13th February 2024- Championship, Norwich City 4 Watford 2

https://www.skysports.com/football/norwich-city-vs-watford/teams/485077

WFC.Net Goal Commentary: 1  2

Sky: Norwich recovered from losing a two-goal lead to beat Watford 4-2 at Carrow Road and maintain their Championship play-off push.

BBC: The Canaries scored twice in the space of eight first-half minutes, with Ashley Barnes putting them ahead and Josh Sargent doubling their lead. Mileta Rajovic pulled a goal back shortly before half-time and Yaser Asprilla equalised with a spectacular second-half strike, only for Norwich to respond with goals from Gabriel Sara and Christian Fassnacht.

Fran’s Watford Blog: The Hornets started very poorly and looked dead and buried when Norwich scored their second.  The goal from Rajović sparked a mini-revival and the wonder goal from Asprilla was worth the price of admission on its own, but it was another poor defensive display from the Hornets that let them down and led to a scoreline that flattered the hosts and brought our unbeaten away run to an end.  We now have a run of games against teams who are below us in the table.  I hope that we see an improvement in those, or we are in for a very trying end to the season.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68212932

10th February 2024- Championship, Watford 1 Leicester City 2

Forgive me for being self indulgent for a moment but the programme featured Old Watford on the Fantasy League page.

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-leicester-city/teams/485073

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

Sky: Patson Daka set Leicester on course for a 2-1 win against Watford at Vicarage Road that maintained their 11-point lead at the top of the Sky Bet Championship.

BBC: And, when Ricardo Pereira struck after the break, Enzo Maresca’s side looked to be cruising. Emmanuel Dennis’ first goal since his return to Watford set up an exciting finish, but Leicester held on.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Leicester 2

Positives in defeat as Hornets beaten by leaders

‘I’m really proud of the players’ – Ismael

Dennis back on the scoresheet but don’t expect him to start on Tuesday

Hornets didn’t show their quality in the final third says Porteous

BHappy: We had speculated in the first half as Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen confidently persisted in positioning himself to the right of the area as Leicester built from the back, almost in the Porteous position alongside Wout Faes’ Wesley Hoedt to give his side another progressive passing option, that we hoped that they would stick with this when Dennis and all his hurlyburly tasmanian devil aggression was introduced.  What we hadn’t expected at all was that Dennis wouldn’t need to ambush anybody – instead he was the grateful recipient of a negligent back pass from Harry Winks.  With his back to an empty goal, he had to accommodate that the pass was struck without the energy to run past him and set up a shot at goal – indeed, Leicester Paul later speculated that Winks mistook Dennis for his goalkeeper, still in the Porteous position and perhaps unadvisedly sporting a yellowish green.  Whilst quietly acknowledging that neither of our regular starting centre forwards could have been relied upon to capitalise on the gift there was nonetheless much to commend in Dennis dragging the ball into a shooting position and sending it beyond the despairing recovery dive of the returning goalkeeper.  

Fran’s Watford Blog: The Hornets threatened again as Dennis prodded the ball to Ince whose effort was well over the bar.  The visitors then made a double substitution as Fatawu and Praet were replaced by Mavididi and Choudhury, whose entrance was met by the odd boo, but mostly applause from the Watford faithful.  The Hornets continued to search for the equaliser as Ince found Asprilla in space, his shot from distance took a wicked deflection and flew just wide of the target.  Following the corner, the ball dropped to Hoedt at the far post whose snatched shot was straight at the keeper.  There was seven minutes of added time, during which Vardy and Hoedt were booked after a foul by the Leicester man was followed by him winding Wesley up.  The only shot in added time was a weak effort from Mavididi that flew wide of the far post.  The final whistle went to boos for the referee but warm applause for the efforts of the players.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68189950

6th February 2024- FA Cup Fourth Round Replay, Southampton 3 Watford 0

Attendance: 17,844

BBC: Sekou Mara’s double strike helped Southampton to a comfortable FA Cup replay win against Watford that sets up a tie against Liverpool at Anfield.

Watford Observer: Dennis stays behind as the rest of the squad heads south

RECAP: Southampton 3 Watford 0

Cup exit follows transfer window in offering no encouragement

Squad depth and size still not a problem for Ismael

Fran’s Watford Blog: It was another poor performance from the Hornets.  Maybe things would have been different had the shot from Koné dipped under the bar but generally they had been shot shy, having only a single shot on target, and as soon as the home side scored there was only one winner.  The Watford players have often been careless with their passing this season, but they were particularly bad in the second half of this game as, time after time, the ball was given away allowing the home side to attack.  The only positive of the evening, apart from meeting some lovely people in the WoW group, was that I don’t think any of us really wanted a trip to Liverpool.  Much as I love that city, it is soul destroying being thrashed at Anfield.

3rd February 2024- Championship, Watford 0 Cardiff City 1

Sky: A stunning Josh Bowler strike two minutes before half-time gave Cardiff a 1-0 victory over Watford at Vicarage Road. Bowler held off one Watford player, cut inside another and sent a delightful curler beyond the outstretched hand of Ben Hamer and into the far corner.

BBC: Cardiff suffered some nervy moments in the second half but Watford’s best effort saw Ismael Kone hit the post.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 0 Cardiff 1

Poor Hornets suffer Cardiff defeat

Never mind the nice stuff, Watford need to get nasty admits head coach

BHappy: Cardiff were utterly unremarkable, the grey sludge of mid-table nothingness;  until they scored there was nothing to suggest that they were anything other than there to be put out of their misery.  Thereafter they justified their averageness by looking far better at defending a lead – competitive, pretty organised, robust – than they had at creating one.  Nonetheless, this was a game that we had no business losing.  “We would have lost that one last season” has been a popular mantra in this campaign…  for the first time in a while, we lost one of those games in this one too.

Fran’s Watford Blog: I thought the boos at the end of the game were harsh, but that is possibly because there had been some entertainment on show in contrast to Wednesday.  But it was another disappointing performance in a game that was won by a moment of quality from the opposition.  The Hornets created a number of chances but were let down by poor finishing.  The positive of the afternoon was that Dennis looked very bright and showed moments that may justify the high expectations that many fans have had on his return.  We have come out of a really good run of form when the football was fun again, so the downturn is disappointing and the thought of the upcoming games against Southampton and Leicester is filling me with dread rather than excitement.  Let’s hope that my pessimism is misplaced.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/table

31 January 2024- Championship, Sheffield Wednesday 0 Watford 0

https://www.skysports.com/football/sheffield-wednesday-vs-watford/teams/485047

Sky: Sheffield Wednesday’s winless run extended to three matches as they recorded a 0-0 draw at home to Watford in the Championship.

BBC: Ike Ugbo, making his first start for the Owls, and Watford’s Matheus Martins both hit the post, while the latter also missed the best chance of the first half when he shot wide with the goal gaping.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Sheffield Wednesday 0 Watford 0

The pitch beat both teams on a night of little quality

Ismael felt players tried to adapt to ‘awful’ pitch and deserved rare clean sheet

BHappy: Ben Hamer, most significantly, looks pretty good at pretty much everything you’d want him to – calm, confident with both feet, decent decision making.  Oh, and a good shot stopper obviously, evidenced by twice punching goal-bound shots out of the top corner, by a reflex save to deny our closest call at the end of the first half and by somehow – goodness knows how – sufficiently obstructing an effort that the opposite stand behind the goal believed had crossed the line conveying despair across the pitch by their reaction until the sight of our own midfielders trying to engineer a quick break amid the confusion confirmed otherwise to a relieved away end.  Quite how Hamer has spent so much of his career as a backup is a little difficult to understand.

Fran’s Watford Blog: While a point away from home should not be dismissed, it was disappointing not to have seen a more impressive performance against a poor Wednesday team.  The Hornets may have hit the post and missed an open goal, but they didn’t test the young keeper and Hamer was the busier of the two.  He pulled off a couple of excellent saves, so should be pleased to have kept a clean sheet, which was the first since mid-November.  There were a lot of complaints about the pitch, which was in a terrible condition and made me think that maybe Gino should instal one dreadful pitch at the training ground for the lads to train on before games like this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/table

28th January 2024- FA Cup Fourth Round, Watford 1 Southampton 1

WFC.Net Jon Marks Goal Commentary: 1

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Southampton 1

Hornets taken to cup replay after late Saints equaliser

Lack of composure in possession cost Watford says head coach

Sky: Watford and Southampton face a replay for a place in the FA Cup fifth round and a trip to Liverpool, following a 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road.

BBC: Substitute Stuart Armstrong struck late to earn Southampton an FA Cup fourth-round replay with a draw at Championship rivals Watford. Matheus Martins’ early free-kick had looked like being enough for the home side until the Scotland international levelled in the 89th minute.

Fran’s Watford Blog: While it was disappointing to concede so late in the game, the draw was a fair result.  The Hornets had dominated the first hour of the game and had enough chances to ensure the win.  But, once the visitors strengthened on the hour mark, they were much the stronger of the two teams and could have won it in time added on.  The late equaliser meant a check of my calendar to see what I will miss in order to go to Southampton (likely Belinda O’Hooley at the Green Note), although the prospect of a fifth round at Anfield is not filling me with excitement.  The positive on the day was all the young fans around us enjoying supporting their team from the middle of the Rookery.  I hope that they enjoyed the day despite the late opposition goal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023–24_FA_Cup