Monthly Archives: November 2023

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