James Tomkins opened the scoring for the Hammers with a powerful back-post header from Matt Taylor’s corner. Joey O’Brien prodded home after bustling his way into the penalty area, before Carlton Cole slotted home Herita Ilunga’s low cross. And Scott Parker added the fourth late on to leave Sean Dyche still searching for his first win as Watford boss.

Of all the sentiments provoked by last night’s game, the most striking was the chill echo of the futility of Premier League fixtures. During any number of games in each of our seasons in the top flight since football was invented in 1992, we’d look plucky and promising and positive and not really terribly like scoring and then concede.  And then look plucky and positive and get our heads up and keep playing and not really look like scoring and maybe concede again, maybe not.  This is what a game between a newly relegated Premier League club and anyone else was supposed to look like.