We seem to be dogged by success at the moment, no matter what we do. Playoff semi-final: win. Playoff final: win. First game of the season: last minute winner. Top of the league for a time.
On a more serious note, I thought all the new players did well. Kelman and Carey were perhaps a bit quiet, but the cameos by Tanto and Harvey Knibbs were just what we needed.
Bell looked classy, although the fella sitting behind me was convinced he was going to concede a goal by being too relaxed on the ball.
The standard of play was definitely 20% up on last season, and I think we may well improve over the next four or five games.
Not convinced it was really working with a little fella up top though, and I think I saw enough in Olaofe to believe he might be wasted as a 15 minute impact player.
Are Watford representative of the rest of the championship in terms of size? All of them seemed massive compared to league one players. Somehow we managed to win the majority of battles anyway just cos we compete so hard.
Are Watford representative of the rest of the championship in terms of size? All of them seemed massive compared to league one players. Somehow we managed to win the majority of battles anyway just cos we compete so hard.
Most of them seem to be picked on size rather than skill
Didn't look out of place against established Championship opposition. Jones was a monster as was Edwards.
I did think we looked lightweight in the middle of the park with Docherty chasing shadows.
totally agree. Let’s get JRC in there.. Coventry looked very comfortable
Unfortunately for Doc he’s a dead man walking in that team. Jones must be ruing the day he made him captain over Lloyd as without the armband he’s nowhere near it.
I give him half a dozen games at best before he’s no longer a regular starter
Carey was superb in there as were all the other new boys. Was hoping Tanto might’ve got a bit longer but plenty of time
Didn't look out of place against established Championship opposition. Jones was a monster as was Edwards.
I did think we looked lightweight in the middle of the park with Docherty chasing shadows.
totally agree. Let’s get JRC in there.. Coventry looked very comfortable
Unfortunately for Doc he’s a dead man walking in that team. Jones must be ruing the day he made him captain over Lloyd as without the armband he’s nowhere near it.
I give him half a dozen games at best before he’s no longer a regular starter
Carey was superb in there as were all the other new boys. Was hoping Tanto might’ve got a bit longer but plenty of time
The question is , can we get away with Knibbs, Carey and Coventry in midfield .
Didn't look out of place against established Championship opposition. Jones was a monster as was Edwards.
I did think we looked lightweight in the middle of the park with Docherty chasing shadows.
totally agree. Let’s get JRC in there.. Coventry looked very comfortable
Unfortunately for Doc he’s a dead man walking in that team. Jones must be ruing the day he made him captain over Lloyd as without the armband he’s nowhere near it.
I give him half a dozen games at best before he’s no longer a regular starter
Carey was superb in there as were all the other new boys. Was hoping Tanto might’ve got a bit longer but plenty of time
The question is , can we get away with Knibbs, Carey and Coventry in midfield .
If Coventry can do what he did in League 1 then I'd say maybe yes, against weaker sides.
Deserved win for me. I had a good feeling we’d get the three points today and with ten minutes to go after the shift the lads had put in, I would have been disappointed with a draw! Should have been two up before halftime but for their keeper. Really happy we started brightly and Watford certainly didn’t like our aggressive press. But the most impressive thing for me, is that our defence look just as solid as last season. That will play a huge part in staying up. Early days but I think we’ll be fine. Only promoted league one team to win this weekend, stick that in ya documentaries Wrexham and Birmingham! Enjoy your Saturday night fellow addicks!
Thought Jones & Ramsey were solid, Bell wasn’t great when he turned inside onto his right. Better league, but still same 💩 refs, player off the pitch “injured” ref plays on for about 30 secs then blows to stop the game. WTF. We also had 2 good shouts for pens in the second half.
Didn't look out of place against established Championship opposition. Jones was a monster as was Edwards.
I did think we looked lightweight in the middle of the park with Docherty chasing shadows.
totally agree. Let’s get JRC in there.. Coventry looked very comfortable
Unfortunately for Doc he’s a dead man walking in that team. Jones must be ruing the day he made him captain over Lloyd as without the armband he’s nowhere near it.
I give him half a dozen games at best before he’s no longer a regular starter
Carey was superb in there as were all the other new boys. Was hoping Tanto might’ve got a bit longer but plenty of time
The question is , can we get away with Knibbs, Carey and Coventry in midfield .
If Coventry can do what he did in League 1 then I'd say maybe yes, against weaker sides.
I think Costello instead of Docherty. We have a lot of attacking players who cannot be fitted into one line up- TC, Apter, Leaburn, Godden, Olaofe, Carey, Knibbs. But we need somebody at 8 who does not give the ball away, so Costello over Doc.
Was really impressed with all the new faces. Apter was really lively and played that RM/RWB role superbly. I’m sure he’ll get better there too. Both his efforts looked tasty from the covered end.
Carey’s running and link up play was spot on.
Kayne Ramsay and Lloyd Jones look like they’ve played at this level their whole career. Just fantastic footballers and so important to this side.
Bell was excellent. A couple of heart in mouth moments but he seemed to play with a similar calmness to Ramsay. What a back 3 that is.
Edwards did very well against Baah. I think he’ll cause some problems for opposition wingbacks this year.
TC was a strange one. Some moments where he looked like he did last year. Others, he appeared to lack a bit of confidence. I’m sure he’ll be able to adjust to the step up though.
Olaofe slightly unlucky not to start and thought he showed some flashes of what he has to offer. Think he’s another great pickup.
Knibbs came on and just pressed and pressed. Can see him being a Nathan Jones favourite. Did very well to tuck that away too.
Overall, a fantastic afternoon. Watford had some tidy footballers, and did spread the ball about well. That being said I think we deserved the win as we created more.
Really intrigued as to what this team can do this season.
Fun fact: the last three times we won our opening Championship game (19/20, 15/16 and 08/09) we were relegated. So that's fun!
15/16 and 08/09 teams had absolutely zero backbone whatsoever . Bowyer was unlucky - although if you look at the team that played Blackburn in the opening game , I am staggered we won that !
That's the power of promotion momentum. I think we would have stayed up quite comfortably that season if we hadn't had something insane like 11 first team injuries at one point.
Most of it's already been said. We were immense. Ramsay, Jones, Bell and Edwards were solid and the latter had a great game. Apter is lacking defensively but was great going forward, can cross on either foot, unlucky not to score. Coventry does what Coventry does and did it well. Carey was excellent, linked well with Apter. Great cameos from Leaburn, Tanto and his Knibbs. Kelman worked hard but in my opinion needs someone with more physicality and presence up top with him. TC too worked hard but was disappointing. Docherty didn't impose himself enough, agree with others than he might not keep his place long. Kaminski had a couple of dodgy moments but let's be generous and put it down to first night nerves.
All in all a good performance, carried on from last season, onwards and upwards.
We seem to be dogged by success at the moment, no matter what we do. Playoff semi-final: win. Playoff final: win. First game of the season: last minute winner. Top of the league for a time.
On a more serious note, I thought all the new players did well. Kelman and Carey were perhaps a bit quiet, but the cameos by Tanto and Harvey Knibbs were just what we needed.
Bell looked classy, although the fella sitting behind me was convinced he was going to concede a goal by being too relaxed on the ball.
The standard of play was definitely 20% up on last season, and I think we may well improve over the next four or five games.
Not convinced it was really working with a little fella up top though, and I think I saw enough in Olaofe to believe he might be wasted as a 15 minute impact player.
Thought Jones & Ramsey were solid, Bell wasn’t great when he turned inside onto his right. Better league, but still same 💩 refs, player off the pitch “injured” ref plays on for about 30 secs then blows to stop the game. WTF. We also had 2 good shouts for pens in the second half.
Comments
I give him half a dozen games at best before he’s no longer a regular starter
Carey was superb in there as were all the other new boys. Was hoping Tanto might’ve got a bit longer but plenty of time
If Carlsberg did Saturdays
Better league, but still same 💩 refs, player off the pitch “injured” ref plays on for about 30 secs then blows to stop the game. WTF. We also had 2 good shouts for pens in the second half.
Edwards did very well against Baah. I think he’ll cause some problems for opposition wingbacks this year.
TC was a strange one. Some moments where he looked like he did last year. Others, he appeared to lack a bit of confidence. I’m sure he’ll be able to adjust to the step up though.
Olaofe slightly unlucky not to start and thought he showed some flashes of what he has to offer. Think he’s another great pickup.
Knibbs came on and just pressed and pressed. Can see him being a Nathan Jones favourite. Did very well to tuck that away too.
Overall, a fantastic afternoon. Watford had some tidy footballers, and did spread the ball about well. That being said I think we deserved the win as we created more.
League 1 refs are not shit ... all EFL refs are
No idea what the 8 second rule is.
When did play get stopped for off pitch injuries.
All in all a good performance, carried on from last season, onwards and upwards.