Two blogs in a season... Watford must be playing well! They certainly have left me buzzing after they continued where they left off with some more outstanding results left them in third in The Championship and into the Third Round of the cup.
My last blog highlighted that Tom Cleverley's side had started the season with three wins from three, despite my optimism there were two more home games to round off the month, I headed to WD18 optimistic as newly promoted Derby Country headed to town.
So much for August being the month you can soak up the sunshine, biblical rain meant coats and jumpers were the order of the day, typical British summer! Despite the rain, there was nothing that could dampen my enthusiasm to get into the Rookery for the visit of the Rams, well..... until they scored inside two minutes to take an early lead. Fair play to the Rams fans they went absolutely potty, but despite the early set back there was no panic in the stands or on the pitch from a Hornets persuasion. In fact, the fans rose as one to get right behind the team the second Derby's opener struck the net.
The steely attitude in the crowd was translated in Watford's response, because the next 88 minutes were as dominant a display I'd seen at Vicarage Road in a long time. We were patient, controlled the ball and were constantly a threat throughout the half. In classic football style, after pretty much the entire crowd slated Vakoun Bayo, he then shut us all up by scoring an outrageous scissor kick to bring us level, a superb finish - if it had been scored in the Premier League we'd be watching it for many a year to come!
The 'Orns continued to dominate but couldn't quite find a go-ahead goal before the break, but it was a fifth positive half of home football in succession, I couldn't believe my eyes, particularly after the dross we've seen in years gone by. It felt inevitable that the second half would see us secure the three points and break the deadlock. The goal came with 14 minutes left on the watch, as man of the match Moussa Sissoko adjusted his body brilliantly to fire into the Rookery End net. The goal came after Cleverley opted to make changes, including the introduction of Baah who immediately got behind the Derby backline to cause the havoc in the box allowing the 'orns captain to score. It was an inspired move from the youngest coach in the league, there is so much to love about having Cleverley in the Vicarage Road dugout.
Shortly after 'I just can't get enough' rung around The Vic confirming a fourth win on the spin in all competitions and ensuring the Hornets had maximum points on the board heading into September.
Just 72 hours later and it was time to head to Vicarage Road for the fourth game in a row, to take on Plymouth Argyle in the League Cup. Sorry my mistake, I meant 'Wayne Rooney's Plymouth Argyle' as they have persistently been renamed by the media, see 'Frank Lampard's Derby County' for previous iterations of these remarkable name changes.
Those of you who read my last post would've seen my ramblings about Watford's hilariously poor record in the League Cup. The visit of an out-of-form Argyle seemed the perfect opportunity to progress into Round Three. Watford didn't waste their opportunity in the slightest, despite making several changes, Cleverley's side sealed safe passage through to the next round thanks to Mileta Rajovic's double either side of half-time. It could've been another cup rout, if not for the Argyle 'keeper who put in a superb performance despite being at fault for the opening goal.
Into Round Three, as I sat down to watch the draw the following evening I hoped for another home tie against someone from the lower reaches of the pyramid, just so we could break that curse and reach Round Four. Ah.... cheers lads... Manchester City... away! Much could be said about the patheticness surrounding the draw with European sides seeded to avoid facing each other... all I'll say is it's an absolute farce, felt more so because we've drawn the very best of the seeded sides. Just for context, here's what awaits us in Manchester…
Pep Guardiola's record vs Watford -
- P 13
- W 13
- Goals For: 47
- Goals against: 5
- Tears shed by this blogger: 1,000,000
Anyway, my ticket is in the post and I'll be heading to Manchester in a couple of week's time, not in hope, not in expectation, but in blind faith that this might be the day we turn them over...!
Enough about our impending humiliation to City, there was one more game to before the international break. As August turned to September, the 'orns headed to Bramall Lane to take on recently relegated Sheffield United and former Watford boss Chris Wilder. I guess that 'former Watford boss' line could be used against a lot of clubs, so I'll avoid it in the future.
Thanks to Sky Sports it meant it was a Sunday spent travelling to and from Yorkshire for the televised game. We arrived in our seats in good spirits... only for an own goal inside 90 seconds from Daniel Bachmann to bump us back down to earth. This time there was a limited response from the Hornets, Bayo had a golden chance to bring us level but didn't convert, before Bachmann atoned for his error to save a spot kick to keep it at 1-0 at half-time.
The Blades had the better of it in the second half too, Watford had lots of the ball but didn't do nearly enough to stake a claim for three or even one point. That being said, whilst we deserved to lose, we had been beaten by a flukey own goal against a side who still boast all the riches of a Premier League club. A bump in the road but nothing to worry about in my opinion. We also had plenty of time to reflect, given it took seven hours to get back to Hertfordshire, so the loss was firmly out of my system by the time my bleary eyes awoke for work on Monday morning.
All in all, nine points from twelve, third in the league, progress in the cup, it's more than anyone expected when the first whistle went in South London on that sunny afternoon on opening day. The performances have been impressive, the results have matched them and there's some real cause for optimism heading into the next run of fixtures. Some tough games including league leaders Sunderland at The Vic and a trip to Norwich to come before we break for the internationals in October.
If we can produce a couple more decent results in this next run of games, perhaps this season might not be quite as painful as we all feared just six weeks ago. I can't wait to get back to Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Come on you 'Orns!
Watford 2-1 Derby
Moment of the match: Bayo's outstanding scissor kick to bring us level - unbelievable goal!
Away fan rating: 8/10 - Unreal when they scored and loud all afternoon, a welcome addition back to the league. Look forward to visiting Pride Park in January.
Watford 2-0 Plymouth
Moment of the match: Rocco Vata's cameo filled me with optimism, he's going to special for us.
Away fan rating: 7/10 - Almost 1000 traveled for a cup game just days after playing QPR, super effort.
Sheffield United 1-0 Watford
Moment of the match: Bachmann's penalty save, the highlight on an otherwise uneventful afternoon.
Pint Price: £4.80 - A pleasant upgrade on the offering at Millwall
Time in transit: 4 hours going, 7 coming back... not one for the memory bank!!
