

Xenophobic, jingoist, populist nonsense spouted by so called experts working for a corporation that is slowly ******* the life out of the very game that has made them all known around the country. A corporation run by Rupert Murdoch. Are we really expecting anything other than a load of carp. Bournemouth sell papers, and their fairytale is interesting to television viewers. A couple of Italians who largely fly under the radar whilst running a hugely successful footballing empire are really not that interesting to your average Joe.

 

Absolutely. Merson is a complete tool.

Willian aka will.i.am
Mahrez - Mraz
He made an attempt to write down the pronunciation of Okazaki, and even then was woefully wrong.

Paul Merson should be getting English lessons from Quique.

 

I'd love to hear Merson speak Spanish. He's a loathsome halfwitted ****.

 

Excellent, funny and quite well informed piece on
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2015...re-the-premier-leagues-most-entertaining-club

 

Nice article

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2015...re-the-premier-leagues-most-entertaining-club

:sign15:

 

I liked it,not sure that Troy will be pleased with the comment regarding his size!

 

Interesting to hear how our betting odds fluctuate over the season. At least one bookie seems to get it.

https://betting.betfair.com/footbal...on-Betting-Watford-August-11-100815-666.html?

 

I used to think the same about Neville, until the 2014 World Cup when he gave an interview explaining why Rooney can perform well on the left wing. In the interview he was very defensive and uncomfortable, and seemed agitated that the interviewer was questioning why Rooney was playing on the wing.

 

A good read, lets hope the positives spoken about are the ones that come to be!

 

Good article that. Out of interest, does anyone have any insight into how betting odds work? Do odds fluctuate as a result of who the public is betting on etc,or as a result of their 'experts' fixing the odds themselves,or both?

 

Yes,I take the Times and Sunday Times and I read it at lunch today at Corby Level 1.

Very fair piece I thought,slowly the decent comments are appearing.

Calvin is a very bitter man,not quite sure what his problem is,perhaps he was stung by a hornet?

Flea ridden khaki of a writer!

 

Apologies,should read khasi,Mac clearly doesn't recognise Galton and Simpson!

 

Somebody posted on twitter that Arsenal have started 137 times without an Englishman (maybe a Brit) in the premier league.
I also remember when Liverpool fielded a side without an Englishman in it although there were plenty of Scots Welsh and Irish in the side.
Nobody in the past brought these things up.

 

Calvin's problem is he decided he didn't support us any more and started supporting Millwall. Which is fine, as far as it goes, but it means his every mention of us is to try & justify to himself why he's swapped clubs.

edit: a bit like when you've dumped a girlfriend & got a new one who's always prettier/more fun/better sex etc

 

Can someone post the Times report for those of us who are the wrong side of the paywall?

 

Duxbery said it in one ... the priority for this season is getting a foothold and blooding the kids will have to wait.

 

Thought he also indicated that he felt English players are over-priced (which is a common thread across the forum) and value for money is found in the foreign market. Everyone is doing the same and it will be interesting to see total foreign buys per team across the league come 1st Sept ..... We will be average on amount but superior on talent and streets ahead with a cohesive squad because we got on with it rather than sticking our head in the sand IMO.

 

Yeah but that's because last time around we dumped them (the media) in a portacabin 20ft up on top of a platform and fed them crap. Always a sure fire way of annoying them. Duxbury is much too savvy for that. Going by the pictures on Twitter from yesterday they're now properly looked after, got top quality modern bespoke facilities and decent grub. They will be much more positive about us this year as a result.

 

By the same token it would be in our interest to get some good youngsters coming through to both meet our homegrown quota cheaper and to sell them on.

Although I agree it can wait.

 

Here you are:

WATFORD were applauded on to the field for their first taste of Premier League football at Vicarage Road in eight years and they were applauded even more rapturously off it. Only a lack of composure in front of goal spoilt a memorable day for the home fans.

The newcomers had much the better of the game but could not turn neat and tidy approach play into clear chances, while Albion’s poverty was best summed up by the sight of Rickie Lambert puffing back to bolster the midfield and long bouts of time-wasting that began midway through the second half. Think early-vintage Stoke City.

The highlight for Albion fans was the first sighting of Salomon Rondon, their record £12m signing from Zenit St Petersburg. The Venezuelan came on just after the hour and was greeted by a chorus of “Da doo ron-don-don,” after the Crystals classic, which was good going given that he signed less than a week ago. If this is the sort of football Albion are going to serve up, the fans will need to make their own fun this season.

Albion created just two chances. One was wasted by Rondon, who with his first touch pulled the ball back on to his left foot and with his second blazed the ball high and wide, the other by Saido Berahino, who should have done better with a close-range header midway through the second half.

When Tony Pulis spoke afterwards of “comings and goings” in the next few weeks, he doubtless meant Berahino, who showed some neat touches without ever suggesting he was entirely committed to the cause. Tellingly, when Craig Gardner was replaced by Rondon, Berahino was moved to right midfield and was not pushed forward again until Lambert, misplaced in his role behind the lone striker, was hauled off. But Albion badly need strengthening in all areas.

Quique Sanchez Flores, Pulis’s counterpart, can be quietly proud of the way Watford’s team of nations have adapted to the style and pace of the Premier League. Unlucky not to have won at Goodison Park last weekend, they surprised Albion with the slickness and invention of their passing, and with their willingness to push forward on both flanks.

Jose Jurado proved a handful for Craig Dawson all afternoon and in Etienne Capoue, a record £6m signing from Tottenham, Watford had easily the most accomplished player on the pitch. Pretty well everything that Watford created came through the Frenchman who, in harness with Valon Behrami, controlled the tempo of the midfield, snuffing out any glimpses of Albion’s counterattacks and widening the pitch with his long, sweeping passes. In the first half, in particular, Albion were stretched to the limit.

From one cross by Jurado, Troy Deeney’s stooping header was well blocked by Gareth McAuley; from another, Deeney’s header back across goal was clutched at the second attempt by Boaz Myhill. Allan Nyom’s storming run ended with a blistering shot that Myhill could only parry and, though Pulis administered a few home truths to his players at half-time, the tide did not turn noticeably after the break.

Watford’s confidence was epitomised by an ambitious long-range volley by Odion Ighalo, forcing Myhill into a scrambling save. “I like the players to have confidence and I like them to play football,” said Sanchez Flores. “The fans are happy because we are working hard for them and we play with passion. We just have to keep the energy up.” His team have made a stylish transition to their brave new world.

Star man: Etienne Capoue (Watford)

Watford: Gomes 6, Nyom 6, Prodl 6, Cathcart 6, Anya 7, Capoue 8, Behrami 6, Layun 5 (Abdi 55min, 6), Jurado 7 (Berghuis 84min, 6), Ighalo 7, Deeney 6

West Brom: Myhill 6, Dawson 4, McAuley 6, Olsson 5, Brunt 5, Morrison 5, Fletcher 5, Yacob 5, Gardner 5 (Rondon 62min, 5, Lambert 5 (McClean 69min, 5), Berahino 5 (McManaman 90min, 5)

 

Thank you muchly

 

I'm not sure what the point of that article was really. He seems equally scathing aout both teams. He slates us for being too foreign then goes on to bemoan Albions English players lack of ability. He references the family orientated approach the club took during the Taylor/EJ years yet critises the Pozzo's for trying to 'foster community spirit' or recognising the fans/clubs history in the naming of the Graham Taylor/Elton John stands. Presumably he would have prefered it if the stands were named after Udinese & Granada respectively? Seems to me that your damned if you do and damned if you dont in his eyes.

"Watford no longer place their faith in a credo which highlighted the talent of such home-grown coaches as Aidy Boothroyd (one season wonder with us and i'm sure colchester/coventry fans wouldnt use talent as the adjective of choice to descibe his time there), Brendan Rodgers (an unpleasent character whose managerial record is the definition of mediocre bar his spell at swansea), Sean Dyche (did very well with us & Burnely, got a bright future ahead of him), Mark Warburton (never managed our first team, but looks to have a bright career ahead of him), Malky Mackay (tarnished as a rascist and if the way he was hounded at wigan is anything to go by I wouldnt expect to see him back in managment anytime soon) and Chris Powell (err.. what?)."

There was no credo. All these managers were appointed at times when the club had no money & massive debts and the transfer policy consisted of signing players on a free from league 1/scotland. We couldnt afford to employ a manager already establshed in the game. Hell, I remember a forum thread getting excited about us being linked with managers of the calibre of the Indian nationals teams Stephen Constantine. We got lucky really in that complete unknowns like Dyche, Malky & Boothroyd did so well for us. If we hadnt been so cash strapped would we have given them a chance? Probaley not in all honesty.

 

Some journos make a living out s*** stirring. That's just the way it is. Don't worry about it.

 

What a *****. I don't think there is actually an argument in that article against anything the club are doing. Other than our responsibility to the national team. I think I was in pampers the last time England came calling for one of our players.

 

Hope it's not too rude to add my Watford blog to this thread.

https://jimmyarmchair.wordpress.com

Today's piece compares Watford and WBA.

 

I read the robo-baggies one earlier .... it was highly amusing