Mike in the Guardian - Watford 2011-2012 Preview

The Guardian newspaper asked From The Rookery End's Mike Parkin to give his thoughts on Watford's chances this season. You can read his views on the Hornets below, and along with other bloggers from every club in the Championship on the Guardian website.

Nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to supporting Watford. Flamboyant chairmen, the turning of a much loved ex-manager into a vegetable, constant criticism of our style of play and a three-sided ground have all been used as proverbial sticks to beat us. Now, us Hornets fans have another thorn in our side. Wales.

During the close season we have lost the Championship's leading scorer Danny Graham down the M4 and across the border to Swansea, whilst our manager, his backroom team and the influential midfielder Don Cowie have also crossed the bridge, all now employed by Cardiff City.

The exciting winger Will Buckley has also departed, although he has headed south to Brighton. Add into the mix a relatively new and unknown owner and Watford fans could be forgiven for being mildly concerned.

However, in appointing the former youth and reserve team manager and Mackay's assistant Sean Dyche as boss, the club have gone for continuity – something that has pleased Watford fans. He may not have managerial experience, but he has Watford experience and that will do for us. Combine his appointment with a smattering of new signings; Mark Yeates, Chris Iwelumo, David Mirfin, Craig Forsyth and the wonderfully named Prince Buaben, who all look like good additions, and there is perhaps cause for cautious optimism.

Of course, when I say optimism, I mean a vague notion that we may achieve this season's single goal. Survival. Whilst our younger players performed admirably last year, they are going to have to do so again this term if Watford are to avoid a relegation scrap and only time will tell if the squad is big enough, strong enough and experienced enough to keep our heads above water in what is an increasingly competitive division.

Simply put, if by 5pm on 28 April Watford are still a Championship club, the 2011-12 season will have been a success.

I guess time will tell exactly what Wales has that Watford doesn't.

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Watford's season on aggregate

23 oppositions played home and away. A Championship season is 46 games, each one lasting 90 minutes, each giving a result - Win, Lose or Draw. However, what if every Championship result was done on aggregate?

With that thought on my mind, and for a bit of fun and to take a different look at the 2010-2011 season, I've put together the home and away results for every Watford results from the last season to see if things looked a little different. Oh, and away goal rule was enforced.

10 wins, 12 losses and 1 out and out draws.

I'd kind of hoped for a significant difference, a way of showing that we've had a season worthy of higher finish in the league. It certainly felt like a finish higher then we achieved. But the results still make sense for a club that finish 14th out of 24.

A few things stand out - The most boring games were our clashes against Barnsley - only 1 goal in 180 minutes. And the most entertaining seems to be our games with Leicester and Cardiff - 11 goals in each tie.

One interesting point is our record against the clubs that finish top and bottom of the league.

Top 2 - both wins - and we beat both at their place.
Playoff places - 1 win, 2 losses and a draw.
Bottom 3 - Only 1 win and 2 losses.

So does anything stand out for you, do any of the aggregate results paint a better picture of a the performance you saw on the pitch and do any of them make you proud?

Jon

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Ask not what your club can do for you...

It was John F Kennedy that famously said; "Ask not what your Country can do for you, ask what you..." actually forget it. It's more simple than that.

Watford V Palace. 7:45pm. Tonight.

Do all you can to be there.

Once you are there, your job is simple. Do all you can to make as much of a racket as possible. Scream, shout, clap, stamp your feet, wave scarves, whatever. Anything to let them know we are behind them. Let them know we care. Misplaced pass? Forget it. Shout louder. Scuffed shot. No matter. Chant with renewed vigour and they'll get it right.

We often hear about how the crowd can make a difference. Well, tonight, we simply have to make a difference. 

Your club needs you.
Our club needs us.

COME ON YOU HORNS.

The state we're in...

Walsall. Bournemouth. Southend. Swindon. Stockport. Brighton. Huddersfield. Towns and Cities with football clubs. Towns and Cities with football clubs and populations far greater than that of Watford. Further examples including Slough, Telford, York and Luton can’t even muster a Football League team between them.

In the population stakes, Watford (120,960) is sandwiched between Gloucester (123,205) and Rotherham (117,262). Birmingham or Manchester we are not.

Now, if you’ll indulge me, I’m going to list what has happened to Watford FC in the twenty or so years I have been following them. By my calculations, I have experienced the following:

• Four relegations


• Three promotions


• The Division One Championship


• Two successful Play-Off Finals


• Three FA Cup Semi-Finals


• One Carling Cup Semi-Final

Had I been a shade older, you could also count an FA Cup Final and a UEFA Cup campaign. For a town with a population comparable to that of Stockport, our recent history is pretty impressive. Ask fans of the clubs mentioned at the start of this article what they think. I’m sure they will agree.

You should have by now guessed the premise of this piece. Watford is a relatively small town which just so happens to have a football club. A football club that has delivered more excitement, fun and unrefined joy than any fan has a right to expect. Have a look through that list again. Trips to Wembley. Promotions. Europe. Cup Semi Finals. Fans of clubs bigger than ours would kill for just some of the excitement we’ve had.

When you look at the facts, we’ve overachieved. We’ve always had to sell our best players, have existed with small gates and will forever suffer for being near neighbours to the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham. Now, in 2010, nothing has changed, except now we are flat broke. Each month is a financial challenge, meaning holding on to our best players is harder than ever, whilst attracting new high calibre players and staff is almost impossible.

This isn’t news. We’ve known for ages. We’re not in great shape. We’re hanging in there, but it isn’t pretty. We’re not just battling to stay in the Championship, we’re battling to stay afloat.

I’m sure there are things both players and the management wish they had done differently as we have slid down the table from Play-Off outsiders to relegation dog fighters. Hindsight is twenty-twenty after all. Personally though, I’m pretty sure that Malky Mackay is doing the best with what he’s got, and as usual for a Watford Manager, that isn’t much.

Of course fans pay to be entertained and have every right to voice their displeasure when things aren’t going to plan. None of us like losing. It is however worth taking time to remember the bigger picture. We are a club still very much in the depths of a financial crisis. It’s pretty simple - the amount of cash going out far exceeds the amount coming in. How we got there is a different discussion, but like it or not, that is the situation.

If you want to be in a position where the Manager can just go out and buy a replacement for a striker who isn’t scoring or a goalkeeper who is conceding, I suggest you go and support Manchester United or Chelsea. If you want a subs bench awash with experienced game changers and goal poachers, well Arsenal is just up the road. We are a club with a small, inexperienced and young squad and management team. Why? Because we lack ambition? Because we’re content with being “Little old Watford”? Grow up. It’s through necessity. We’re finally cutting our cloth according to our means. Of course it’s painful and the side effects are clear for all to see. No-one wants to be struggling. It’s frustrating, it’s annoying and it’s no fun. But it’s where we are. Deal with it.

It’s almost certain to get worse before it gets better. The summer brings with it contracts that we are unlikely to renew, transfer fees we are unable to turn down and the disappearance of influential loanees. If you think this squad is inexperienced, just wait until next season.

That’s the point though isn’t it. With a bit of luck, at least there will be a next season…

Come on you Horns.

After the Lloyd Mayor's Show...

It’s so often the case. After memorable highs, come instantly forgettable lows.

Producing a performance to follow the extraordinary scenes we witnessed at Vicarage Road on Monday night was always going to be difficult, but I suppose it is a measure of how far this squad of borrowed players, youngsters and journeymen have come under Malky Mackay that Saturday’s home defeat to Derby was as disappointing as it was unexpected.

It was a cold day, and the sticky looking pitch was never going to be conducive to free flowing football. Add into the mix Derby’s hard working, tough tackling game plan and an early Danny Graham miss from distance, and it quickly became apparent that it was going to be one of those days.

Credit to Derby. From the first whistle to the last they didn’t let Watford have any time on the ball, and the previously effective Cleverley and Cowie were shut down time and time again. Derby battled, tackled, huffed and puffed, and whilst they didn’t look like scoring, neither did we.

As the game wore on it occurred to me that Derby were doing to us what we have done to so many other teams in recent years, and why so many opposition fans had derided us and our tactics. Effective, most certainly. Enjoyable to watch? Even an episode of X-Factor would have provided a tempting alternative.

Watford didn’t play well, but we shouldn’t be too downhearted. This was a well organised Derby team, desperate for their first away win. As much as it pains me to say it, Robbie Savage was a picture of experience and know how – marshalling the game from seemingly the same spot on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes. Additional footballing know how and niggle came from Lee Hendrie and the much travelled Paul Dickov. Compare the careers of these guys to those of Lee Hodson, Liam Henderson and Ross Jenkins, and you get an idea of what we are up against in this division.

More often than not, our youngsters have proved up to the task this season, and it is for that reason that I doubt many Hornets fans will have trouble moving on quickly after Saturday’s 0-1 defeat. This Watford team has already given us much to cheer this season, and despite the increasing spectre of financial meltdown off the pitch, on the pitch has in the main (unexpectedly) been a joy to behold.

Speaking of which, I can’t close without mentioning last Monday night. 7 December 2009, or “Lloyd-D Day” as it shall now be known.

Since the news emerged that Adrian Mariappa and Lloyd Doyley had been locked in fierce competition to be the first to break their goalscoring duck, the attention of many Watford fans turned from the duos defensive performances to their chances of scoring at the other end. Aidy Mariappa comfortably beat Lloyd in their personal duel, but since then Watford fans have been collectively willing Doyley on, and this season the performances of the team had allowed him to creep ever closer to his first ever goal.

Well, against QPR, it finally arrived. Described by the Sky commentary as looking as if he had been “fired from a cannon” Lloyd Doyley met Don Cowie’s cross with a thundering header and for a couple of seconds everything stopped. The massed ranks of Hornets fans exchanged looks and cautious smiles, seeking confirmation that what they had just seen was real and not some bizarre optical illusion.

Realisation dawned and then – bedlam.

A celebration of joy, of togetherness. A celebration that will live long in the memory of all that were there, and one that reinforces the good feeling that is back at Vicarage Road. A feeling that we are all in this together and are once again pulling in the same direction. There was genuine affection towards “Lloydhino” from fans and players alike, and the noisy, joyous, quite frankly bonkers celebrations felt like a truly shared moment.

Such moments are infrequent in modern day football, and this was an occasion to savour. I am relieved, proud and delighted to be able to leave you with the refrain…”I was there when Doyley scored!”

Tommy Smith and other animals

I'm a bit older now. A bit calmer. I don't swear quite as much at match officials, and my goal celebrations are slightly less enthusiastic than they once were. Even Neil Warnock doesn't wind me up that much any more.

So, with my new found sense of calm, I have been quite proud of the sanguine way in which I have accepted Watford's current financial plight. Despite the never ending tales of black holes in accounts and player departures, I have continually been able to find the positives and maintain some sort of optimistic excitment.

Even now, as the Tommy Smith saga looks to be drawing to a long overdue conclusion (1.8million toReading is the latest) I am hopeful that we'll be able to plug the gap somehow.

It's the thought of his unveileing at the Madjeski Stadium press conference that sees me regress into an angry young man. The thought of his smug face, grinning for the cameras as he puts his arm round our Tommy Smith.

I don't blame Tommy, he'll be on more cash, and I don't blame the board as we need the money too. It's just a shame it had to be Reading. It's a shame it had to be him.After considering this saga though, it occurs to me that in this age of super rich footballers, distant, aloof and detached from both reality and us fans,  it isn't actually that hard to keep the public on your side.

Take our friend Mr Rodgers. His comments before leaving for Reading were just hopeless. His talk of integrity blown wide apart by his tastelessly hasty departure up the M4. At best his words were ill advised, at worst they made him a bare faced liar. Watford fans, while not entriely surprised, rightly seethe.

Weeks later he opens his mouth again, to proclaim that "Tommy wants to join us". Presumably it was only after this quote hit the press he realised he isn't allowed to talk to contracted players without permission.

Two examples of opening mouth before engaging brain.

Now we all know that Smith has been the subject of transfer speculation for some time now. But what has Tommy done? Tried to engineer a move through the media? No. Discussed it in public? No. He has kept quiet, and it is for this reason that when he returns to Vicarage Road in a reading shirt he'll get a standing ovation. Rodgers thought he was clever enough to open his mouth and conduct his business through the media. Something tells me he will be afforded an ever so slightly different reception.

Tommy will get the new me.  I am most definitely saving a bit of the old me for Brendan Rodgers.

Watford 1 Plymouth 2 - 16/09/08

I was late for this game.

[caption id="attachment_66" align="alignright" width="128" caption="Guilty pleasure"][/caption]

I was hungover to high heaven after seeing Metallica at the O2 the night before (one of the teenage habits that I don't seem to be able to break) and was entirely reliant on a lift from a mate. He was late, so I was late.

Sauntering up to Vicarage Road 10 minutes after kick off was an interesting experience. There were fans clearly on their way to the game, clearly late, yet clearly not bothered. Instead of rushing to the game little pockets of supporters slowly shuffled towards Vicarage Road, preferring to stop and fill up on take away food and confectionery - some even stopping to read the paper.

As we walked down Occupation Road 12 minutes into the game the other thing that struck us was the dirth of sound. There was definitely a game on - we could hear the ref's whistle and the shouts of the players - but nothing from the fans. This is no great suprise, we all know Vicarage Road is hardly a seething pit of partisan support, but this really did seem strangely subdued.

When we got into the ground, settled down and got the team news from my brother, the reason for the apathy became clear. The East Stand is shut, and with no-one in it our quaint reminder of yester-year is an increased eyesore. On top of that, there is the building work in the corner of the Rookery. With no idea of when or if that project will be finished, the ground provides a fairly depressing spectacle. But the thing that really struck me about this game, and the state of our team/squad, was the subs bench.

Loach, Mariappa, Ainsworth, Bangura, Hoskins. There was something about this list of names that put me in mind of some of the distinctly average Watford teams throughout the 90's (obvious exceptions excluded). I was immediately put in mind of players like Peter Beadle,

Beadle -Mediocre

Colin Pluck, Gerard Lavin, Dominic Ludden.   Journeymen. Like those ex players, none of our subs for this game are going to change a game. They are all honest players, and I am not  entirely displeased that they are Watford players, but they aren't exactly inspirational and this is the best we have at the moment.

It's all a bit comfortable I suppose. No-one really expects us to challenge for promotion, and we should have enough quality to stay in the division, but apart from staying in the

Championship, it is hard to see any other realistic goals.

Admittedly the treatment room is now at bursting point, and one could argue that an entirely fit squad would be an interesting proposition - hopefully time will tell. For now however though, I think everyone is in neutral. We all turn up at the games because, well, that's what we do. I don't think anyone really expects anything.

In a way, that kind of sums up why supporting Watford can be god fun. When expectation levels are low (non-existant?!) things can happen. When our little club starts thinking it deserves or is entitled to success, then things go a bit wonky. Just look at last season - the expectation was poisonous and it made sure that last year was utterly ghastly. Already this year we have had the fun and games of the Ipswich game, and have beaten a decent side in Charlton. We have also been beaten by a rubbish Plymouth side - who knows what will happen on Saturday against Reading...

As we left the Plymouth game the feeling was that everyone was pretty much as apathetic as they were at the start. We had lost, but we hadn't played that badly. There is a long way to go in the season, and we'll play worse and win (according to Aidy at any rate). Not a great night's entertainment, but not the worst, so home to bed before we do it all again on Saturday. 

With only one fit striker avaialble to us, it will be tough, but funny things happen when you least expect it, especially at Watford...

Sing when I'm winning? Watford 2 Ipswich 1 - 30/08/08

So then. I'm back.

Having missed the Palace, Rovers and Charlton games (holidaying in the South of France) I made my home debut against Darlington.

This was something of a strange experience for me. Those of you who read my ramblings towards the end of last season will know that me and football weren't really getting on. So much so in fact that the last entry in this blog was on the 19th April. On that day I severed ties with the game for the summer.

[caption id="attachment_54" align="alignleft" width="128" caption="Pursuit cycling. Bravo!"][/caption]

It really all had got too much. Watford were woeful, England were worse and the Premiership was (is) full of some of the most unpleasant people on earth (Hi Ashley. Send my love to Cheryl. You tw*t.). So, I began a trial separation. It was quite nice really. I watched some cricket, I played some cricket. I kept half an eye on the Euro Championships in Austria and Switzerland and I played some half decent golf. I watched the Olympics and discovered that I quite liked pursuit cycling.  I went on holiday. I even did some gardening. Lots and lots of stuff that didn't involve football.

So, when it came to the Darlington game, it was all a bit alien. The first time I had thought about Watford for a good couple of months was when I attempted to go through the turnstiles ahead of the game.

I say attempted because, this being Watford, the end of our trial separation just had to have a hitch. The ticket office had failed to activate my and about 3,000 other season cards, necessitating a lengthy queue at the ticket office to collect a paper ticket. Welcome back to Watford!

Anyway I got in, and the game began. It followed the formula we have come to expect from these games - we play a weakened side against a lower league side. Both sides cancel each other out, with us looking marginally the stronger. We score, they score (late) and there is extra time. The fitness levels and presence of a few experienced players finally tells, and we win through. Just.

It wasn't a great spectacle, but my brother and I agreed that our reserve side beating a first team, albeit a lower league first team, could only be a good thing. That's right ladies and gents, a good thing.  I could feel something I hadn't felt for ages. Enthusiasm.

Ipswich next. And I am definitely back. In the week leading up to the game I am checking websites, reading fans forums, and generally looking forward to it.  I am taking my 7 year old nephew who had specifically requested a trip to see Watford as his birthday present. (Quite remarkable as his only previous visit was the 1-2 reverse against Bristol City last season). The promise of another young Hornet. in the family only adds to the feel good factor.

Game day is sunny and all is well. The ground is full (in the areas that aren't unsafe for human inhabitants)

[caption id="attachment_55" align="alignright" width="128" caption="5:22pm"][/caption]

and there is a big away following, adding to the atmosphere. Z Cars kicks in and I am definitely, definitely back. Football is brilliant. Mart Poom's 2nd minute clearance isn't however, and Ipswich are ahead.

This is an important moment for me. I'm not sure how I am going to react. I sit there for a while, staring at the Ipswich fans cheering and laughing in equal measure. I think about texting my brother (he is in the Rookery, I'm in the Rous) with some sarcastic comment about great starts. Then it dawns on me. I'm OK. There is a long way to go, and we can turn it around. We can still win this. Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, we can now add optimism to the newfound enthusiasm.

I'm delighted. You see, at the end of last season I thought I might have completely fallen out of love with Watford. Maybe even the game as a whole. A couple of minutes after Ipswich went ahead I realised that I am still head over heels.

The Ipswich fans serenaded us with an array of chants that were both amusing and aggravating in equal

[caption id="attachment_56" align="alignright" width="128" caption="7:05pm"][/caption]

measure - "One-nil to the football team" (That one is presumably on loan from the oh so stylish WBA, currently struggling to score in the Premiership) and the even more laughable "We're just too good for you.." rang out from the Vicarage Road End...

The rest of course is history. Late winner+Ipswich fans and their daft chants+sunny Saturday evening+Watford FC=happiness. Brilliant. I make no excuses or apologies for my feelings and subsequent rants last season, and I stand by them. I don't think I have enjoyed a season less. It was horrible. I really thought it may have been over. I thought I was going to be one of those blokes who "used to go to Vicarage Road a lot when I was younger, but you know, I just stopped going really..."It turns out I'm not.

Bring it on!