Monthly Archives: September 2020

26th September 2020- Championship, Watford 1 Luton Town 0

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The 14 year gap since our last meeting is the longest since we started playing each other in 1885.

Watford Observer Watford tell fans to stay at home for Luton Town derby

Watford board up Graham Taylor statue ahead of Luton Town game

Ben Foster wants Watford ready for Luton Town derby

Vladimir Ivic wants Watford to beat Luton Town for the fans

Ben Foster claims fans were taken for granted ahead of Watford Luton derby

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-luton/teams/429739
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Whatever career João Pedro goes on to have, and the signs are it will be a damn good one, he is assured of his place in Watford folklore and a place in the hearts of Watford fans after emerging as the winner in the long-awaited derby.

The Brazilian already looks like he has that sense of occasion all the top players have and he chose his 19th birthday and the first derby in 14 long years to bag his first goal for the club. It wasn’t scored with any great flair and won’t feature in any goal-of-the-season compilation, but what it lacked in star quality, was made up for in significance.

The strike, after 35 minutes from a Ken Sema cross, should provide the launchpad for his goalscoring career in this country; turned a promising start by the team into a good one and gave the thousands frustratingly watching at home plenty of reason to cheer in these challenging times.

It also means the Hornets are now ten unbeaten in this lively Herts-Beds derby – Luton’s last win was in September 1994 – and have also kept clean sheets in their opening three league matches of the season for the first time since 1988. Two wins, a draw and three shutouts is a very solid base for Head Coach Vladimir Ivić to build on indeed.

The Hornets and Luton are less than 19 miles apart and it took someone born 5,000 miles away to settle this one. In doing so, Pedro became the Hornets’ youngest scorer since an 18-year-old Nathaniel Chalobah scored against Wolves – and just how old does it make you feel to know that Pedro was just four and growing up in Riberirão Preto when Watford last won a derby. Graham Taylor would even have forgiven him for going down with cramp late on.

His goal was coming, even though it arrived less than 30 seconds after Luton hit the underside of the bar through James Collins. The Hornets learnt the harshest of lessons last season when it came to the price you pay for missed chances, so it was handy their luck changed in the game that means so much to supporters.

Most of the action had originated down the right wing and yet with what felt like the first raid down the left, the Hornets made the breakthrough. Perhaps the Hatters were so concerned about the threat from Ismaïla Sarr and Jeremy Ngakia down the right that they left the Swedish international Sema with a bit of room down the other side. He made the most of his freedom, darting from inside to out before crossing the ball low for Pedro to side-foot home.

It would have been difficult for even the most partisan Luton fan to argue the home side didn’t deserve it. They made most of the running, certainly in the first 30 minutes, enjoying five shots on target, two more than mustered in the entire 90 minutes at Newport.

They were at it from the moment Nathaniel Chalobah thundered into Harry Cornick early on and that was confirmed when you had Craig Cathcart spray a lovely cross-field pass to Sema that Étienne Capoue would have been proud of. There was a lovely turn and spin from Sarr and then Cathcart again got in on the act with a backheel to James Garner.

It was so much more cohesive from an attacking point of view, which you’d expect from a newly-formed side very much in transition. Ngakia and Sarr looked like a well-established pairing down the right and it was from their side that the main threat was posed. Sarr was involved in the move that led to Tom Cleverley cutting one back for Pedro, which he probably should have scored from, and then Pedro returned the favour for his captain seven minutes later.

Pedro eventually took his chance on 35 minutes and the game could and probably should have been dead and buried five minutes after the break. Chalobah will have been disappointed not to score with a header from a Garner corner; the on-loan midfielder from Manchester United had one saved by the legs from Simon Sluga and then Pedro saw the follow-up deflected wide.

Tom Dele-Bahsiru, on as a sub for the injured Chalobah, almost got that match-clinching second on 80 minutes, but in the end it wasn’t needed. Troy Deeney rumbled on for his 399th club appearance and managed to cause a bit of argy bargey in the right-hand corner in front of the Rookery that would have gone down a storm had the fans been here. As it was they celebrated wildy from home and will enjoy this one for a while. They cannot, as the Depeche Mode song ringing out at full-time says, get enough of wins like this.

Watford victorious against Luton Town in the Championship

The Brazilian, who turned 19 today, capitalised after good work on the left flank from Ken Sema, his finish deflected past Luton keeper Simon Sluga, who was called upon to make some more good saves on a day when the hosts should have scored more.

Vladimir Ivic thinks Watford’s performance in their derby day win over Luton Town was their best yet since he joined the club, but hopes there is more improvement to come.

Watford players rated after Luton Town victory

The fixture between keen rivals had not been played since April 2006 but although the match was played behind closed doors, police still insisted on a 12.30pm kick-off. As a result, there was little resembling a derby atmosphere in a cold and biting wind and Luton, in particular, struggled to raise their game against a Watford side whose recent Premier League pedigree gave them a decided edge.

The Hatters really ought to have led when Collins could not keep his shot down from six yards from Harry Cornick’s cross, and Pedro punished them – albeit with the help of a deflection off defender Sonny Bradley on its way in.

Whilst we were on top it would be wrong to paint this as a completely one-sided contest. The visitors were the strongest side we’ve faced thus far, defended well for the most part, desperately on occasions but doggedly enough to stay in it and always looked dangerous on the break where their attacks were neat and tidy.  Harry Cornick was the biggest threat in the first half, too often finding space down the right.  His ball across was smacked off the underside of the bar by Collins with Foster doing well to come out and force the Luton striker to lift the ball.  That goes in it’s a different game;  as it was we broke and scored, and never really looked back.

22nd September 2020- League Cup Third Round, Newport County 3 Watford 1

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The Hornets bowed out of the Carabao Cup tonight and they can have few complaints. They were beaten fair and square by a hungrier, sharper and busier Newport County side who claimed their second Championship scalp of the competition.

Head Coach Vladimir Ivić rung the changes following the energy-sapping draw at Sheffield Wednesday and ahead of the first derby in 14 years on Saturday and got the sort of disjointed first-half performance you can often get when eight of the starting 11 had only six Watford starts before the game.

They didn’t quite give themselves a mountain to climb by conceding twice in the space of ten first-half minutes, but it was certainly the steepest of hills in a part of the world renowned for its ascents and valleys. Although they had a bit of a go at the start of the second half, sparked by a tactical and personnel switch by Ivić, and pulled one back through Adalberto Peñaranda from the spot just before the hour, Watford could have few complaints about their exit from the league knockout competition. A third goal, from Pardaig Amond, on 65 minutes killed off any hopes of a second successive escape act in this competition. A bad night got worse when Stipe Perica was sent off late on for violent conduct.

Defeat will rankle with Ivić, that serial winner from Serbia who launched his coaching career by lifting a domestic trophy in Greece, but he knows he has not been recruited to win a cup. Promotion is the sole aim and nobody will remember this defeat at the end of the season if all goes to plan, just like one had to double check it was Doncaster who knocked the Golden Boys out of the same competition during the thrilling promotion season of 2014/15.

It was a classic mix of youth and experience Ivić opted for here at Rodney Parade. He had two teenagers and one 20-year-old in a central midfield three and then a 30-year-old centre-half behind them and a wily striker in front of them who had 330 Premier League appearances between them. It was going to be asking a lot for them to gel and play with cohesion and so it proved.

With Josh Sheehan pulling the strings from the middle of midfield, Newport looked very neat and tidy on an immaculate pitch and you can see why they knocked out Swansea last time out. You expected them to try and probe their way through and past the three-man Watford backline so it was something of a surprise that they caused such havoc from set-pieces. Indeed the visitors were forced to get everyone back for the deliveries that came in from all angles. They looked a threat every time the ball was slung into the danger zone. Ignacio Pussetto was lucky not to give away a penalty for handball before Toby Stevenson was eventually fingered by the referee for a pull in the box. Tristan Abrahams made no mistake from the spot, sending Daniel Bachmann the wrong way.

Bachmann would have been hoping for a quieter night than he had at the Kassam Stadium last week, but he was in the thick of the action again here. He was on hand to make a fine one-handed save from Amond soon after that matched anything he did at Oxford, the sort of one that falls into the category of keeping your side in it when you reflect on a come-from-behind win.

Sadly, it went to waste as, what felt like less than 60 second later, Joss Labadie scored from distance with one that left Bachmann with no chance. It could have been three had Abrahams not planted a header just wide in first-half injury time.

Ivić needed to take decisive action and he did just that. He sent immediately for Stipe Perica and Peñaranda, two players with Serie A experience, and switched to a 4-2-3-1.

The change worked a treat and within nine minutes the visitors had a lifeline. Pussetto was shoved over in the box and Peñaranda, after much debate with Perica over who should take it, stroked one straight down the middle. Game on.

Phillips crunched into a tackle in the middle of midfield and then Dawson hurled himself in front of a shot. This was more like it. They were just building up a head of steam and starting to play with a pattern and a purpose when Amond pounced on a mistake and rifled one in the bottom corner for Newport’s third.

It was one of those nights when little went right and that was confirmed when Perica was shown a straight red card at the end. Newport are through to the fourth round for the first time in their history and the Hornets are out. It will all be forgotten, however, if they beat old foes Luton on Saturday.

Watford beaten by Newport County in Carabao Cup

Adalberto Penaranda’s penalty halved a 2-0 advantage that the Exiles had built up in the first-half through goals from Tristan Abrahams and Joss Labadie, but Podraig Amond’s strike ten minutes later put the game beyond the Hornets’ reach.

Vladimir Ivic wants Watford to focus on the Championship

Watford players rated after Carabao Cup loss to Newport County

Vladimir Ivic rested Watford players for Luton Town match

Craig Dawson felt Watford deserved defeat at Newport

Watford’s new Serbian boss Vladimir Ivic sent out a team showing 10 changes from the one that drew 0-0 with Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship last weekend.

Watford substitute Stipe Perica was sent off late on for elbowing Cooper.

So the most pleasing thing about this evening is the shade of amber of Newport’s shirts. It’s…. not quite as orange as Wolves, not quite as yellow as Bradford. It’s what Newport’s shirts should be.  I guess Shoot League Ladders have a lot to answer for, since we’ve not played Newport since 1978, so I’ve nothing really to base this instinct on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_EFL_Cup

19th September 2020- Championship, Sheffield Wednesday 0 Watford 0

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It may be a few weeks before we see this new-look Hornets side at its fluent best, but they have picked up the very useful habit of racking up points while being in transition.

Points come in all shapes and sizes but they all count the same. The one they got here at Hillsborough, following a goalless draw, is unlikely to feature too heavily on the highlights reel at the end of what is likely to be a frantic season, but it will do very nicely thanks very much as this looks like being one of the more awkward Championship assignments this season.

The game here in South Yorkshire was pretty much a repeat of the arm-wrestle against Middlesbrough, minus the set-piece winner from Craig Cathcart, although the Hornets did look more fluent going forward in the second period. It was nowhere near as cohesive a performance as the one the team produced here last time in October 2014 in a comprehensive 3-0 win, but these are very different times and Rome wasn’t built in a day. The upshot is, after two games, the Golden Boys have one more point on the board than they did at the same stage of the promotion-winning campaign in 2014/15 and there is plenty more to come from this group.

Crucially, they look like they have a solid base to build from – this was a second successive league clean sheet – and any team who has aspirations of mounting a challenge must be a tough nut to crack first and foremost. The team already looks to be moulded in the spirit of their demanding Head Coach Vladimir Ivić.

It would be fair to say the Hornets made something of a tentative start. With the Wednesday bench bellowing their team to press the Hornets as high as possible, the visitors’ were not allowed to play out from the back and all three centre-halves made uncharacteristic sloppy passes in the space of 90 seconds. It was a clear sign that the Hornets were not going to get the time on the ball they desired in an attempt to build from the back.

There were a couple of nice touches from the wing backs – Jeremy Ngakia flipped one over the head of his winger while Ken Sema popped one through the legs of Izzy Brown – but it was largely all Wednesday, who enjoyed two thirds of the ball at one point.

With that much of the ball the Owls were always going to manufacture the odd chance, but nothing really to seriously trouble Ben Foster. Kadeem Harris curled one over the angle of post and bar from the right; Dominic Iorfa should have converted a header from a Brown free-kick and then there were shouts for a penalty when Christian Kabasele put Josh Windass under the most intense pressure after the forward charged into the box. The best chance of the lot, though, came just before the half-time whistle when Tom Lees, up from the back, hit the outside of the post with a header from another Brown free-kick.

The Hornets’ one and only attempt on goal in the first 45 minutes came when Glenn Murray, anticipating that a pass from Craig Cathcart bound for João Pedro was going to drop his way, dropped off, took one touch and let fly with a rising drive that Cameron Dawson was forced to beat away.

All in all the away team would have been grateful to get into the dressing room at the break all square with a chance to regroup and recalibrate. Ivić was still talking to the midfield three of Nathaniel Chalobah, Tom Cleverley and Domingos Quina as the players emerged for the second half, suggesting the former Serbia & Montenegro international schemer had seen one or two things to tweak in the middle of the park.

The Head Coach opted for a personnel change on 58 minutes, replacing Murray with Stipe Perica, and the Croation almost made an immediate impact. He started a move down the left with an arcing run that Ben Wilmot picked out with a lovely clip into the channel, and came so close to finishing in with a header into the bottom corner after some nice interplay between Chalobah and Cleverley. But Dawson denied the angular striker with a save low to his left. Perica thought it was in and was already starting to wheel away in celebration at his first goal for his new club.

Perica added a different dimension to the attack. He was involved in a move that led to an attempted overhead kick from Cleverley and then teed up Quina for a shooting chance only for the Portuguese schemer to be fouled on the edge of the box. Sema blasted over the free-kick but this was more like it. The fact Wednesday picked up two yellow cards in quick succession in a bid to stop promising attacking raids by the Hornets showed how the tide had turned.

James Garner, on loan for the season from Manchester United, came on for his debut midway through the second half and he looked neat and tidy and showed the confidence to assume the role of set-piece taker. Him and particularly Perica made a real difference when they came on.

Ivić made use of his bench by bringing on Ignacio Pussetto for the last ten minutes and that showed how he’s prepared to use the depth of his squad and how it’s going to be all hands to the pump as there will be plenty more games like this this season. Next one in the league? The small matter of the first derby in 14 years. They come thick and fast, don’t they.

Watford play out goalless draw at Sheffield Wednesday

Ivic made one change to the team that beat Middlesbrough on the opening day of the season, with Glenn Murray replacing the unwell Kiko Femenia and Ken Sema dropping into the left-back position.

Vladimir Ivic happy with Watford’s clean sheet at Sheffield Wednesday

Watford players rated after draw against Sheffield Wednesday

The Owls got on top in the first half against their sloppy opponents but were unable to make their dominance count, with Tom Lees coming closest to breaking the deadlock when his unmarked header grazed the post.

Watford came on strong in the final half hour but Owls keeper Cameron Dawson made a pair of fine low saves to thwart Stipe Perica and Tom Cleverley.

So what have we learned?  Hardly news given Ivić’s reported stylistic preferences but we look an awful lot better at stopping the other lot than scoring ourselves.  But for our marking at set pieces we looked pretty impenetrable today, as you’d hope from that extremely proficient back three with Cleverley and Chalobah sitting in front of them.  Chalobah, as an aside, is becoming a candidate for that all-but-forgotten mantle of boo-boy, a role largely unoccupied for a decade or so but was excellent today, strong defending and effective supporting attacks.  Better.  All that’s stopping him dominating football games at this level is a need for a bit more assertiveness.

15th September 2020- League Cup Second Round, Oxford United 1 Watford 1 (Watford won 3-0 on penalties)

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https://www.skysports.com/football/oxford-utd-vs-watford/435931
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Daniel Bachmann was the hero as Watford left it late to knock out Oxford United on penalties in a dramatic Carabao Cup tie at Oxford United.

Last season’s League One play-off finalists looked set for a place in the third round up until the final minute, when substitute Ken Sema cancelled out Rob Hall’s first-half strike to send the game to a shoot-out.

Up stepped Bachmann, who had already excelled in normal time with several vital stops, and the Austrian made a stunning three saves from three to ensure it was the Hornets who progressed to the third round, where a trip to Newport County awaits.

There were first glimpses of new signings Francisco Sierralta and Stipe Perica, while Vladimir Ivić handed full debuts to youngsters Derek Agyakwa, Toby Stevenson and Dan Phillips. The Academy trio will now hope to gain further important game-time in Wales next week.

There was an explosive start which very nearly saw Perica score with his first touch in English football. The striker’s close-range effort in the opening minute was kept out by Oxford keeper Jack Stevens after fine work from Jerome Sinclair out on the right.

The Croatian went even closer with 10 minutes on the clock. Fellow debutant Stevenson whipped over an inviting cross and Perica’s bullet header clipped the top of the crossbar on its way over, with Stevens well beaten.

But it was the hosts who would break the deadlock, midway through the first half. Joel Cooper charged past the challenge of Nathaniel Chalobah and the ball broke for Hall, who took a touch and fired a clean half-volley low into the bottom corner.

The errors began creeping in and Watford were fortunate not to go further behind when Phillips conceded possession too easily to Hall in the middle of the park. Bachmann denied Derick Osei Yaw with a reflex save, and it was the start of an especially busy spell for the keeper.

The ex-Stoke stopper was at his acrobatic best when keeping out a Cameron Brannagan shot from the edge of the box. Elliott Moore poked against the post from the resulting corner, then moments later Bachmann was alert to thwart Sam Long before watching helplessly as Cooper blazed the rebound over with the goal gaping.

Just one goal in it at the break, but it may well have been more.

Momentum started shifting towards the Hornets as they approached the hour-mark. A fine Marc Navarro pass unlocked the Oxford defence, allowing Perica a clear run at goal, but his shot struck the face of Stevens and Sema’s left-footed follow-up flew high into the car park behind the keeper’s goal.

If Watford were to find a way back into the game they were going to have to do it the hard way. Navarro pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury and with three replacements already made, the Hornets were left to navigate the final 20 minutes with just 10 men.

Just when it seemed that time was up, substitute João Pedro scuffed a shot that fell kindly to Sema, who made no mistake from six yards, converting with his right foot to send the game into penalties.

Enter Bachmann, who saved incredibly from Anthony Forde, Marcus McGuane and Hall, with Sema, Domingos Quina and Perica making no mistake for the visitors.

Line-Up

HORNETS: Bachmann (GK); Agyakwa (Kabasele, HT), Sierralta, Wilmot; Navarro, Chalobah (C) (Sema, HT), Phillips, Stevenson; Quina, Sinclair (João Pedro, 60); Perica.

Subs not used: Parkes (GK), Ngakia, Pussetto, Murray.

Watford beat Oxford United in the Carabao Cup on penalties

The goalkeeper saved all three of United’s spot kicks, while the Hornets scored all of theirs to send the visitors through with a 3-0 scoreline in the shootout after clawing the game back from the brink of defeat.

Daniel Bachmann praised by Watford coach Vladimir Ivic

Watford players rated after penalty win over Oxford United

Watford’s Daniel Bachmann insists penalty heroics at Oxford United were ‘instinct’

Rob Hall’s 20-yard strike after good work from Joel Cooper gave League One Oxford the lead and they were seconds away from seeing out the win. But Ken Sema sent the game to penalties when he scored into an empty net after receiving Joao Pedro’s scuffed shot.

Some might question the wisdom of forking out a tenner for a stream to watch a single-camera view of the early stages of the League Cup.  Those same people would probably leave early at the end of a 6-0 pasting, or opt against long drives across the country to watch irrelevant end of season dead-rubbers in the rain.  This is a fundamental part of the process.  To skip it would be like skipping puberty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_EFL_Cup

11th September 2020- Championship, Watford 1 Middlesbrough 0

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It wasn’t pretty, and it was probably wasn’t going to be given the new-look nature of this side and the short preparation time, and it wasn’t ever really fluent, but the team worked its Kelme socks off, got the job done and gave themselves a decent base to build on. The winning goal came from a set-piece, as it invariably does at this level, after 11 minutes, from Craig Cathcart, a player who got them out of this labyrinth of a division last time. He knows his way around the Championship and his know-how, along with that of captain Tom Cleverley and Glenn Murray, is going to be vital for this bunch.

The Hornets reacquainted themselves with the Championship after a five-year absence with the sort of gritty win you need to chisel out regularly if you are going to have a real crack at navigating a way out of this notoriously difficult division.

Winning is a habit, as Vladimir Ivić can testify having not lost a single game in 52 games of the regular season in Israel, and he will be delighted to be up and running already. You don’t get any extra points for aesthetics in any league, let alone this uncompromising one, and it won’t bother him one iota how these three points were collected. He knows there will be more, much more to come from this group once he has a full complement of players at his disposal and further time to on the training field to work his magic. He is also showing, like he did at Maccabi Tel Aviv, that he is capable of working with what he is given and blooding youth.

This probably wasn’t the side the Head Coach envisaged fielding when he flew to England and checked over the star-studded squad list during the flight. The Hornets had 17 players unavailable for the Championship opener, but you won’t find the Serbian moaning one bit. He gave three players their first league start for the club, including the first of any kind for Jeremy Ngakia, and named a seven-man bench that had just six Hornets starts between them. Murray came on for his debut, so did Dan Phillips while Marco Navarro trotted on for his first appearance since Huddersfield away in April 2019.

With some players finding their bearings and the team looking for cohesion, it needed some of the experienced players to stand up and they don’t come more experienced than Cathcart. He was making his 159th start for the Hornets and marked it with his eighth goal. It was his first since he nodded one in at Wembley against Tottenham in January 2019. The circumstances couldn’t have been more different – a packed national stadium in a glamour Premier League game compared to an empty Vicarage Road in a second-tier fixture – but that won’t bother the Northern Irishman. They all count and almost count double when you are looking to launch a new era and validate what a new voice has been preaching and encouraging in training.

Even before the goal, the early signs were fairly encouraging. Cathcart, Cleverley and Ben Wilmot all snapped into tackles inside the first 20 minutes to set the tone and show this new-look team are prepared to roll their sleeves up. Plenty of that is going to be needed during a season where you are barely going to have time to catch your breath and in a division where the emphasis is on perspiration rather than inspiration.

A proficiency from set-pieces, at both ends, is going to be needed in order to plot a way out of this division and it looks like this team have read the memo. Cathcart powered in from Ken Sema on 11 minutes and then João Pedro should really have done the same just before the half-hour mark. The fact both players were able to engineer some space in the box shows some clever work has already taken place on the manicured fields of London Colney.

It wasn’t all Watford, though. Definitely not. Ashley Fletcher flashed one past the far post via a deflection and then Ben Foster had to save well with his legs from Britt Assombalonga in the first half alone. The ‘keeper was vocal throughout the game, but was particularly animated after the former Watford striker was allowed in to get that shot away.

Foster was the busier of the two keepers in the second period, too. He pushed one round the post, deflected one over from Assombalonga and then will have been relieved to see Grant Hall, at full stretch, blast one over from close range following a corner. Assombalonga then probably missed the best chance with five minutes to go.

He implored his teammates to “take one in the face” if necessary from a free-kick and that was the kind of commitment the team played with, with Nathaniel Chalobah and Cleverley both crashing into full-blooded challenges in the second half. Demanding his players worked hard, Ivić will have loved it, particularly the desire to keep a clean sheet.

He might not have enjoyed the hairy nature of the last ten minutes so much, especially with the game poised precariously on a knife edge, but the Hornets dragged themselves over the line. One down. Forty-five to go.

Line-Up

HORNETS: Foster; Cathcart; Kabasele, Wilmot; Ngakia, Chalobah, Cleverley (c), Femenía (Navarro 75); Sema (Murray 67), Quina (Phillips 89), Pedro.

Subs not used: Bachmann, Sierralta and Sinclair.

RELIVE: Hornets beat Boro in Championship opener

There was always going to be a new look as Watford set out on life back in the second tier, but it’s fair to say the team didn’t have quite the look most fans would have hoped for.

Vladimir Ivic wants Watford to improve after scrappy Middlesbrough win

Watford players rated after beating Middlesbrough

Craig Cathcart claims scrappy Middlesbrough win will boost Watford

Defender Craig Cathcart scored the winner after 11 minutes, heading past Boro goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.

Boro’s Britt Assombalonga came close to levelling the scores on several occasions and the visitors’ best opening came when the frontman’s curling free-kick was tipped over the bar by Hornets ‘keeper Ben Foster.

Whether Ivic can maintain the momentum rests largely on which players are sold before the transfer deadline, with Deeney and Welbeck reportedly close to joining Premier League clubs. But in young, hungry players such as Pedro and Jeremy Ngakia – making his debut at right-back following his move from West Ham – coupled with old hands such as Foster, Murray and the match-winner Cathcart, he will be hopeful of a successful first campaign in English football.

The official justifications for our many, many absences – 17, reportedly… that it’s hard to keep track tells you everything – range from injured to ill to unfit, often vague and understandably so.  There’s injured and there’s “injured”, one suspects. Twitter rumour claims that Craig Dawson has refused to play, which if true given his miserable half-arsed effort against Spurs is comparable to Andy Cole’s notorious retirement from international duty.

5th September 2020- Friendly, Watford 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1

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From the Official site: With Championship football kicking off at Vicarage Road on Friday night and the Hornets looking to mount a promotion push, Vladimir Ivić’s side showed they still have some Premier League quality about them with a convincing win against Tottenham Hotspur at Vicarage Road.

A thunderous 25-yard strike from Domingos Quina and an emphatic Andre Gray penalty earned the victory against José Mourinho’s side at The Vic, with Heung-min Son pulling one back for the visitors from the spot late on.

Head Coach Ivić has had less than a month to work with his new squad, but the Serbian has clearly already made his mark on the team’s style of play. Watford were fluid and dynamic, with wing-backs Pervis Estupiñán and Jeremy Ngakia bombing forward and the five-strong midfield interchanging during quick counter-attacks.

The game’s first big opening fell to Quina, with the midfielder firing just wide after some neat build-up play. Shortly after, Tom Dele-Bashiru drilled in a low cross and once again Quina was in the box but could not connect.

After 20 minutes, though, Quina made no mistake. The 20-year-old picked the ball up from deep and, with Davinson Sánchez backing off, ran to within 25 yards of goal and fired a swerving drive past Joe Hart.

Spurs came close to equalising immediately through Son but Daniel Bachmann got down well to save the forward’s low effort from a wide position.

The Hornets then doubled their lead shortly before half-time, as Gray smashed a penalty past Hart after Dele-Bashiru was pulled down in the area.

Gray almost scored again soon after the break, latching onto an incisive through-pass by Quina. Under pressure from two defenders, the striker’s effort went wide of the post.

As the game wore on José Mourinho’s side pushed forwards and Watford’s defensive resolve was tested, but Nathaniel Chalobah brilliantly blocked a Lamela strike before Bachmann saved from the Argentine.

Ivić evaluated his squad’s depth, with the likes of João Pedro, Marc Navarro and new signing Glenn Murray all getting minutes under their belt, which will no doubt come in crucial with the games coming thick and fast this season.

Spurs pulled one back when Son converted from the penalty spot after a Murray foul, but it was not enough – and in fact it was the hosts who came closest to scoring again.

Goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga was sent forward by Mourinho for a late corner only for the Hornets to counter-attack. Marc Navarro shot towards the open goal from 50 yards, but a desperate dive from Son cleared the ball off the goal line.

It was a good test of fitness and fight for the Hornets ahead of Friday night’s Championship clash here against Middlesbrough.

Line-Up

Starting XI: Bachmann (GK), Kabasele, Wilmot (Crichlow 89), Dawson (Sierralta 59), Ngakia, Chalobah (Phillips 59), Dele-Bashiru (Murray 64), Estupiñán (Navarro 70), Cleverley (C) (Stevenson 89), Quina (Peñaranda 64), Gray (João Pedro 52).

Subs not used: Parkes (GK), Agyakwa.

Match-Report_-Watford-2-1-Tottenham-Hotspur-Watford-FCDownload

Spurs Website: Heung-Min Son’s late penalty wasn’t enough as we suffered a 2-1 defeat at Watford in our final match of pre-season on Saturday afternoon.

No, not a full-strength Spurs, yes, a pre-season friendly and no, I’ve not spent too long dwelling on the detail.  It’s a pre-season friendly after all, and if you cared you probably watched it yourself.  But we beat Spurs, with a thing that has fun bits and gnarly bits and sparkly bits but is fundamentally a thing that isn’t fully formed yet.