119 days, no home win and Val is out

 After another disappointing day at Vicarage Road, as the Hornets slipped to another home defeat this time at the hands of the play-off chasing Coventry City, the infamous corner flag made an appearance to confirm Valerian Ismael had followed the fate of those before him and was shown the WD exit door. 

As for the game itself, the first 45 minutes were probably Watford's best of 2024, as they failed to capitalise on several chances following Ryan Porteous' opener. But despite the signs of improvement, yet again Watford couldn't head into the break ahead, only virtually relegated Rotherham has led fewer times at the break this campaign. The controversial recall of Daniel Bachmann has seen him concede a calamitous own goal on Wednesday night (a 1-1 draw with Swansea City) and the leveling penalty against the Sky Blues yesterday afternoon, a roll of the dice that wasn't necessary from Isamel after dropping Ben Hamer for what appears to be without good reason.  

Haji Wright's second-half winner for Coventry seemed all too inevitable and that put the writing on the wall for Isamel, condemning his side to just two league wins in 2024 (away victories at struggling Rotherham and QPR) and no home victory in 119 days, a 5-0 thumping of Rotherma in November. 

Watford have announced a lot of sackings over the years, however, they still found a way to keep this one fresh, as ITV's EFL highlights show broke the news 20 minutes before the club could even muster the infamous club statement. An absolute PR shambles to say the least, although it appears this is the fault of ITV as opposed to the club. 

Aside from yesterday, this sacking doesn't come as a surprise certainly comparably to previous Head Coache's who have been dismissed rather hastily or harshly by Gino Pozzo and Scott Duxbury. Watford have secured just six points from the previous ten league matches, as well as dismally departing the FA Cup during the same period of time at the hands of Southampton. 

With The Hornets sleepwalking towards a relegation battle, with a tough-looking run-in, the board has seen fit to relieve Ismael of his ten-month tenure, with former Hornets captain and U18 coach Tom Cleverley placed in interim charge. It's not clear whether that is just for next week's trip to Birmingham City or whether on a slightly longer-term basis, that will depend on who Pozzo and co-opt to appoint to steer a ship less steady than the titanic into another new era. 

Reflecting on Isamel's time in Hertfordshire as a whole, after a glorious opening day victory at home to QPR, the Hornets made a stuttering start to the campaign culminating in being just one point off the relegation zone following defeat away to Sunderland in October. However, during this time the board appeared to lay their cards on the table, handing Ismael a contract extension and publicly showing their backing, a decision that looks like another shambles in reality, as we begin the process of paying off yet another Head Coach. 

Following the loss in Wearside, there were some shoots of improvement for Watford, with an impressive run between October and Christmas putting Watford in touching distance of the play-off positions. This included a series of impressive away victories at Hull City, a demolition job of Preston and a late late Christmas special at Blackburn. In fact, as the Christmas bells rung, Isamel had led Watford to just two defeats in 11 and they came at the hands of champions elect Leicester City and promotion chasing Ipswich Town. 

But a Boxing Day stuffing at the hands of Bristol City, seemed to be the start of the downward slide that has led to the current state of play. The quality of football seemed to disappear leading to a series of disappointing results, aside from the aforementioned wins against Rotherham and QPR. These included a capitulation after an initial fightback at Norwich, a dismal defeat at home to Cardiff and a turgid display at The Den against Millwall, 2024 certainly hasn't been prosperous in WD18! 

January saw an unfit Emmanuel Dennis return to Hertfordshire, whilst three others headed for the exit door, leaving an already thin squad down to the bare bones. It appears the blame for that recruitment lies at Isamel after turning down a number of players, but you have to look at why he turned those players down and why the board couldn't bring in Ismael's top targets with his side at the time flirting with a potential play-off berth. Regardless of who is at fault, Ismael, the board and the club have reaped what was sewn during a below-par January window. 

The sacking comes as no surprise, but it is a minor detail in a wider issue that Watford Football Club is an absolute mess on and off the pitch. Since the FA Cup Final in 2019, a series of awful Head Coach appointments, appalling on-field recruitment and general disdain in the treatment of supporters have led Watford into a rotten rut. Not forgetting after backing Rob Edwards as their man they sacked him and he went up the M1 to take that lot to the top flight (unforgivable). 

The atmosphere at Vicarage Road is flat, unsurprising given our miserable home form since fans returned from the pandemic, attendances are in a worrying state - there were easily no more than 11,000 home fans on Wednesday evening and gaps all around The Vic yesterday afternoon as well - despite the well-inflated figures announced post-match. It's all a very worrying trajectory and if that alone doesn't worry the board, then I don't know what will. We've had bad spells but the fans have always largely turned out in their numbers, but this is a fanbase that has now had enough and are voting with their feet. 

A constant cycle of managers, lack of identity and the club losing Watford's DNA on the pitch has led to the club just not being enjoyable to support. There are of course clubs in far worse states than us and I won't take that for granted, but with Watford it always felt special to call them 'my club', being happy to be connected for what it stood for, but now it just feels flat, there's no connection anymore. The blame lies in one place only and that's in the boardroom. It's time for Gino Pozzo and Scott Duxbury to take some accountability and either right the wrongs of the previous five years or look to move the club on to the right set of hands who can breed some life into a place that has sadly become lifeless. 

I don't see how we get back to the glory days we have previously enjoyed under Gino Pozzo's ownership and I think that feeling is felt widely amongst the fan base, this rut has to come to an end because otherwise, it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

Fans of other clubs might look at this as a spoiled fanbase throwing its proverbial toys out of the pram because we're midtable in the Championship. It certainly isn't the case, 99% of the fans understand that Watford are a second-tier club, and it has no right to be dining at the top table. But this club is fragmented, from the owners, players, and supporters, something has to change because ultimately the current situation off the pitch, which has guided to the on-pitch mess, isn't healthy for the future of the club. 

But for now as Andrew French expertly put it in the Watford Observer, there's a greater mission of making sure that despite another miserable time at Vicarage Road, we make sure that when the sun shines in August it's not with Watford playing in the third tier of the pyramid. 

On to Birmingham, no doubt about it, it's a relegation six-pointer in the Second City. 

What's going on at Watford Football Club?

 

What on earth is going on at Watford FC?

17 permanent Managers/Head Coaches in a little over 10 years, is quite an astonishing stat. A stat that has been banded around almost every media outlet and of course all around social media in the past 24 hours, as yet again Gino Pozzo rolled the dice in the Watford dugout.

As Monday lunchtime came around, I had a quick scroll on Twitter and all of a sudden the various outlets began to reveal that the Hornets had parted company with Rob Edwards after just ten league games, yes really 10 matches. Mind you incredibly that isn't the shortest reign in Pozzo history, with Oscar Garcia (health reasons) and Billy McKinley all spending less time in the Vicarage Road dugout. 

I have to say when I read the news my heart sank, surely it wouldn't be true and surely the board hadn't abandoned the planned "reset in culture" just 8 weeks into the Championship season. But sadly a short time later, the club confirmed the news and Edwards' bags had been packed, before 15 minutes later the club confirmed the appointment of former West Ham & West Brom manager Slaven Bilic as the new Head Coach (I'll get onto him later). 

Over the years, the media have slammed Watford for their hire/fire policy, I've had many a debate about it in the local pub and my friends have given me plenty of stick in the group chat, but I could always see a rationale behind the decisions made to move managers on. But like many fellow Hornets, this one makes zero sense to me, not necessarily because of form or performances on the pitch but by what had been promised by Watford Chairman and CEO Scott Duxbury in the summer. In what was a then refreshing interview with the Watford Observer, Duxbury said the following:

Gino Pozzo just wants the club to be successful and playing sustained Premier League football. That’s always been his only ambition for Watford. I am on exactly the same page.

“However, he accepts that the way we try and work to deliver that had to change. We know that we could not carry on as we were. Watford Football Club needed its culture back.

“In Rob Edwards, we have appointed a manager we all totally believe in, and a manager who will lead and drive that change.

“We will be supporting Rob Edwards come hell or high water. We believe that he will deliver what we all want: a sustained and successful football club we all can be proud of.” 

Now I'm not an expert, but sacking a manager after 10 games doesn't appear to be supporting someone "by hell or high water". What I would say is these words came from Chairman Scott Duxbury, as opposed to owner Gino Pozzo, who from the club statement appears to be the big driver behind this decision. But if you're Scott Duxbury, surely at this point your position is untenable, any trust that was rebuilt from the above words has been decimated, we've been lied to and the complete opposite has happened to everything promised. For me it's those above promises that make this decision hard to understand, accept and get behind, it clearly shows there's no cohesion at senior board level on what we're trying to be as a football club and I for one am fed up with it. Duxbury must surely resign as Chairman if he feels he's also been misled by Pozzo, if not then the anger to come also deserves to come his way, it's his words and he should own them one way or the other. 

I've attended every game since the beginning of last season, home & away every week in what has been an absolutely pathetic 15 months for the football club on & off the pitch. We've seen a succession of managers that we as fans built no connection with, in particular Claudio Ranieri and Roy Hodgson (I could write a whole blog on those two alone). That coupled with a despicable two home wins in the entirety of the last campaign and a season where a manager clapped the opposition fans on the day we were deservedly relegated (step forward agent Hodgson, made for a depressing season. However,  for all the hatred towards the pathetic recruitment of both players & managers, not once did I question the owners. They had delivered a stream of success since coming to Hertfordshire in 2012, 6 years in the Premier League (5 of which were successive), two FA Cup Semi-Finals and a visit to the FA Cup final (although less said about that the better.) Therefore, I trusted them to make things better and was even more on board after those above comments, following Edwards' appointment. 

After the misery of last season, I was so enthused by the appointment of Rob Edwards, a young manager who I thought (naively) would be given time to rebuild the broken bridges of the previous 12 months. Edwards immediately came across like he cared, he came across as so desperate to connect with the fans and bring us on a journey with him, it was at the very least refreshing to see after recent appointments.  I am not outspoken to say most supporters would've been fine with not achieving promotion to the Premier League if the compromise was stability and we could see something was coming together. 

I say this because frankly the results and performances on the pitch have been steady without being anywhere near spectacular. At the time of writing, we sit just a point off the play-offs having lost just two games so far and beating some of the other promotion favourites. However, we're yet to win away and performance of late have been below par but that is absolutely to be expected with a young manager. The reaction from fans to Edwards' dismissal tells you that people were reasonably content with how things were going, particularly on the back of what they'd been told about us sticking behind the manager "come hell or high water".

If I have to summarise the appointment, Pozzo has disgracefully made the entire thing a complete waste of time. He and his team failed to give Edwards players to fit the system, particularly in wing-back and defensive areas, an area which has needed badly refreshing for a number of years and was going to be crucial to us building something "The Edwards way". Then after the first bump in the road, we pulled the trigger, quite frankly I'm sickened by the way Edwards has been treated and sickened that owners have decided to once again play Russian Roulette in the hope of immediate success. 

In the positive column for Pozzo was that we've somehow managed to keep Joao Pedro and Ismailia Sarr, two players who definitely have the quality to ensure we remain in the promotion hunt. That coupled with the likes of Hamza Choudhury, Kourtney Hause and Keinan Davis, gives Bilic a strong enough squad to mount a challenge. But Edwards had to deal with the uncertainty of keeping the aforementioned Pedro and Sarr, an unavailable Davis and ultimately a 4 of a back 5 that didn't fit the system he is known to play. It was a rough hand to be dealt and I for one thought he was steering us in a steady direction. 

Despite the recent negative results, Edwards had the vast majority of the Hornets faithful on his side, the only really blot on his copybook came after a quite turgid display up at Blackburn where his side failed to muster a shot on goal. It was a performance he quickly apologised for to supporters both in person at Ewood Park and in his post-game media comments.  During his tenure, he came over to all four sides of the Vic every game, engaged with the community ethos of the club and came across as a manager I was proud to see represent my football club. As I conclude on his era, I wish him nothing but every success and really hope he makes Gino Pozzo eat humble pie in the years ahead. A great shame the board couldn't stick by what are now empty, pathetic and pointless words. 

S

Slaven Bilic - The latest man through the revolving door.

It would be wrong to finish a piece that has been wholly negative on Slaven Bilic, he is the innocent victim in this. Welcome to Watford, Slav - what a task you have on your hands, to re-engage a team who are likely to be bewildered that Edwards has gone and to convince a fan base whose negative energy is likely to be directed towards board level in the immediate future at the very least. 

When the appointment was made it didn't take long for me to start chatting about Bilic, it does help when your best mate is a West Ham fan! He tells me that Bilic will get us playing, he will get the fans onside and with the talent at the top end of the pitch will have us competing for those promotion spots. I certainly hope he's right. 

I look forward to seeing his team take the field at Stoke on Sunday, I hope he can get some good early results and at least allow us to have something to sing about in what is a fractious time to be a Watford fan. Mind you if he doesn't start well, it would be no surprise if he is the next to clear the manager's office at the London Colney Training Ground. He's under immediate pressure but I am enthused by his arrival, he's done it at this level before and he has my full support despite my mentioned anger at Edwards' departure. 

Gino Pozzo - What next?

It wasn't long ago banners containing the Italian's face were erected in the stands, followed by cries of "Here's to you Pozzo family, Watford loves you more than you will know" from the Golden Boys faithful. Goodness me, how times have changed, social media isn't always the barometer but there is anguish, outcry, disappointment and even talks of protests against Pozzo. Trust has evaporated, fans are frankly embarrassed by the way we behave off the field and the lies in the summer have the fan base at a toxic breaking point. As I mentioned, despite the wider football world being against their principles, I have always been pro their ownership amid the great things they've achieved, the fact they kept the club connected to its community (Giving the stadium to The NHS, naming stands after legends of the club, the way Graham Taylor's sad passing was handled with dignity and class). But in the last three years, the club has been in an absolute rut, the whole thing feels entirely soulless, the heart and spirit of Watford FC is slowly decaying and it's pretty hard to watch. That has come by more than sacking Rob Edwards, it's things like the bizarre handling of Luther Blissett, the use of a super agent who sits next to the owners every week that is facing an upcoming court appearance on serious fraud charges and most recently the reversal on sacking the most pathetic sporting director the club has had under their stewardship. The removal of Edwards really was the final straw for many, as for me I just feel absolutely numb by it all, for the first time I am not sure what we are, what is our future and how we recover because the football club has just become toxic on & off the pitch in the past three years. 

It's going to take a lot to rebuild trust, I'm not sure even promotion back to PL will repair the damage for many. But a start would be for Pozzo to actually communicate with the supporters, to my knowledge he has given one external or internal media interview in his 10 years in charge. That simply put is not good enough, you are a custodian of a community asset, fans should have an idea of what you are about as a person, it is criminal we've not heard from him in the past couple of years in particular. Now is not the time to roll out Duxbury, we want to hear from the horse's mouth.  Fans have every right to ask what is going on, what is the plan for the future, why is the club operating with Mogi Bayat and importantly how do we go about getting back on the right route after what has been nothing short of a depressing three years at WD18? I see the Watford Observer has reached out to speak with Pozzo, if he has any sense I'd suggest he talks to his loyal supporters who are spending thousands of pounds following HIS football club up & down the country. 

Despite the appointment of Bilic, it is clearly a return to the previous culture (can you call it previous if it's not changed?) it's short-termism in the hope of getting promoted. The first landmark will be if Bilic is Head Coach when football returns from the Qatar World Cup? It wouldn't surprise you one bit if he wasn't. I can take the short-term cycle of Head Coaches if everything else off the pitch is correct, but until Bayat is nowhere near our club, they start treating players/staff/legends better and bring some soul back to the club, their trust is broken with me. Enough is enough. 

Only time will tell what lies ahead for the Pozzo era, but for now, they have a fractious and mistrusted fan base, who quite frankly need the heart and soul returning to its football club. Elton John said at his concert he wanted to see some "fucking passion" on the field, well it's time for the owner to show the same off it and either get us back to the club representing the values that made us fall in love with the Hornets or seriously consider taking their plans elsewhere. 

Written by Adam Rowe - 27th September. 

FA Cup Semi Final Watford 3-2 Wolves

Watford Football Club are in an FA Cup final, yes really! If you had told me I would ever see Watford in an FA Cup final when I first went to Vicarage Road for the first time 14 years ago I would have laughed!

Since then I have seen the club go through some good times but also the toughest of times, being 11 minutes from going out of business comes to mind. From beating Reading 3-0 on the penultimate day of the season in 2010 to secure survival in the Championship, to the extra time heartbreak of the play off final in 2013. But this time it was extra time elation for the Golden Boys as Gerard Deulofeu fired the goal that made once was a dream for an 8 year old boy, into a reality for a 20 year old man.

From the moment The Hornets drew Wolves I had a good feeling, first of all it was a game at Wembley without having to face Palace! The 2-0 win away in October stood us in good stead, Javi had already tactically outfought Nuno and I always felt he would do it again.


Even waking up on Sunday, the excitement for once outweighed the nerves, it just felt that it was going to be our day. The atmosphere around Wembley was electric, I think deep down we were all nervous, but as the day went on the belief was palpable in the Green Man pub. Something felt different this time...

The first half was one of few chances, Andre Gray had a golden chance to put the Golden Boys ahead but saw his effort go just over the bar. Sadly it was a chance that just five minutes later he would rue, as Matt Doherty headed home the opener for Wolves, giving the yellow half of Wembley that horrible sinking feel we've all gone through before. It remained 1-0 at the break, I said if we conceded again that's curtains, but if we scored next we would go on to win the game. Turns out I know nothing about football!

Wolves did double their lead, as Raul Jimenez excellently took the ball down and fired past the despairing dive of Gomes. I was gutted, I slumped back in my seat for a good 10 minutes, unable to comprehend that perhaps it wasn't going to be our day. That horrible feeling I felt when Wickham scored his headed in the semi final 3 years ago, and when Phillips fired into the corner in the play off final just all came back. On came the Spanish magician hoping to change the tie, boy he did...

With 12 minutes to go he looped a delicious chip over Ruddy, to bring some belief back, all of a sudden 32,500 Watford fans started to believe again. Every time one of the legends in yellow had the ball a roar would go up, urging him to be the saviour. Let's face it there was only going to be one man who was going to save the day...

In the second minute of injury time, Dendoncker brought down Deeney in the box, I didn't even appeal for a penalty, for some reason I think we all just knew. The roar when referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot was palpable, there was no way Deeney would let us down. And of course he didn't, he smashed his penalty into the back of the net, queue absolute bedlam on the west side of Wembley Stadium.

I couldn't believe it, hands behind my head in disbelief, from being 12 minutes away from more Wembley despair to pure joy, elation, relief. Hugging anyone within touching distance, it was shared joy, it's what football is all about.

To extra time and Watford were set up to attack and Wolves to defend with the respective substitutions of both managers. There was a feeling there would only be one winner, Wolves fans suddenly were very quiet, those nerves reflected on the pitch by their sides extra time performance. On the other hand, The Hornets ran like the game had just kicked off not just entered its 100th minute.

My view of the other goal from the lower tier of Wembley was obscured, all I saw was the ball go through to Deulofeu and the next thing I was being head-locked by my friends around me! We were ahead, from 2-0 down, to 3-2 up it was crazy, the scenes will live with me for the rest of my life.

The Hornets had 15 minutes to hold on and they did it expertly limiting Wolves to the one chance in the second period of extra time. Before you knew it the final whistle went, Watford Football Club were in their first FA Cup final for the first time in 35 years... the first in my lifetime.

I'm not going to lie I got way too caught up in the joy and emotion of it all, I welled up just a tad! Thats the beauty of football, for 90 minutes, in this case 120 nothing else matters, this game meant everything.

On May 18th I will be surrounded by friends who I have gone to football with for years, watching the team I have followed home and away for 14 years. Game number 84 on the spin for me will be an FA Cup final... I. Cannot. Wait.

This was one of the best days of my life, all the emotions, anger, despair, to joy, belief and most of all excitement. I cannot believe The Hornets turned that game around.

May 18th. Wembley Stadium. Manchester City v Watford.

Bring. It. On.

YOU 'ORNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Watford 3-2 Wolves 
Deulofeu x2 
Deeney (P) 

Bovingdon Football Club

Alan Wright first stepped foot into Bovingdon Football Club as a six-year-old boy who wanted to play football with his friends. 20 years on and Wright now finds himself as Vice Chairman of the Hertfordshire village football club.

When asked about the main issues he and his committee face trying to run the club, the word that keeps being repeated is 'funding'. Like most grassroots football teams, Wright doesn’t receive a wage and says: “I often say running this football club is like having a full time job. We could easily employ 15 people to do the jobs that have to be done. Washing the kits, marking the lines, cutting the grass. There are millions and millions of different jobs to do”

Bovingdon’s two main pitches used for their three senior football teams and 11-a-side junior games have seen better days. When it rains the pitches become waterlogged, muddy and are not nice surfaces to play football on.  This is something that Vice Chairman Wright feels is causing a decrease in the number of people wanting to play the sport. He feels that “better facilities would make a big difference”.  Despite the Football Association pledging to fund 8 million pounds to have more than 2000 better grass pitches by 2019, that doesn’t help Bovingdon or any teams in the area as they are unlikely to see any of this money. Yes, The FA funding for better pitches does help the game but it doesn’t particularly help the clubs who have to suffer playing on their own mud baths season after season.

A recent survey found that between 2010 and 2016, there has been an 18% decrease in the number of people participating in adult football once a month and Wright mentions how “some of mates who were the best players have no interest in the game anymore” he highlights the fact that: “there is so much more to do” at the time he was a player. Social media plays a large role in society today, and modern trends show that people can socialise by using their phones, rather than through playing football. He recalls that when he played “being in the football dressing room was when you would catch up with your mates, now you can talk to 10 people at the same time on social media”. Surely now is the time for The FA and Premier League to fund and do everything in their power to keep people playing football.

At Bovingdon, their recently self-funded (of course!) clubhouse has had a bar put in, as well as the clubhouse being given a slight refurbishment. This is something Wright feels is making a huge difference to both the clubs finances and the community as a whole. He adds: “our bar is our key asset, we host parties and events which pumps vital funds into the club.” Something you instantly feel when you talk to anyone at the football club is the passion for the community and Wright feels the village "is completely better off for having a football club.”

Wright and his committee at the football club feel very passionate about funding. As you walk round the football club and see the showers and the changing room, you can understand why. Wright feels more needs to be done to support football clubs like Bovingdon and in his view, the buck starts at the Premier League and The FA. He says “Finance and funding is difficult in grassroots football, if you think about the mega rich Premier League and how much money there is at the top of the game, I think not enough filters down to the lower end. Without grassroots football there isn’t any football at the top end”. Clubs like Bovingdon can apply for grants from The FA, but it is a lot less than anyone could have imagined. Bovingdon “hasn’t had a grant of over £500 in the last 20 years”. Many clubs have no way of sourcing extra income; the Green Army are lucky in a sense that their bar just about helps them break even every season.

Away from the lack of funding, Bovingdon have a lot of exciting things happening at the junior level of the game. They have former Premier League defender Michael Duberry as one of their junior coaches something that Wright feels is “great for the kids and is benefitting the club in the number of players who want to play for Bovingdon”. The message from Wright is clear on junior football at Green Lane: “The more we can invest in the junior team the more we can improve the senior side.”

My chat with Wright is conducted in the home dressing room. It's cold, earie and is a far cry away from the dressing rooms at the top of the game. Just six miles away is Vicarage Road, the home of Watford Football Club, where the facilities are nothing short of incredible. Wright believes Premier League clubs should do more for clubs like Bovingdon stating: “Rather than us struggling whilst the mega rich get even richer, they could mandate that a certain amount of money should be shared to the Premier League clubs local teams.” Grassroots football enthusiast William Potter agrees with Wright, and feels it’s time for the Premier League to take some responsibility: "Premier League should each provide £5 million each year to grassroots football in the UK, so £100 million is given each as a spread to the County Associations to feed to clubs at grassroots level."

Despite all the issues with funding, Wright and his team will continue to run this small village football club with immense pride and passion. Now that is something that will never leave our sport. 

By Adam Rowe

Newcastle United 0-3 Watford

After an impressive win against West Ham last week, I headed up to the North East in high spirits albeit slightly hungover! I'd only visited St James' Park once back in 2015 when The Hornets came away with a 2-1 win, in what was a really enjoyable away day so this was one of the first fixtures I looked for back in June.

So to yesterday, after making the long trip up on the train, I realised how under prepared I was the bitterly cold north! After meeting up with some friends who study in Newcastle they confirmed that it is always freezing up there so my moaning fell on death ears.

After a few pre match beers, it was time to embark on the mission of getting to the away end, which if you haven't visited Newcastle before is way up high on level 7. A mammoth 14 flights of stairs later and eventually we had arrived in the away end and found our seats. A lot of people have criticised the fact of where the away end is situated at Newcastle but personally I feel its part of the experience of visiting St James's and the view of the action is superb.

Both teams made a positive start to the game looking to gain a first goal to get a foothold in the match. It led to a particularly open and end to end game but I always felt The Hornets were in control and would take the lead. It only took 19 minutes for the visitors to find the opener, as Kabasele played a superb pass to set away Zeegelaar who found Will Hughes and he made no mistake with the finish. It's the English midfielders second goal in as many games and he is really finding his feet in the Premier League, having a real effect on the team.

The Golden Boys should've been two ahead minutes after the opener, when Zeegelaar again crossed this time for Doucoure but the Frenchman could only divert his effort wide. Up the other end Gomes did well to deny Joselu to keep The Hornets ahead and it came as a reminder that the hosts were very much in the game. For long periods of the opening 45 minutes The Hornets couldn't play their usual football and gave the ball back to The Magpies on many occasions, albeit the hosts failed to make many clear cut chances when they did have the ball.

Despite not being at their best The Hornets went in at the break two ahead, the magnificent Zeegelaar was again involved, as his cross deflected straight into the net off DeAndre Yedlin sending 2000 Watford fans into raptures high up in the Newcastle sky. At half time I had the 'Mag Pie"(Beef and onion) and I have to say its the worst pie I've ever had at a football ground, it was like Newcastles backline... Awful!

Onto to the second half where The Hornets instantly looked for a third goal which would all but kill the game off. Andre Gray had a golden chance as he raced through on goal one-on-one but his attempt was pretty miserable as it harmlessly went wide, when he should've done much better.

Gray did get his goal and he wrapped up the three points for Watford in the process. Richardson raced away on the left hand side before beautifully sending in a curling cross for Gray who stretched to send it home. This led to a mass exit from the 50,000 Newcastle fans, nothing better than the "Pygmies" rocking up and beating the giants in their own back yard. Again.

Gomes made a couple of saves late on to keep back to back clean sheets and on the whole it was largely another gritty team performance which led to a deserved 3 points. Were The Hornets at their best? I'd say not but that leaves a lot of optimism to see what the complete article is like when they do play at their best.

It's two very tough games to come this week as we host Manchester United on Tuesday then Spurs next Saturday where largely the pressure is off. If we can get anything from those games then its a massive achievement and there's no reason we can't. Yes it'll be tough but with the confidence in this side at the moment and the belief amongst the squad if anyone is capable The Hornets are.

Roll on December...

You 'Orns

Newcastle 0-3 Watford

Man Of The Match: Will Hughes (cases could made for a few players)

Away day rating 9/10- Great City, great stadium, terrible pie!

Match rating: 7/10

Next Fixture: Manchester United (H)

Watford 2-0 West Ham

Watford ended a three game losing run as they defeated West Ham on David Moyes’ first game in charge of The Hammers.

Goals from Will Hughes and Richarlison gave The Hornets all three points as they moved up to eight in the Premier League. In a week of uncertainty off the field, Watford most certainly did their talking on the pitch.

Watford took the lead after 10 minutes as Marvin Zeegelaar’s cross was eventually turned home by Hughes following Andre Gray’s miss kick. It was the midfielders first Hornets goal after moving from Derby County in the summer.

Watford had much the better of the opening 30 minutes and nearly doubled their when Joe Hart parried out Richarlison’s shot and Kiko Femenia drove the rebound narrowly wide of the left hand post.

West Ham nearly equalised just before the break after a fantastic passing move found Cheikhou Kouyate through on goal but Heurelho Gomes saved superbly to keep his side in front.

Gomes was the hero again as he made a superb double save from Marco Arnautovic, the Austrian headed powerfully down towards goal which the Brazilian got down to save before he got up to deny the midfielders rebound.

The Hammers should have been level just after the restart, as Arnautovic cut it back for Kouyate who blazed it over from 6 yards out. Up the other end Abdoulaye Doucoure nearly put his side two ahead but his shot whistled past Joe Hart’s post.  

Joe Hart made an outstanding save from point blank range as he clawed out Adrian Mariappa’s goal bound header. Disbelief amongst the home faithful as to just how the England international denied The Hornets a second.

The Hornets pressure paid as they soon got that elusive second goal as Hughes set away Richarlison who made no mistake with the finish for his 5^th Premier League goal of the season.

West Ham came within millimetres of pulling a goal back as Manuel Lanzini’s shot was brilliantly blocked by Christian Kabasele. The Belgian covered the corner of the goal and through himself at it superbly.

The result means The Hammers remain in the relegation zone and without an away win since May. They host Leicester at the London Stadium next for Moyes’ first home match.

The Hornets will be hoping that Marco Silva is still in the dugout for the trip to Newcastle next Saturday following speculation he will fill the vacant Everton job.

Man of the match: Will Hughes  

Attendance: 20,018

Watford 2-1 Arsenal

Watford 2-1 Arsenal is a scoreline we're getting used to in recent years! Here's my take on a special special night at Vicarage Road.

The thing I love about football is the fact that for 90 minutes each week, nothing else matters. The collective roar of the crowd as they urge their team onto 3 points. Yesterday's second half had all the these things that made me fall in love with the sport when I attended my first game as an 8 year old.

1-0 down at the break against one of the best teams in the country and the current FA Cup holders, things were looking bleak for The Hornets at half time. The first half had been flat on and off the pitch, as Marco Silva's men adapted to a new formation and tried to keep themselves in the game as Arsenal pressed. Eventually Per Mertesacker headed home from a corner to give the visitors the lead. In fairness the visitors weren't at their best themselves but they did have the majority of the game and in the end a halftime scoreline of 1-0 was fair on The Gunners.

However the second half was a completely different story, a new found belief swept around Vicarage Road, it was like everyone from a Watford persuasion knew that the Golden Boys could take something from this game. Whatever Silva said at halftime certainly worked, the players looked right up for it as they took the game to Arsenal as they tried to bring themselves back into the contest. Silva changed things up shortly after the restart and brought on Troy Deeney and Andre Carrillo for Andre Gray and Aidy Mariappa, those substitutions ended up being the catalyst for The Hornets comeback.

The big teams are known for being clinical and punishing their opponents by finishing off games before a comeback can even be mounted. Arsenal failed to do that yesterday as Alex Iwobi saw his shot impressively saved by Gomes and then Mesut Ozil shot straight at the Brazilian when he was clean through on goal. In football when you don't take your chances you are usually punished and it was no different for the visitors last night. Just 60 seconds after Ozil missed that golden opportunity up one end, Watford had a penalty up the other as Bellerin "fouled" Richarlison. I used inverted commas around the word fouled as lets be honest it wasn't a foul, however it also wasn't a dive as there was contact, however that's a debate for another day! If the same thing happens up the other end Arsenal would expect a penalty no question about it.

Club captain Troy Deeney stepped up and converted from the spot to send the home fans into delight. The goal ramped up the noise inside Vicarage Road as all of a sudden people were sensing a famous comeback was in store for The Hornets. I go back to the roar of the crowd and that being part of my love for football, 18,500 or so Watford fans urged their team forward every time someone moved even an inch with the ball. Attack after attack followed and inside the last 10 minutes just a lick of paint denied Watford a winner, as Capoue's deflected strike struck the foot of the post.

I don't remember lots from such an emotionally charged game but I do remember saying "this would be a kick in the balls. This would be so cruel if they score" as Arsenal had a corner inside the last 5 minutes. I couldn't have even imagined the euphoria I would've felt 5 minutes later as The Hornets struck the winner leaving the travelling fans with the sickening feeling of defeat. Although lets face it they're getting used to that feeling when they play us now!

As The Hornets pushed forward one last time, Jose Holebas struck an effort towards the Arsenal net, it deflected towards Deeney who challenged Petr Cech who bravely got their first. The ball fell to Capoue who tired his luck but Mertesacker blocked, only for the ball to fall straight to Tom Cleverley who smashed the ball into the empty Rookery End net to send Vicarage Road into absolute raptures. As Cleverley struck it, time must have stood still because it felt like an age until the ball flew into the net.

Football is one of few things where you can suddenly be jumping on random people you have never met before and the only thing you have in common with them is the want for your team to succeed. Everyones emotions came spilling out as they celebrated the winner, as everyone jumped on each other, hugs galore amongst fans. Now in an age where the game is consumed by money, this is exactly what football is all about. You suffer through the hard times, for these amazing good times that you'll talk about when you grow old and look back on memories of supporting this incredible football club.

Us Watford fans have to had to go through some hard times, we nearly had our club go on the brink of administration in 2009 only for it to be saved. We had Elton John raising money for the club to sign a striker who coincidentally captains this spirited, determined and above all talented Watford side. From having to find three points from our last two games back in 2010 to survive in the championship, to being fourth in the Premier League after beating Arsenal, these are really special times at Vicarage Road. Days like yesterday need to be savoured but there is a feeling around this club at the moment that something special is being built and history is being made. There's a buzz and a excitement around the place again and being a Watford fan has never felt better, the best thing that has ever happened to me was being taken along to my first game of football against Preston North End some 12 years ago now. I love the sport and most importantly Watford Football Club continually create stories and memories that'll last a lifetime.

I bloody love football.

You 'Orns!


Watford 2-1 Arsenal

League position: 4th (Yes really!)

Man of the match: Cleverley (Deeney voted by the BT Sport guys)

Next fixture: Chelsea (A)

Ref rating- Neil Swarbrick- You're welcome back anytime. 10/10!