Monthly Archives: April 2025

26th April 2025- Championship, Blackburn Rovers 2 Watford 1

Watford Observer: Ismael on Watford: ‘It was a great experience for me to work there’

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Report: Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Watford – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Blackburn Rovers kept their hopes of clinching a Championship play-off spot on the final day alive with a come-from-behind victory against Watford at Ewood Park.

Sky: Valerien Ismael knew only a win would do against his former side if Rovers were to maintain ambitions of gatecrashing the top six and, after a lacklustre first half, the Hornets dealt them a blow through Mattie Pollock’s headed opener. But Rovers came roaring back in impressive fashion and two ruthless finishes – a sumptuous low volley from Todd Cantwell and Tyrhys Dolan’s second in the space of a week in the 74th minute – put Blackburn tantalisingly close to sixth-placed Coventry, who sit just a point ahead of them.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Blackburn 2 Watford 1

Blackburn 2 Watford 1 minute-by-minute report

Cleverley calls Watford unacceptable but also reports Rovers player to officials

We are where we are – and only much wider change will alter that

‘That’ll be for other people to decide’ – Cleverley on his future

Fran’s Watford Blog: Imagine our surprise when we took the lead two minutes after the restart. Doumbia did really well to win a corner and the delivery from Louza was met by the head of Pollock. There was an attempt by a defender to clear it off the line, but the referee pointed to the centre circle and joy was unconfined in the away end. The goal had been scored just in front of us, so Mattie and the lads came to celebrate with us, which is always rather lovely.

From the Rookery End: For the final away game of the season, DCW made the trip up to Lancashire to see a poor hornets performance against Blackburn. Joined by Charlie from WD18, they saw a team that seems to be limping its way to the end of the season but also the conversation many fans might be having – will Tom Cleverly be the Watford manager next season?

21st April 2025- Championship, Portsmouth 1 Watford 0


Report: Portsmouth 1-0 Watford – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Portsmouth confirmed their Championship status for another year with victory over Watford at Fratton Park.

Sky: The hosts scored the only goal after 25 minutes through Bishop, who nodded the ball home from close range. Watford were then reduced to 10 men in the 57th minute when Kevin Keben was sent off for bringing down Josh Murphy just outside the area.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Portsmouth 1 Watford 0

Portsmouth 1 Watford 0 minute-by-minute report

Cleverley says not enough “consequences for not doing your job” at Watford

‘A complete guess’ – Cleverley’s description of red card decision

Watching the last dregs of the season spiral inevitably towards the plughole

Fran’s Watford Blog:  The Portsmouth goal was down to a rare Selvik mistake, although the highlights showed that Bishop’s final touch was rather fortunate. The shot from Louza was going in until Schmid intervened, the bar and post have not been our friends in recent games. But Selvik was definitely the busier of the keepers, so it is hard to argue with the result. Unlike on Friday, the Keben sending off seemed rather harsh. I hope that the club appeals it.

From the Rookery End: Easter is a great time to gorging on chocolate eggs. Watford gorged on red cards. In a two parts. Dave and Mike discuss the Burnley loss and Adam Drury joins Mike to breakdown the loss away at Pompey. Even with two defeats and three red cards the boys are able to find positives, even if Jon wasn’t there. but the true faults and frustrations of this Watford team still shine through.

18th April 2025- Championship, Watford 1 Burnley 2

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Report: Watford 1-2 Burnley – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Burnley came from a goal down to win at nine-man Watford and take a big step towards sealing automatic promotion back to the Premier League.

Sky: Josh Brownhill’s 14th goal of the Championship season had given the visitors the lead before Watford imploded with midfielders Moussa Sissoko and Edo Kayembe sent off within nine minutes of each other, both for collecting two yellow cards.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Burnley 2

Five talking points as Sissoko and Kayembe see red in defeat

Watford 1 Burnley 2 minute-by-minute report

No ire aimed at ref as Cleverley admits: ‘We lost our heads a little bit’

Young Trafford the difference between 1-0 and 2-0

Blame the ref, blame the diving – but Watford caused their own wounds

BHappy: What they got was probably the worst possible roll of that dice as we made light of our missing star turns in attack and the end-of-seasonness to take the game to the Clarets in the opening period. This culminated in a terrific opener after eight minutes that had already seen Burnley have to work rather harder than they had probably expected to need to as Dwomoh, a decent mix of deft footwork and less deft aggression throughout, and Louza began to ping the ball around. Vata was afforded far too much space on the left flank to swing a ball in which was sculpted towards Doumbia’s head but the teenager still had loads to do and it was textbook… downward and firm, not right in the corner but powerful enough to wriggle past Trafford’s grasp. Clive and Nicky had been fretting pre-match at the future of a forward line that will surely need strengthening over the summer but it’ll be a hell of a signing that displaces Doumbia when fully fit. On the evidence so far, he’s going to be a monster.

Fran’s Watford Blog: We all agreed that what had been a cracking game for the first hour was totally spoiled by the dark arts employed by the visitors and the referee consistently falling for them. It wasn’t helped by idiocy from Sissoko who should have known better than to argue with the referee and then react to the provocation from Flemming. I felt that the second yellow for Kayembe was more forgivable as it was a very soft foul. I have a great deal of admiration for the rest of the team as the nine men worked their socks off and held out again a team who are almost sure of promotion. They fought to the end and were unlucky not to come away with a point. A special mention goes to Mattie Pollock for making sure that there were no more dismissals as tempers flared.

12th April 2025- Championship, West Bromwich Albion 2 Watford 1

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Report: West Brom 2-1 Watford – Watford FCDownload

BBC: West Brom held on to end their five-match winless run and boost their flagging play-off bid with a victory over Watford.

Sky: Tom Fellows was the star of the match with two identical assists to Karlan Grant and Mikey Johnston as the Baggies were able to beat the Hornets for the first time since December 2016 – moving up to seventh in the table.

Watford Observer: RECAP: West Brom 2 Watford 1

West Brom 2 Watford 1 minute-by-minute report

Albion were just more streetwise Cleverley admits

Was there a glimpse into the future amid narrow defeat at The Hawthorns?

‘You’d rather be the effective team than the team that is good on the eye’

BHappy: Ultimately we played like what we are; a mid-table team missing some of its more fun players. West Brom also look like a mid-table team (albeit at least one of those tends to make the play-offs) but deserved to win on the basis of scoring twice to our once. A mid-table team is not what we aspire to be, perhaps, but it’s fine for the moment. There are worse things to be, after all (hellooooo Luton, but not just Luton – others have coped with No Longer Being a Premier League Club far worse than we have).

Fran’s Watford Blog: It had been an enjoyable, competitive game. After the early goal, the Hornets had the better of the first half and were unlucky to go in a goal down. Heads seem to drop after the second goal, but they soon rallied and were fighting for a point right to the end of the game. Sissoko scored his second goal in a week, and it was another good effort. It was good to see Dwomoh return to competitive action as it gives us another option. This game certainly didn’t have the end of season feel that characterised the Hull game. I hope that they continue to fight in the remaining games, so that we can have a positive end to the season, while avoiding a play-off place.

From the Rookery End: After heading to the Hawthorns (via the brilliant Vine pub!) Mike was joined to discuss the game by Colin and Adam Drury. The trio talk about Tom’s achievements this year and whether he actually deserves more credit, despite a downturn in results. Adam and Colin disagree on how culpable the midfield is in giving up goals, while there is also chat about Jeremy Ngakia’s good form, Caleb Wiley’s improving showings and Moussa Sissoko’s scoring record – among much much more.

8th April 2025- Championship, Watford 1 Hull City 0

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Report: Watford 1-0 Hull City – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Moussa Sissoko’s second-half finish gave Watford victory over struggling Hull City to keep their faint hopes of a Championship play-off place alive.

Sky: Edo Kayembe almost fired Watford ahead after barely half a minute but saw his thunderbolt from the best part of 30 yards bounce back off the angle of the goal frame.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Hull 0

Five talking points as Sissoko seals Watford victory

Watford 1 Hull City 0 minute-by-minute report

Cleverley proud to see his young guns firing

Season over for Baah and Giorgi – but will they be here next term?

A distinct undertone of teenage kicks at Vicarage Road

Goal attempts bar set too high but result was all important

Three points from a display less impressive than others that earned none

BHappy: It should be no great surprise that so many of our home games have been desperately dull, particularly against the division’s weaker sides.  The likes of Hull and Plymouth have a template that has been more-or-lessworking here for visitors for weeks and the knowledge that in the absence of a striker that can hold the ball up there really isn’t any point in us playing long.

Frans Watford Blog: It wasn’t the greatest game of football, and it had a real end of season feel to it, but the Hornets created some decent chances and the goal was excellent, some lovely build-up play and a clever finish by Sissoko. But a win is a win, and we are still only six points off the play-offs which, given how poorly we have played for a lot of the season, shows how ridiculously close this division is.

From the Rookery End: The senior side will have been pleased to get back to winning ways in a game where the defence was the bright spot, while the U18s provided a timing endorsement of the work going on at the Academy with a hugely resilient performance against a very very strong Man City.

5th April 2025- Championship, Bristol City 2 Watford 1

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Report: Bristol City 2-1 Watford – Watford FCDownload

BBC: Nahki Wells scored one goal and made another as Bristol City scored twice in four first-half minutes to move into the Championship play-off places and seemingly end Watford’s hopes of a top-six finish.

Sky: Watford substitute Mamadou Doumbia reduced the deficit 10 minutes from time, making space on the edge of the box to beat Max O’Leary with a sweetly struck volley that found the bottom corner – but it was not enough to deny Liam Manning’s team three deserved points.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Bristol City 2 Watford 1

Bristol City 2 Watford 1 minute-by-minute report

Losing Baah so early tore the Watford game-plan to shreds

Striker’s cameo in defeat meant it wasn’t all gloom and Doumbia

‘We were all comfortable with him starting’ – Cleverley on Baah

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was another disappointing game which was completely changed by the injury to Baah. Up until that point the Hornets had created the better of the chances, but we missed his attacking threat. It was an even game with little in the way of goalmouth action. Sadly, an error by Abankwah and another by the linesman allowed the home side to score two goals in a five minute period and from that point on the Hornets never looked like getting anything out of the game. The highlight for the travelling fans was the Doumbia goal. He was set up by a gorgeous pass from Louza, but he took his chance very well and it was great to see a striker scoring an impressive goal.

From the Rookery End: Mike and DCW look back at the defeat to Bristol City on Saturday and try to make sense of how we should feel about our season given that our already slim chances of making the play-offs are now almost certainly done and dusted