WHAT’S IN A NAME

With the summer transfer window shutting shortly, I think it's fair to say most Hornets fans will be happy with the business done at WD18. New signings Craig Forsyth and Mark Yeates have already got themselves on the scoresheet, whilst the signing of Stratford Town defender Tom James has shown that the club aren't afraid of taking chances on players from lower down the league pyramid. I might just dust down my boots. Whilst other fans may pore over the statistics of our new signings in the hope of getting an understanding of who and what we've brought in, I am much easier to please. I like a good name.

Imagine my delight then when we signed the superbly named Prince Bauben. With a name like that he could score a hat-trick of own goals in the FA Cup Final and he'd still be loved. Add to this the capture of Scottish international Chris Iwelumo and all of a sudden we've got two of the best names in the division. Tremendous stuff.

In an attempt to predict what sort of career our new captures will have at Watford, I decided to have a look back at some previous Hornets with exotic or entertaining names and it was with some surprise I found myself wishing I had been around in 1906, as this was the year that we signed the superbly named defender Bert Badger. Despite sounding like he was named after some sort of mascot, Bert had a good, if all to brief career at the Hornets, playing 56 times and scoring five goals. I wonder how many were from “set” pieces?...

POD 2.1 - Preseason 2011-2012

With the 2011-2012 is almost here and Jon, Jason and Mike are back for a 2nd season of podcasts. A new theme tune, a new challenge and a new season of football to talk about. As the the three life long Watford fans head to Watford's preseason match at AFC Wimbledon they have all the chat about the goings and comings at Vicarage Road over the closed season and of course they give their thoughts on how the new season might unravel.