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30th November 2019- Premier League, Southampton 2 Watford 1

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Referee:Michael Oliver Attendance:26,929

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Match Report: Southampton 2-1 Watford

Watford beaten by Southampton in relegation scrap

Watford’s survival hopes take major blow with Southampton defeat

VAR officials were not given angle to disallow Southampton handball, claim Watford

Quique Sanchez Flores ‘not sure’ if he will keep Watford job

Watford players rated after being turned over by Southampton

Will Hughes ‘disappointed’ by inconsistent VAR after Watford lose to Southampton

Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores said he “suffers” for the fans, players and owner after defeat at fellow strugglers Southampton.

Both teams were languishing at the bottom of the table heading into the vital game at St Mary’s, and it was Watford who got themselves ahead in the first half as Ismaila Sarr (24) coolly finished for his first Premier League goal.

Hasenhüttl’s substitutes woke up Southampton, with Sofiane Boufal and Shane Long introduced approaching the hour mark, but in the buildup to Ings’s equaliser Moussa Djenepo appeared guilty of handball. It is understood the Premier League recognises the goal should have been disallowed by the video assistant referee but, at the time, the VAR did not have conclusive evidence; it is understood it took broadcasters eight minutes to find the definitive angle.

It soon got better for the long-suffering home support, who had witnessed just nine home wins in two and half seasons. Hojbjerg charged forward and was clipped just outside the area. Ward-Prowse whipped a 20-yard shot towards the top right corner which Foster could get a hand to, but not keep out.

With family commitments ruling out a trip to St Mary’s, Jon, Jas, Mike and Jordi gathered at Mike’s to watch Watford lose their must win fixture with fellow strugglers Southampton. It’s fair to say any pre-match optimism had well and truly evaporated by the final whistle; download the podcast to see if the team think the Hornet’s survival hopes have disappeared too. 

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30th November 2004- League Cup Quarter Final, Watford 3 Portsmouth 0

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BBC Sport

Portsmouth’s traumatic week sunk to new depths as they were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Watford.

Mirror, 1 Dec 2004
Evening Standard, 1 Dec 2004
guardian

Watford would seem to specialise in compounding the problems of troubled south-coast clubs, but Portsmouth’s first-team coach Kevin Bond did not bemoan the impact of Harry Redknapp’s departure as manager last week.

BSAD image

Three BSAD reports including…Despite recent events, Portsmouth are a much better side than the last round’s victims, and this success required the intense, concentrated implementation of a well-prepared gameplan. Required it, got it…and weagain, astonishingly and spectacularly, arrived at the point where we’d put the game out of reach with half an hour remaining.

http://watford.fcdb.info?s=40850&id=4633
Screen Shot 2017-12-01 at 09.12.23

More games from 30th November at https://oldwatford.com/tag/nov30

https://oldwatford.com/2010/03/16/16th-march-2010-championship-watford-2-ipswich-town-1/
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30th November 2002- New Division One, Watford 2 Burnley 1

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BBC SportGoals in either half from Heidar Helguson and Tommy Smith sunk 10-man Burnley.

BSAD imageBSAD report: For much of the game, the defence was less an accident waiting to happen than a catastrophe in progress – the individual performances were generally sound, but the unit was a haphazardly-assembled flat-pack – and various other parts only functioned in fits and starts too. Really, though, you can’t escape the fact that, for a side without a win in four games, this was an extraordinarily eager, aggressive and whole-hearted performance.

http://watford.fcdb.info?s=40850&id=4527
https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2002-11-30
https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-division-1/30-november-2002/
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30th November 1996- New Division Two, Watford 2 Blackpool 2

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I’ll admit, I really enjoyed the game. We should have won. We would have won if Page had been in the defence, and Palmer was allowed to play his normal role in the midfield instead of the inept Johnson. We started lively, passed the ball about well. Stuart Slater, making his debut, particularly impressed early on. He faded a little bit in the second half, but that is to be expected as he’s not match fit yet.

http://watford.fcdb.info?s=40850&id=4219

Obviously The Sunday Mirror weren’t that familiar with Gifton.

Sunday Mirror, 1 Dec 1996

28th November 2023- Championship, Watford 3 Norwich City 2

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-norwich-city/teams/484911

WFC.Net Jon Mark’s Goal Commentary: 1  2  3

Official site: Match Dashboard

https://www.watfordfc.com/match-report/match-report-watford-3-2-norwich-city

Sky: Yaser Asprilla’s goal saw Watford come back from 2-0 down to beat Norwich 3-2 in an entertaining contest at Vicarage Road.

BBC: The Colombia international showed quick feet to dance the ball around Canaries goalkeeper George Long and finish to win it for the Hornets in the second half.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 3 Norwich City 2

Hornets show spirit, togetherness and character to battle back and beat Canaries

Early ‘cold shower’ helped Watford clean up their act

Livermore ‘always ready to sacrifice himself on the pitch for everyone at the club’

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was a brilliant game of football.  We saw the best and the worst of this Watford team.  The failure to defend at set pieces and a fragile confidence allowed Norwich to take an early lead, which looked unsurmountable until a moment of magic from Koné gave the lads some belief.  It helped that the second Watford goal came almost immediately and from that moment it was Norwich who were struggling, although that was a result of a newfound determination in the Hornets to harry the opposition, not allowing them any space and being more careful and confident with the passing.  That resilience to come back from the two-goal deficit was very impressive and shows that this team is going in the right direction.  Koné scored a gorgeous goal and could well have had more.  He had an excellent game and is quickly becoming a favourite of mine.  But the man of the match award deservedly went to Livermore.  He was fantastic, calm and controlling the midfield.  The leadership that he shows is something that we have missed since Troy left and is a huge factor in our improved performances.

From the Rookery End: WIth Watford coming back from being two goals down to win 3-2 at home to Norwich, the boys felt a little podcast was needed after a wonderful night under the lights, at Vicarage Road.

25th November 2023- Championship, Leicester City 2 Watford 0

https://www.skysports.com/football/leicester-city-vs-watford/teams/484897

Official Site: Match dashboard

https://www.watfordfc.com/match-report/match-report-leicester-city-2-0-watford-1

BBC: Jamie Vardy’s first goals since early October ensured Leicester City stayed top of the Championship as they beat Watford 2-0.

Sky: It had looked like being a half of frustration for the former Premier League Golden Boot winner, after he somehow missed an open goal from four yards out in the 74th minute.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Leicester City 2 Watford 0

Air of inevitability in defeat as Watford fail to grind out a draw

Ismael not happy with first-goal defending and Bachmann’s initial yellow card

Jet-lag a major factor in Saturday’s team selection

Fran’s Watford Blog: Most Watford fans that I spoke to after the game thought that it had been a decent performance from the Hornets.  They had set up to frustrate Leicester and had been very effective but, once the breakthrough came, a comeback looked unlikely.  The Bachmann sending off was frustrating, although the first yellow seemed rather harsh.

From the Rookery End: A little earlier than mornal, Jon and Colin talked on Sunday about the 2-0 away defeat at table topping Leicester City. They ponder, were Watford set up conservatively, which of the Watford squad was bounding out of bed, on Sunday, to watch the hightlights, who had a sleepless night as they fear the consequences of their performance and who, ahead of Tuesday nights home match against Norwich, is knocking on Valerian’s door asking for more game time?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67459828

11th November 2023- Championship, Watford 5 Rotherham United 0

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-rotherham-united/teams/484893

WFC.Net Jon Marks Goal Commentary: 1 2 3 4 5

Official site: Match dashboard

https://www.watfordfc.com/match-report/match-report-watford-5-0-rotherham-united

BBC: The Hornets are up to 13th and unbeaten in six, their best league run since April 2021, and have conceded just three goals in that spell.

Sky: Injury and illness had forced Ismael into three of five changes made from the goalless draw at Huddersfield, including a first league start this season for goalkeeper Ben Hamer after regular shotstopper Daniel Bachmann was ruled out due to a concussion in training.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 5 Rotherham 0

Learnings from last week paved the way to five-goal romp

Clinical Watford canter to impressive five-goal victory

BHappy: Rotherham are pretty terrible.  That’s the caveat.  The opening goal saw Ken Sema afforded enough time to grab a coffee and nip to the loo before sending in the cross that Rajović directed into the net and this will be a feature of the first half in particular.  As significant is the fact that our passing is much crisper;  fewer touches, less dawdling.  Rotherham are narrow, and we’re successful at switching the play quickly.

Fran’s Watford Blog: What a difference a week makes.  From utter tedium at Huddersfield to a thrilling goal fest at Vicarage Road.  The Hornets had dominated both games against poor opposition, but the difference came with the attacking intent shown.  Huddersfield had set up to defend, but I felt that the Hornets didn’t press them enough.  Against Rotherham there were plenty of willing runners who got behind the defence and caused problems.  King Ken was one, but it was also great to see Andrews back making surging runs.  Rajović had a great day at the office.  He can be invisible when there is no service, but he was perfectly placed for both of Sema’s crosses and is the goal poacher that we needed.  Hamer didn’t have a lot to do, but coped well with everything that Rotherham threw at him, which was good to see given how little he has played of late.

4th November 2023- Championship, Huddersfield Town 0 Watford 0

https://www.skysports.com/football/huddersfield-town-vs-watford/teams/484872

Offical site: Match Dashboard

https://www.watfordfc.com/match-report/match-report-huddersfield-town-0-0-watford

BBC: The draw – the first between the sides in 17 meetings – means their league positions stay unchanged, with the Terriers 21st and Watford 16th.

Sky: In a game short of clear-cut opportunities, Yaser Asprilla and Matty Pearson came closest for either side, on an otherwise comfortable afternoon for both goalkeepers.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Huddersfield 0 Watford 0

Passing without purpose and loitering without intent

‘At some point we have to do something, we have to shoot’ – Ismael on bore draw

Why was the balance between trying to win and not losing so wrong?

Hoedt accepts Hornets didn’t move the ball quickly enough

BHappy: What follows is, without wishing to be unduly melodramatic, quite possibly the worst game of competitive football that I’ve ever seen (that’s now 1300 Watford games and counting – yes I’m a bit sad, sue me).  Not “worst” in terms of a low level of competence, although heaven knows this was, generously, unremarkable in that regard.  Nor the worst in terms of the overall experience;  we’ve all been at games sat in the rain rather than watching from beneath a roof, harassed by locals or stewards or sat near complete scumbags rather than just vaguely boisterous lads looking for a way to keep themselves entertained. But it terms of entertainment this was completely appalling.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It had been a strange game.  The second half was better than the first, but that isn’t saying much, and the overriding impression was that neither team wanted to lose.  This meant that Huddersfield were happy mostly to sit back and defend.  The Hornets had the vast majority of the play but were very cagey, playing around at the back and shooting from distance when a few more runs at the Huddersfield defence could well have paid dividends.  Watford certainly had the better of the chances, but they were few and far between and the travelling Hornets were not impressed.  At the end of the game Hoedt was the first over to us to give his shirt to a fan.  He was greeted with boos and looked less than impressed at the reception.  Interestingly, King Ken was the last to come over to applaud us and give away his shirt.  He was greeted with cheers.  Maybe the boo boys had left at this point, but I was glad that he got a good reception.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67247351

28th October 2023- Championship, Watford 2 Millwall 2

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-millwall/teams/484869

Official site: Match Dashboard

https://www.watfordfc.com/match-report/match-report-watford-2-2-millwall

BBC: Mileta Rajovic scored a 92nd-minute equaliser for Watford as they fought back to seal a Championship draw against managerless Millwall.

Sky: The burly Danish forward nodded in an Imran Louza cross to cancel out a late Wes Harding header and keep both sides entrenched in mid-table.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 2 Millwall 2

Frustration as Hornets salvage point with late equaliser

BHappy: On the hour, the now customary triple sub (and as an aside, I still fancy that the disciplined rotating of legs in the midfield in particular has contributed to, touching wood, a very favourable injury record this season).  On came Rajović, Louza and Martins…  and almost immediately we lost our footing.  Millwall, perhaps, contributed to this… taking advantage of a third of our outfield players having been swapped to up their own energy and force us backwards with their own best spell as our new guys got up to speed with a game that had been verging on volatile from the start.

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was another improved performance.  The tedium of a few weeks ago has been replaced by a team with much more attacking intent, although some of the defensive frailties remain.  The run of unbeaten games may only have stretched to three before Saturday, but it has brought with it an increasing confidence that manifests itself in more attacking play.  The return of Sema has certainly added something as he is never afraid to try to beat a player and he makes things happen.  I was also pleased that Asprilla put in a good showing after starting, proving that he isn’t just an impact sub.  The triple substitution was maybe not Ismaël’s best decision as the three who were replaced had all been playing well.  But it was inattentiveness at set pieces which let us down again.

24th October 2023- Championship, Swansea City 0 Watford 1

A digital only programme was produced for the fixture which can be seen here.

Official site: Match dashboard

https://www.watfordfc.com/match-report/match-report-swansea-city-0-1-watford

BBC: Ken Sema’s thumping late strike earned Watford a second successive win as they edged a drab encounter at Swansea City.

Sky: Kristian Pedersen thought he had put the Swans ahead after 72 minutes when he headed Grimes’ corner beyond Daniel Bachmann, but the effort was ruled out.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Swansea 0 Watford 1

King Ken’s screamer secures first win since before King Charles’ Coronation

Ismael delighted for the fans, and full of praise for his players

Winning goalscorer says he’s ready to go

‘This time we needed to give a kick in the backside’ – Ismael on Dele-Bashiru

Hoedt admits it’s been a tough few months

Fran’s Watford Blog: You could see how much it meant to the players.  I was surprised to see Koné run over to the away fans where he celebrated like a mad man.  The rest of the players took a while to complete their pleasantries with the officials and the opposition.  When they finally gathered as a group in front of us, King Ken was pushed forward to ensure that he got the plaudits.  There was no doubt that the crowd were sending him love and he was beaming and bowing down to us.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67130076