Middlesbrough boss Tony Mowbray says Watford 'as good as anyone in the Championship on the counter'

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Middlesbrough's manager believes Watford are "as good as anybody" in the Championship on the counter-attack but Gianfranco Zola has stressed the importance of improving the Hornets' home form.

Tony Mowbray praised Watford following the Golden Boys' 2-1 victory over Boro, which took the Hornets' record on the road to 23 points from a possible 36 this season.

Mowbray said: "Watford are probably as good as anybody in this league at counter-attacking, which was one of the reasons why I was so pleased in the first half because we denied them any opportunity to counter-attack and looked in control of the game.

"When you are 1-0 down you have to come out more and commit more men forward and ultimately they played to their strengths. They are very good at it.

"They have scored more goals than anybody in this league away from home this season and good luck to them because they scored two but it could have been four or five because they are very good at it [counter-attacking].

"If we had gone 1-0 up then I would have been confident of winning the game because they might have needed to leave a bit of space at the back gambling forward.

"But that is football at the top level. If you get to the next league up and go 1-0 down, then you will be in trouble against good players and teams who pick the right passes.

"Watford have some good players particularly in the forward areas of the pitch."

Watford and Hull have won more away games than any other side in the Championship but the Hornets have the worst home record in the top 12 of the division.

Zola said: "We are a team that can be dangerous playing away from home; the type of players we have and the way we play means we can be very dangerous away from home.

"I am looking forward to improving our home performances and if we can find consistency then it will make a big difference for us."

Comments(14)

hogweed says...
6:15pm Mon 14 Jan 13

Who cares what Mowbray thinks. He is an oaf.

Hog out

rowlingstone says...
6:18pm Mon 14 Jan 13

Find the consistency at home and we'll be top of the league!

mattymashup says...
6:35pm Mon 14 Jan 13

We need to win all possible games what with a possible point deduction looming

d.j.smith says...
6:59pm Mon 14 Jan 13

The negative comments on this site about Tony Mowbray are ridiculous and ignorant. He is a thoroughly decent man whose comments on Watford show his basic honesty and generous spirit. He is also by all accounts a first class coach respected by players, including young McCrechan of Chelsea who says he has learned more from Mowbray than anyone else. When a guy this respected in the game praises our side we should be proud of that, not slag him off.

buckler says...
7:03pm Mon 14 Jan 13

d.j.smith wrote:
The negative comments on this site about Tony Mowbray are ridiculous and ignorant. He is a thoroughly decent man whose comments on Watford show his basic honesty and generous spirit. He is also by all accounts a first class coach respected by players, including young McCrechan of Chelsea who says he has learned more from Mowbray than anyone else. When a guy this respected in the game praises our side we should be proud of that, not slag him off.
Mongbray is a stich up merchant! Done us twice, forgot about Ellington and Taylor have you? Wish the bloke all the bad luck I can and hope he ends up at Luton!

YoKsHiRe.....HoRn!!!!!!! says...
7:28pm Mon 14 Jan 13

In every season we have been promoted, we have always played better away from home and scored goals...............
just a thought.

N Joydegame says...
8:48pm Mon 14 Jan 13

d.j.smith wrote:
The negative comments on this site about Tony Mowbray are ridiculous and ignorant. He is a thoroughly decent man whose comments on Watford show his basic honesty and generous spirit. He is also by all accounts a first class coach respected by players, including young McCrechan of Chelsea who says he has learned more from Mowbray than anyone else. When a guy this respected in the game praises our side we should be proud of that, not slag him off.
Well said DJ, my sentiments entirely.

Idiots like Hogwort spend their time demonstrating why they have nothing but wind between their ears or s*it for brains.

Some of us remember the WBA game when we were 12 points clear and how we were played of the park and given a right royal lesson in passing football. Who was the manager of WBA then?? Tony Mowbray. He's a throughly decent and honest man, praising Watford FC, and all idiots like you can do is insult him.

Imbecile.

N Joydegame says...
9:01pm Mon 14 Jan 13

buckler wrote:
d.j.smith wrote:
The negative comments on this site about Tony Mowbray are ridiculous and ignorant. He is a thoroughly decent man whose comments on Watford show his basic honesty and generous spirit. He is also by all accounts a first class coach respected by players, including young McCrechan of Chelsea who says he has learned more from Mowbray than anyone else. When a guy this respected in the game praises our side we should be proud of that, not slag him off.
Mongbray is a stich up merchant! Done us twice, forgot about Ellington and Taylor have you? Wish the bloke all the bad luck I can and hope he ends up at Luton!
Wrong again Buckler. Mowbray had nothing to do with these transfers except sanction them. It was their Chairman who was responsible for doing great business for their club and it was ours (that wonder boy Simpson) who fell into the trap of actually agreeing to pay £3.25m for Ellington, with alot of pressure from that other wonderboy Hoofroyd. It was our poor management who bought that dross and offered them those contracts, and who wouldn't have jumped at it. Get real and just remember the damage done to our club by people like Ashton, Simpson, Ashcroft, Hoofroyd and the Bankrupt.

Thank god for the Pozzo's, GFZ and their loan system. Lets just enjoy the ride and hope its a long one.

exeterhornet says...
9:19pm Mon 14 Jan 13

djsmith,
Spot on sir, Mowbray is a top bloke. There are some truly vindictive folk on here, although I accept it is their opinion.

watford9140 says...
1:22am Tue 15 Jan 13

Well, if we make play offs and get to the final, Wembley is classed as an away game. :-)

northofwatfordpete says...
8:13am Tue 15 Jan 13

I like Mowbray.

Bush Hornet says...
10:17am Tue 15 Jan 13

Like him or not, he is Aidy's dad.

buckler says...
1:57pm Tue 15 Jan 13

N Joydegame wrote:
buckler wrote:
d.j.smith wrote:
The negative comments on this site about Tony Mowbray are ridiculous and ignorant. He is a thoroughly decent man whose comments on Watford show his basic honesty and generous spirit. He is also by all accounts a first class coach respected by players, including young McCrechan of Chelsea who says he has learned more from Mowbray than anyone else. When a guy this respected in the game praises our side we should be proud of that, not slag him off.
Mongbray is a stich up merchant! Done us twice, forgot about Ellington and Taylor have you? Wish the bloke all the bad luck I can and hope he ends up at Luton!
Wrong again Buckler. Mowbray had nothing to do with these transfers except sanction them. It was their Chairman who was responsible for doing great business for their club and it was ours (that wonder boy Simpson) who fell into the trap of actually agreeing to pay £3.25m for Ellington, with alot of pressure from that other wonderboy Hoofroyd. It was our poor management who bought that dross and offered them those contracts, and who wouldn't have jumped at it. Get real and just remember the damage done to our club by people like Ashton, Simpson, Ashcroft, Hoofroyd and the Bankrupt.

Thank god for the Pozzo's, GFZ and their loan system. Lets just enjoy the ride and hope its a long one.
I'm never wrong and don't need your permission to dislike Mongbray or most people! If you like him so much mug off up north!

hogweed says...
2:41pm Tue 15 Jan 13

Yeh hate that Mongbray. Well said Buckler!! I reiterate who gives a **** what Mowbray says. If it came to a Watford Boro play off final then what would you think....... He'd quite rightly want to kill us.

Hog out

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