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9:52pm Tuesday 9th March 2010
Watford were unable to build on a superb first half display as they lost 1-0 to promotion-chasing Swansea City.
The Hornets were on top for much of the first half and had a host of chances to take the lead but somehow found themselves 1-0 down at the break through a Shefki Kuqi header.
Both sides created very little in the second 45 minutes, although Watford felt they deserved a penalty when Adrian Mariappa was brought down in the box.
Heidar Helguson forced Dorus de Vries into an excellent stop immediately after and the striker had a volley saved late on but after a super first half, the match somewhat died in the second period.
Watford, who remain two pints clear of the drop zone, started brightly and their first decent opening came in the fourth minute when Don Cowie dug out a cross from the right and the back-tracking Danny Graham headed back across goal, but his effort was cleared from near his own line by Alan Tate.
The visitors responded with Craig Beattie forcing Scott Loach into a good save, before coming within inches of taking a ninth-minute lead when Leon Britton’s cross from the left was met by the head of Shefki Kuqi, who beat the England Under-21 keeper to the ball, only to see it rebound off the far post.
Kuqi had another headed effort soon after, but in the 18th minute he made the breakthrough. Beattie swung in a fine, low cross from the right and the former Crystal Palace striker dived in ahead of an opponent to head goalwards. Although Loach got a hand to the ball, he was unable to keep it out.
That was to be the only goal of the opening period but quite how is anyone’s guess after a superb 45 minutes of end-to-end entertainment resulted in a total of 22 attempts.
Jay DeMerit came the closest to an equaliser for the home side, heading narrowly over and then seeing another effort from a corner cleared off the line by Tate, while at the other end Loach had to be at his best to thwart Beattie.
Both sides were less impressive in the second half and Watford were limited to a blocked Helguson shot and a tame Taylor header going wide in the first 20 minutes of the second period.
The game burst into life on 72 minutes when Watford had a very strong penalty appeal turned down as Adrian Mariappa was blocked as he burst into the box. However, the ball was then switched to Jon Harley and his cross was volleyed goalwards by Helguson only to see de Vries make an excellent stop low down to his right.
Swansea looked destined to make it two when DeMerit was dispossessed in his own half by substitute Guillem Bauza but just as he was set to pull the trigger, Lloyd Doyley made an excellent recovery challenge to keep the Hornets' hopes alive.
Helguson had a tame volley saved late on but the Hornets struggled to create much of note in the second half.
Watford: Loach; Mariappa (Hodson 80), DeMerit, Taylor, Doyley; Cowie, Lansbury (Jenkins 92), Eustace, Harley (McGinn 80); Graham, Helguson.
Subs: Lee, Bennett, Hoskins, Henderson.
Swansea City; De Vries; Rangel, Williams, Tate, Richards; Britton (Butler 82), Pratley, Gower; Van der Gun, Kuqi (Idrizaj 94), Beattie (Bauza 68).
Subs: Cornell, Trundle, Lucas, Burgin.
Referee: Trevor Kettle.
Attendance: 12,907.
Bookings: Kuqi for dissent after six mins; Helguson for a foul on Rangel after 37 mins; Lansbury for foul on Bauza after 90 mins.
To see how the match unfolded, click here
Feff, Rickmansworth says...
10:03pm Tue 9 Mar 10
Forces Hornet, Ferndown says...
10:04pm Tue 9 Mar 10
Forces Hornet, Ferndown says...
10:12pm Tue 9 Mar 10
cliff46, watford says...
10:28pm Tue 9 Mar 10
bonserout, kings langley says...
10:31pm Tue 9 Mar 10
gef892, Bedmond says...
10:41pm Tue 9 Mar 10
garston edl, watford says...
10:43pm Tue 9 Mar 10
WFC4ever, Watford says...
10:49pm Tue 9 Mar 10
rousman 2, uxbridge says...
11:00pm Tue 9 Mar 10
Tricky Rick, St Albans says...
11:10pm Tue 9 Mar 10
derry pigweed, northampton says...
11:14pm Tue 9 Mar 10
Tricky Rick wrote:Is that you Rick Holden?
Malky Mackay must go, there can be no doubt about that now. The decision to appoint him, along with Sean Dyche, must be one of the worst decisions made by a board in the recent history of the club. How could they put the fate of the club in the hands of a man who was still playing only a couple of years back, spent only a season and a half as coach, and who didn't even have all of his coaching badges. When Swansea changed tactics in the second half, he had no answer, and it was painful and embarassing to watch - in fact i had to walk out early. His refusal to use Hoskins at the expense of the useless Graham, and indeed the very fact that he picks the same team week in, week out, is indicative of favouritism. I can only see three more wins at home - namely Saturday, then perhaps Palace and Plymouth. I cannot see us picking up anything from the 6 remaining away games, so that would leave us with just 9 more points, which wil not be enough to save us from the drop. I think Ipswich, Borough and West Brom will beat us at home, so things are indeed looking grim, but then what did people expect? The majority of his permanent signings have been awful, and McGinn and Buckley were the wrong kind of signings at the wrong time. We must use the emergency loan window to bring in a striker with pace (Helguson doesn't even look interested) and a proper left back if we are to stand any chance of staying up. More than this, we need the appointment of a proper chairman, someone who is committed full time to the club and one who will not be afraid to make tough decisions. If it is left to Taylor, then Malky will be allowed to continue in the job even if relegation becomes a reality, and i think that would be unacceptable to most supporters. If relegation does happen, then we must look to Kenny Jackett. MACKAY OUT! MACKAY OUT! MACKAY OUT! MACKAY OUT!
garston edl, watford says...
11:18pm Tue 9 Mar 10
SimonW, Godalming, says...
11:18pm Tue 9 Mar 10
Tricky Rick, St Albans says...
11:31pm Tue 9 Mar 10
SimonW, Godalming wrote:I totally agree. And yes, i am Rick Holden.
decent first half, second half pure relegation form, what happens when we are desperate for a goal? - we change right backs! (ok Mariappa was poor but surely that was a penalty when he was barged over in the box) & where the hell was Hoskins!!, MACKAY - YOU ARE A BERK!!
(& why was I listening to our chairman giving his expert opinions from The Emirates on the radio on the way home, whether he likes it or not surely he has more pressing matters to attend to closer to home!!)
pstannard1, Watford says...
11:45pm Tue 9 Mar 10
WFC4ever, Watford says...
11:47pm Tue 9 Mar 10
Toxic Crow, Desborough Horn says...
11:53pm Tue 9 Mar 10
john the greek, says...
6:41am Wed 10 Mar 10
Spencer Hutchinson, Javea says...
7:45am Wed 10 Mar 10
Chris the Vic, The Vic says...
8:10am Wed 10 Mar 10
Prof Plum, Rickmansworth says...
8:24am Wed 10 Mar 10
ab11uk, watford says...
8:31am Wed 10 Mar 10
wfc cassiobury, watford says...
8:41am Wed 10 Mar 10
enlightened one, Watford says...
8:45am Wed 10 Mar 10
Wellhung, Bletchley says...
8:50am Wed 10 Mar 10
rookerynook, Meppershall says...
9:06am Wed 10 Mar 10
herts hornet, watford says...
9:07am Wed 10 Mar 10
Buckstops, amersham says...
9:08am Wed 10 Mar 10
sceptic, harrow says...
9:11am Wed 10 Mar 10
On the Ball, watford says...
9:45am Wed 10 Mar 10
Richard - Come On You Golden Boys!, Farnham says...
9:53am Wed 10 Mar 10
Derek Payne, says...
9:58am Wed 10 Mar 10
Tricky Rick wrote:Your opinion doesn't matter.
Malky Mackay must go, there can be no doubt about that now. The decision to appoint him, along with Sean Dyche, must be one of the worst decisions made by a board in the recent history of the club.
How could they put the fate of the club in the hands of a man who was still playing only a couple of years back, spent only a season and a half as coach, and who didn't even have all of his coaching badges.
When Swansea changed tactics in the second half, he had no answer, and it was painful and embarassing to watch - in fact i had to walk out early.
His refusal to use Hoskins at the expense of the useless Graham, and indeed the very fact that he picks the same team week in, week out, is indicative of favouritism.
I can only see three more wins at home - namely Saturday, then perhaps Palace and Plymouth. I cannot see us picking up anything from the 6 remaining away games, so that would leave us with just 9 more points, which wil not be enough to save us from the drop.
I think Ipswich, Borough and West Brom will beat us at home, so things are indeed looking grim, but then what did people expect?
The majority of his permanent signings have been awful, and McGinn and Buckley were the wrong kind of signings at the wrong time.
We must use the emergency loan window to bring in a striker with pace (Helguson doesn't even look interested) and a proper left back if we are to stand any chance of staying up.
More than this, we need the appointment of a proper chairman, someone who is committed full time to the club and one who will not be afraid to make tough decisions.
If it is left to Taylor, then Malky will be allowed to continue in the job even if relegation becomes a reality, and i think that would be unacceptable to most supporters.
If relegation does happen, then we must look to Kenny Jackett.
MACKAY OUT! MACKAY OUT! MACKAY OUT! MACKAY OUT!
Berko Horn, Berkhamsted says...
10:03am Wed 10 Mar 10
Mick, Bray, Maidenhead says...
10:07am Wed 10 Mar 10
garston edl, watford says...
10:10am Wed 10 Mar 10
enlightened one wrote:Approx 30 posts slating MM and 2 supporting him would tend to suggest that you are the one that is bonkers. As i said earlier you clearly don't care about this club.
Thank god for ab11uk and the Prof,I was beginning to think the whole world had gone bonkers.Keep going Malky and prove all these loonies wrong !
GeddingtonFlap, Kettering says...
10:39am Wed 10 Mar 10
Tesco Dave, Ruislip says...
10:54am Wed 10 Mar 10
jasonwatford, Watford says...
11:13am Wed 10 Mar 10
cliff46, watford says...
11:45am Wed 10 Mar 10
stuperman, london nw10 says...
12:15pm Wed 10 Mar 10
Yellowfever, Borehamwood says...
12:46pm Wed 10 Mar 10
WE8BR, london says...
12:57pm Wed 10 Mar 10
SimonW, Godalming, says...
1:05pm Wed 10 Mar 10
kennychiwa, says...
1:30pm Wed 10 Mar 10
enlightened one, Watford says...
1:38pm Wed 10 Mar 10
garston edl wrote:I beg to differ,same old fickle footy supporters calling for the managers head when things are going a tad badly.You of course have spent your entire workling life playing/coaching/man
enlightened one wrote: Thank god for ab11uk and the Prof,I was beginning to think the whole world had gone bonkers.Keep going Malky and prove all these loonies wrong !Approx 30 posts slating MM and 2 supporting him would tend to suggest that you are the one that is bonkers. As i said earlier you clearly don't care about this club.
herts hornet, watford says...
1:44pm Wed 10 Mar 10
WE8BR wrote:spot on ,these boys kept the whole club on there toes and demanded hardwork and accountability ,can't help feeling now the club lacks real direction from above ,Over the last few seasons everything good about the playing performances has coincided with The Russo's being strongly involved .they fought for the club ,securing great deals like Rodgers fee from Reading and the amazing deal struck to sell Priskin for 1.75m !! ,whose really fighting our corner now .and NO they were never going to take us into Admin anyone who believes that has been well and truly spun a line ,they new Ashcroft did not "do" admin with his companies so once again fought there corner and got there dues , time will tell but i believe we will live to regret there demise from our club .
still cant help but think our demise has coincided with the Russos being ousted in December. We were doing fine up until then.
derry pigweed, northampton says...
2:15pm Wed 10 Mar 10
garston edl, watford says...
2:26pm Wed 10 Mar 10
derry pigweed wrote:Change the record! Yes they messed up but they're not the reason MM is out of his depth. Boothroyd was a joke by the end of his tenure but he took us to the prem on limited resources and had a bit of charisma - something MM will never do or have.
This is not Mackay's fault it is the shambles/legacy that Homer,ca$hton and hooffroyd's glory year has caused..! Get behind M.M.
imuz, bushey says...
2:53pm Wed 10 Mar 10
garston edl, watford says...
3:52pm Wed 10 Mar 10
imuz wrote:Its a message board mate. Where else would you like us to post?!
Why are we having these mass post mortems and postings on here, at the end of the day we've been beaten by a better side, just as we were at the weekend and just as we have been all season. The bottom line is that we're one of the weakest teams in this division at the moment and our results show that. We will be lucky to stay up the way things are going but what do people expect from a team that had to sell their best 5 or 6 players at the start of the season and with no real funds to replace them. I'm still grateful ive got a football club to support...
Feff, Rickmansworth says...
4:13pm Wed 10 Mar 10
Only 2 Ross Jenkins, oxhey says...
5:24pm Wed 10 Mar 10
RJL, Sundon says...
6:14pm Wed 10 Mar 10
Hornet Cornet, Hornetsville says...
7:38pm Wed 10 Mar 10
garston edl, watford says...
8:28pm Wed 10 Mar 10
Only 2 Ross Jenkins, oxhey says...
9:14pm Wed 10 Mar 10
garston edl wrote:I understand totally the point you are making. We can all criticise the management team when we lose but I am choosing not to as I really do not think it will get us anywhere and it's unhelpful.
ok people lets not turn this into a childish name calling debate! Only 2 Ross Jenkins - i will give the team encouragement and support on a match day, however i and others are also fully entitled to discuss our displeasure with the management team on this message board. I just cannot understand how you will never admit MM has made mistakes, in your opinion nothing is ever his fault. Surely the vast majority of posters on this board can't be wrong?
garston edl, watford says...
10:06pm Wed 10 Mar 10
Chris the Vic, The Vic says...
8:48am Thu 11 Mar 10
enlightened one, Watford says...
2:14pm Thu 11 Mar 10
imuz, bushey says...
4:05pm Thu 11 Mar 10
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dogwfc, London says...
9:59pm Tue 9 Mar 10