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Watford remain two points off the drop zone after 1-0 defeat to Swansea City


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


Your Say YourWatford

dogwfc, London says...
9:59pm Tue 9 Mar 10

Not at the game and BBC says fantastic game. What does that matter though if we keep losing? We clearly can NOT score and MM's stubborn insistence on not giving HOSKINS a chance could send us down. Swallow your pride MM before you get sacked or take us down - whichever comes first! and i have been a fan of yours!!

Feff, Rickmansworth says...
10:03pm Tue 9 Mar 10

I have so far given MM the benefit of large doubts. To pick the same team shows he is a complete idiot - and that's an understatement. I want him to explain himself, and to tell us what he has against Hoskins, why he bought Buckley knowing he was injured, what is the point of Tavner and why he is not picking McGinn.

Forces Hornet, Ferndown says...
10:04pm Tue 9 Mar 10

Well Done again MM with yet another fantastic team selection. Great to see you leave WH on the bench again after his hat trick for the reserves. Albeit against a lower team but at least he scored. You are doing a great job MM bringing in that WB that has been injured at Rochdale for months. Not even a bench warmer. I wish you all the best when you get us relegated and you collect your P45.

As for all those out there that think i am being a little harsh on MM. No away wins in 12 games. Only 13 games left with 1 point from relegation. In Dec 2009 we where 5 points from the play offs and 11 points clear from the drop zone.

Go ahead and keep the faith in MM, he has got us on a slippery slope and its all down hill from here on.

Forces Hornet, Ferndown says...
10:12pm Tue 9 Mar 10

Sorry got my maths wrong. on the up side we are 2 points from relegation, not 1 as i previously stated.

Things are getting better already, wheres the Champers........Chee
rs MM!

cliff46, watford says...
10:28pm Tue 9 Mar 10

According to the fifth paragraph of WO report Watford remain two PINTS clear of the drop zone--so thats alright then!!.
I think I need two pints as well after reading the depressing contributions from the first three contributors.

bonserout, kings langley says...
10:31pm Tue 9 Mar 10

Had enough good chances in the first half to win a couple of games. Second half we played the last 45 mins as if we were in injury time. Every ball was played straight down the centre for the central defenders or keeper to deal with. When Cowie got wide we looked a good side but unfortunately Marriapa's second half performance was as bad as you can get. At least MM saw how dreadful he was and took him off. No doubt he will back on the team sheet on Saturday.

gef892, Bedmond says...
10:41pm Tue 9 Mar 10

Agreed. And on top of that two subs in the 80th minute. That was well thought out. Is MM the only one who does't see that if your chasing the game then you make changes earlier. The game called out for a bit of width and speed up front so What has WH done that makes him so unpopular with management. Saturday now becomes a must win game.

garston edl, watford says...
10:43pm Tue 9 Mar 10

Whoever at the BBC said it was a fantastic game should be sacked! Even the WFC official site described it as "uneventful"!

I would call predictable,MM kept all his favourites in with an unchaged team, Hoskins didn't get a look in Swansea scored their usual 1 goal we scored our usual no goals. The next predictable thing will be MM's post match analysis - the usual uninspiring waffle about the lads worked their socks off, should have taken a couple of 1st half chances, Swansea are an experienced side and managed the game well! Fed up of hearing it MM you are an unimaginative, tactically clueless bore. You wont get sacked cos there is no one really in charge to sack you and you won't walk but you are going to come might close to taking us down. Anyone who sticks up for MM now is not a proper Watford fan who wants to see their club do well. If they were they would want to see this man removed from the position of manager of our club. Him and his management team are massively out of their depth.

WFC4ever, Watford says...
10:49pm Tue 9 Mar 10

I presume Malky said something at half time to stop us playing well.

From having chances and performing quite well attack wise we seemed so clueless in the 2nd half and Swansea had it easy.

Did Malky forget we had 2 strikers on the bench!

Harley and Mariappa were lucky to stay on the pitch for so long.

GT would give them a good shake up and make some attacking bolkd changes.

I see he tried to have a pop at the ref again...

rousman 2, uxbridge says...
11:00pm Tue 9 Mar 10

As Swansea played only 1 upfront in the second why not go three at the back & bring Hoskins on, the subs to say the least were strange no time for any of them to get involved, Taylor upfront for the last 10 with Hoskins on the bench, is it me or what?

Tricky Rick, St Albans says...
11:10pm Tue 9 Mar 10

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!

derry pigweed, northampton says...
11:14pm Tue 9 Mar 10

Tricky Rick wrote:
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!
Is that you Rick Holden?

garston edl, watford says...
11:18pm Tue 9 Mar 10

I agree with everything you've said Rick apart from wanting Jackett as manager - he's as dull as MM and i know it was a long time ago, but he's had a go as manager of us before and it wasn't successful!
BTW i forgot to mention in my MM predictable comments post earlier - he'll moan about the ref as well.

SimonW, Godalming, says...
11:18pm Tue 9 Mar 10

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!!)

Tricky Rick, St Albans says...
11:31pm Tue 9 Mar 10

SimonW, Godalming wrote:
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!!)
I totally agree. And yes, i am Rick Holden.

This club needs a strong chairman to make a tough decision. The salad boys are gone but this is still their legacy.

pstannard1, Watford says...
11:45pm Tue 9 Mar 10

I think in all honesty, i have given all Malky as much time as i could possibly give at the moment, but after tonight's performance
+
1 win in 11
+
0 away win since the Middlesbourgh trip way way back in October is that
Malky should say that he's done the best he could and walk away or get sacked.

He's tried his best but none of it'd going his way and he's just sliding us down the table towards relegation.

We need an expericnce manager that has managed at either a small Premier League team or a championship side like Curbishley or a coppell.

In my opinion, there is this realistic time of the season and the Chapionship table, i see both Plymouth and our next must win opponents Peterbourgh League 1 bound. There is one more space and i hope that we are not one of them. If our form worrying slides again, then i worry that we could be the victim of that relegation place.

WFC4ever, Watford says...
11:47pm Tue 9 Mar 10

Its a shame GT has been thrown into something he clearly didn't want to do and by the sounds of it such a position is affecting his family life.

He'd be better being some sort of consultant to Malky or whoever surely than trying to run the club when he has alrrady got a job to do (he's probably paid very nicely by 5live to do the commentating..)

Lets hope whatever league we're in some sort of investment comes because even fi we stayed up with all due respect to certain players we'll find it very tough.

Mind you on recent form we won't miss DeMerit and Harley...

Cowie has good skill but must be one of the slowest wide men we've ever had.

As for the full-backs...well they have pace but no footballing brain although Doyley was his usual self in getting into the action with a fight unlike others.

Graham and H has lost confidence and well whilst I don't think Hoskins is some saviour surely he must get a chance.

Might as well give guys with pace a go like Bryan and Buckley (if he's fit)

Toxic Crow, Desborough Horn says...
11:53pm Tue 9 Mar 10

Just got back to Leicestershire after watching probably the worst game of my life! How Malky has the balls to say 'we deserved something' and 'the first half was the best we have played this season', is totally beyond me. They were pretty much all totally clueless. Only Lansbury and Doyley showed any fight of significance.
Won't bother to waste fuel driving down to Saturdays game. Lets hope we go down and then we can start winning a few at the level we deserve to be at with the squad we have!
Never thought I would be saying that!

Security words - 'fail-them', oh how true!

john the greek, says...
6:41am Wed 10 Mar 10

anyone at the derby game would not have been surprised by that.no cleverley no points - simple. On the bright side managed to fleece the bookies for three matches. could not believe it when i saw the same side picked for last night.

Spencer Hutchinson, Javea says...
7:45am Wed 10 Mar 10

MM we are all dissapointed when you say we played well and should have got something, we need somebody to put the ball in the net, or we are going down

Chris the Vic, The Vic says...
8:10am Wed 10 Mar 10

OK first of all where were the supporters when the team needs them. Support like that feels like Div 1 and unless people turn up and vocally support that is where we will be next season.

Over the last few months I have defended Malky, he has little to work with and the bench is pretty awful. Yesterday we were chasing a game and the phrase...we huffed and we puffed is being kind. Mariappa being substituted was a good thing and so was Harley, he had run out of steam but the substitutions were far too late.

Lansbury was fine albeit boiling over with frustration and Cowie was great.

But others like Danny Graham, ran everywhere, doesnt like physical contact, arrives late etc show why we cant get goals, and at the back Jay was at times awful, one good tackle after he let the guy get away from him in the box, Taylor ineffective and Mariappa defied description. Hoskins should have come on with half and hour left and when Cleverley returns I would drop Graham and give Mcginn a run instead of Harley. As for Buckley he has had two reserve games, put him on the bench and give him a run out againt Peterboro.
After last night I came away thinking I had seen a team who will be relegated...not a pleasant thought.

Prof Plum, Rickmansworth says...
8:24am Wed 10 Mar 10

At the start of the season the target was avoiding relegation - we are well on course to do that and have seen some excellent football (at home anyway). The criticism of Mackay is, in my view, both unfair and unwarranted and anyone calling for him to be sacked at this point in time is insane.

ab11uk, watford says...
8:31am Wed 10 Mar 10

Jesus. At times you have to wonder if this is really a forum for football fans.

It does defy belief that some supporters want hoskins on the pitch. his goal scoring record is worse than malkys. but wow wow wow. he scored a hat trick against a div 3 teams reserves! get him on the pitch. Malky is doing the best he can with this team he has. Fans are to blame if they didnt support doyley in the way they do he could have gone years ago. if you want a joke playing in your team then you got to be prepared to laugh at losing. Malky in and i believe this forum should close. and as for the guy who somehow got banned from this site but changed his name to still go on here and spout his rubbish. get a life and keep clapping doyley your clearly insane.

wfc cassiobury, watford says...
8:41am Wed 10 Mar 10

Thank god Cleverley is back on Saturday! Pace on both wings has got to help us! I think Taylor has been advising Mckay on the long ball game after seeing the second half!

enlightened one, Watford says...
8:45am Wed 10 Mar 10

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 !

Wellhung, Bletchley says...
8:50am Wed 10 Mar 10

Soooo frustrating last night!!! All those chances went in and of course it would of been a different story! Last night i said I wouldnt be going Saturday....who am i kidding, see some of you there saturday! Thank god for Cleverley......Did anyone else agree with MM sticking on Jenkins for him to just boot it out.....random!!!

rookerynook, Meppershall says...
9:06am Wed 10 Mar 10

I've suggested in the past that we needed to get more crosses in. Well, we certainly did that in the first half. All we've got to do now is to aim them in front of on-rushing forwards, rather than force them into static jumps and tame headers.

So what went wrong in the second half? In his post match comments, Malky said that Swansea packed their midfield, so you couldn't go through them, so you had to go over them. Result: hit and hope long balls down the defenders throats. And even when we did win the first header, it never went to a Watford player. Surely, the way to break down their defence is to go not over but round it - as we did in the first half. Hodson looked bright, and I hope he keeps his place on Saturday, but once again the substitutions were too little too late.

OK, Hoskins' hat-trick was against inferior opposition. But forward play is all about confidence, and at least he put his chances away. When chances come his way at the higher level, it's all about putting the ball in the net. And on current form I would back him to do that against Graham and HH.

herts hornet, watford says...
9:07am Wed 10 Mar 10

totally lost faith with MM now, after watching game at Derby saturday was astonished he played the same team last night it beggars belief ,then to say we were excellent last night stating a fantastic 1st half when in all honesty Swansea could have scored 4 goals in that half is staggering ,to not give Will Hoskins some time on field is totally incompetant ,MM has lost the plot and don't get me started on the no2 !! ,The long ball rubbish ,the woeful full backs the lack of strikers who can score goals it goes on ,We are now in serious trouble anyone who thinks we just have to turn up to beat P'boro is in dreamland then we play Ipswich ,just take a minute messrs Winter ,Taylor Timperley TO CONTEMPLATE RELEGATION it could finish this football club ,NEVER WANTED TO SAY IT BUT THIS MANAGEMENT TEAM MUST BE CHANGED OR WE ARE GOING DOWN !!!

Buckstops, amersham says...
9:08am Wed 10 Mar 10

You guys need to think about the reality of what MM has achieved in steadying the ship. We all feared relegation at the beginning of the season and would have settled for 4th bottom. That's still the case as far as i'm concerned.

I think he's done a good job and shouldn't be brushed aside just because the team is out of form. he'll put it right. i think we all know that. We won't be in the play-offs that was never going to be the case but we'll be safe sooner than the gloommongers think.

sceptic, harrow says...
9:11am Wed 10 Mar 10

Cant argue with anybody about that non-performance.Seve
ral players would benefit by a spell on the bench and that includes Helguson who appears to be past it (not having wingers doesnt help him of course).
But even worse is our so called pitch---I saw on the web yesterday afternoon that Swansea considered it unfit for a passing game and they were right.

On the Ball, watford says...
9:45am Wed 10 Mar 10

Malkay must go now !!! The bloke has not got a clue. I agree we played well for the first half and should have had a couple of goals to show for it there were no need for any changes at half time but after 15 minutes of the second half it was obvious that things must be changed. So i looked over at the bench to see if any movement was happening and all i saw for the next 20 minutes was different people coming up to malkay with bits of paper and the subs looking over waiting for the call. So 10 minutes left and 1 nil down at home Malkay decides to put on McGinn who i beleive is a central midfielder out on the wing and Hodson on at right back. with no sign of hoskins ( who must have done a john terry to Malkay ) and put Taylor up front who won not one header. Malkay has not got a clue. This is the team i would like to see for the home game with Peterborough. Loach, Hodson, Taylor , Demerit, Harley ( left back ).Cowie, Lansbury, Eustace, Cleverley, Heider and Hoskins. Subs Bennett, Bryan, McGinn, Doyley, Graham, Buckley. Lee.

Richard - Come On You Golden Boys!, Farnham says...
9:53am Wed 10 Mar 10

A very disappointing result but it wasn't all bad. I thought we started brightly with Cowie outstanding in first half, (although Swansea actually had the better chances on the break and exposed our poor marking at the back on a couple of occasions).

They are masters of the 1-0 win and were always going tighten things up in midfield / defence after half time and we just couldn't break through. All very frustrating and whilst we deserved at least a point, Malky should've changed things around much earlier.

I disagree with negative comments about Helguson's performance however, as he worked hard all night and their keeper made a great save to deny him in 2nd half.

On the negative side, I'm afraid that Harley just isn't good or strong enough to play at this level and as a replacement for Cleverley is totally inadequate. (1 offsie goal and 0 points from 3 games speaks for itself).

I have no idea what is going on with Hoskins, there's obviously an issue we are unaware of as Malky's the 3rd Manager not to play him, but maybe it's time for Buckley to be given a chance.

Still, Tom's back on Saturday and if Cowie can maintain his form we'll be too good for Posh I'm sure. It's pointless calling for Malky's head at this stage of the season, so let's try to be constructive, keep the faith and support the team.

Come on You Golden Boys!

Derek Payne, says...
9:58am Wed 10 Mar 10

Tricky Rick wrote:
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!
Your opinion doesn't matter.

Berko Horn, Berkhamsted says...
10:03am Wed 10 Mar 10

I still am in the 'Malky Supporters' camp, but much less so after that performance. Yes, we deserved something from the first half, but in the second half it was so disappointing. Malky should realise that football can be like chess and if one manager plays a different type of game, his plan must change to counter it.
How often in the latter days of Boothroyd did we see a centre half have the game of his life, because we played long arcing balls right on to his head and he just headed them away. Alan Tate was winning all balls played forward, but straight balls from the back will always be meat and drink for a good defender, with the attacker jumping from a standing position.
I am not sure if Hoskins would have been the answer, but, as someone suggested, changing our formation after 15 minutes of the second half, would have at least given some variety. The subs we made were pointless and if I were Hoskins, I would be offended by them. Why not take Mariappa off and bring him on and play 3 at the back, with the option of changing back to 4 if we do score. Leaving any substitutions until the last 10 minutes was nonsensical. It is with such substitutions that managers earn their money.
Time to stop making excuses- from my view in Vicarage Road End, it was not a penalty- and concentrate on working out a plan B if plan A is not working. Peterborough won last night and will not be a pushover on Saturday, unless we get men down the wings and mix things up.
I hope Cleverley is the Messiah and not just a very naughty boy!

Mick, Bray, Maidenhead says...
10:07am Wed 10 Mar 10

Whilst the last couple of games have resulted in bad results i think the so called supporters on this site need to see the big picture.

Newcastle and swansea are battling for automatic promotion and are simply better side's than us although i thought we deserved at least a point last night and would have probably won the game if we had scored first.

I did not see any of you moaning after we had beaten SU & BC easily!

I agree the league table does not look pretty reading but a win on saturday could take us up 2-3 places. Now is not the time for panic!

For me our defence is the problem. The stats do not lie! This defence has been poor for the last two season's and LD, AM & JD have played the majority of those game's.We need to stay up this year and ship these player's out if we can.

I think some changes to the team is essential this coming saturday to liven up the energy level's as the team in general looked tired last night.

garston edl, watford says...
10:10am Wed 10 Mar 10

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.

GeddingtonFlap, Kettering says...
10:39am Wed 10 Mar 10

4 hours round trip to watch that game!, their keeper won them the points i think. Div 1 becons if we don't start getting points. Hope we get Brighton away in the summer!

Tesco Dave, Ruislip says...
10:54am Wed 10 Mar 10

There are many interesting points made on hear to last nights game and all have some merit ! We have a small squad with poor players sitting on the bench, lets be clear about that. That said the atmosphere at the Vic had diminished with every game this season. Why ? That's easy to answer, fans loved and enjoyed the fast paced passing style game we played earlier in the season. It also won as some points away from home. Since HH has become establised in the team we have changed our style of play and just hoof the ball upfield. As each game goes on we get more desperate which resulted in a Boothroyd type hit and hope for 45 dull second half minutes. We could have been 4 nil down at half time, lets be honest and while we did have a few chances we never honestly looked like scoring. So come on Malky, don't blame the ref, the pitch and bad luck get back to playin decent football, the crowd will warm to it and the team will respond to the crowd. The good news is the 'One man team' will be back from suspension saturday and that will give everyone a lift. So lets have passing footbal and the crowd will respond accordingly

jasonwatford, Watford says...
11:13am Wed 10 Mar 10

I onlt comment on here when i feel i really want to get stuff off my chest.....MM showed last night he is unable to make changes and see what is in front of him. Wrong tactics as their Number 5 ( Tait ) Won every ball in the air last night even when taylor went up front. Marriappa has had a mare over last few weeks but WHY did it take 75 mins to change him ?? Why with 4 mins extra time to go , pushing for a goal bring on Jenkins holding midfield player ?? Seemed like MM was doing a bothroyd and was waiting for us to go 2-0 down before doing anything. Will Hoskins may have made a difference last night as he can play football and run with the ball at his feet. I dont think we should be calling for heads to roll but MM needs to look at whats best for the team and not his own personal thoughts on will hoskins

cliff46, watford says...
11:45am Wed 10 Mar 10

You can't play good football on that tip of a pitch and it is only going to get worse.
Eltons money has to be used to replace the pitch before next season. No point in wasting it on players that will struggle to play just as much as the existing lads currently are.
If it isn't replaced we might have to get VoR's mate Hoofers back here to play the the old long ball predictable stuff.

stuperman, london nw10 says...
12:15pm Wed 10 Mar 10

That was a master stroke, bringing on Jenkins for the last five minutes. What has MrM got against Hoskins? Something's not right. Maybe he has problems with him off the pitch. Anybody know?
Someone above said that their goalie won them the three points and I agree. I think that with the available squad, we played as well as we could and can't really single out anybody who played below par. Truth of the matter is that's as good as we are - a bit worse than Swansea!

Yellowfever, Borehamwood says...
12:46pm Wed 10 Mar 10

We had to play it long as the pitch in the middle isnt flat and players cant control it so no sexy football untill august at least!
As for the play hoskins brigade are you mad? the lads been here far to long and no one else wants to touch him so why should we? should of kept sordell and had some pace instead,but i agree malky must make changes on sat.

WE8BR, london says...
12:57pm Wed 10 Mar 10

still cant help but think our demise has coincided with the Russos being ousted in December. We were doing fine up until then.

SimonW, Godalming, says...
1:05pm Wed 10 Mar 10

what is even more concerning is that the teams around us are showing signs of improvement while we are getting worse, Peterborough will come on Saturday with nothing to fear & nothing to lose while we on the other hand will be a bag of nerves.
With confidence low & chins on the floor even with
Cleverley back unless Mackay is willing to freshen things up don't be surprised if we lose!!
As bad as we are at the moment there is little point in demanding his removal because 1) we probably can't afford to and 2) we can't afford anyone else.
All we can hope for is that his tactical & motivational abilities come rising to the surface sooner rather than later!!

kennychiwa, says...
1:30pm Wed 10 Mar 10

So all of you experts - Malky out eh? Who in then? Let's say for arguments sake that we sack Malky on Saturday night/Sunday, we then take a week or 2 to appoint someone else (if we can convince anyone to take on a role where there is little funding to create a team of their own) while our assistant manager (who comes in for even more slating than Malky) takes up the caretaker role...giving approxmately...NO time to make any kind of positive impact for the end of the season once the new guy settles. Come on everyone, stop with the knee-jerk. I have to say, I love this club but we have possibly the most quiet, dispassionate, ill-educated (from a footballing perspective) and undeserving fans in the country, whereby the only noise they make is the tippity-tap of their keyboards when having a moan from behind a computer. If you truly believe that Mackay needs to go, get yourselves through the turnstiles, VOCALLY support the team during the 90 minutes and if all goes badly, THEN you've earned the right to call for the manager's head which should be done in situ, at the end of the game. Staying away to voice displeasures is not the way to save the club! Get a grip!

enlightened one, Watford says...
1:38pm Wed 10 Mar 10

garston edl wrote:
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.
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
aging in professional football ? err no.Either turn up and support the manager and the team(the clues in the word) or don't bother at least they'll be three of us there hoping for the right result.

herts hornet, watford says...
1:44pm Wed 10 Mar 10

WE8BR wrote:
still cant help but think our demise has coincided with the Russos being ousted in December. We were doing fine up until then.
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 .

derry pigweed, northampton says...
2:15pm Wed 10 Mar 10

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.

garston edl, watford says...
2:26pm Wed 10 Mar 10

derry pigweed wrote:
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.
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.

imuz, bushey says...
2:53pm Wed 10 Mar 10

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...

garston edl, watford says...
3:52pm Wed 10 Mar 10

imuz wrote:
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...
Its a message board mate. Where else would you like us to post?!

Feff, Rickmansworth says...
4:13pm Wed 10 Mar 10

Boothroyd was a disaster with his dire "purchases". The Russos were in it purely for themselves. Brendon Rodgers left us in the lurch. Who else was there but Mackay? He has proved inadequate. It is too late to bring in a new manager. However, Dyche can be sacked and a new Number 2 can be appointed to oversee Mackay. MM is not too bright. He brings in the useless Severin and Travner. He acquires an injured Buckley and an inexperienced McGinn. He hasn't got the guts to change even a losing team. Try out Bryan, Bennett, Hodson - what more has he got to lose? Also, there must ahve been a reason why HH did not make the first team of a poor QPR side. Now we know why. Play Hoskins instead of him - or tell ys why not.

Only 2 Ross Jenkins, oxhey says...
5:24pm Wed 10 Mar 10

MM needs to bring in the likes of King/Henderson/Sprin
g/Carlisle/
Foster/Mackay. I reckon we'd be riding high if he was given a few quid to spend.
What's that? We're skint? Oh yeah, I remember now.
-
So, as it stands, we have no money, a 3 sided building site of a ground, a rookie manager and assistant, several first team players under the age of 20, and major backroom upheaval.
I think MM has done incredibly well to put us in a position where we have a great chance to actually survive in the league this season.
-
As for last night, great first half and I thought we were unlucky to be behind.
The second half was a different matter once they doubled up on Cowie. Mariappa clearly still not quite fit but there's only an 18 year old to replace him.
Also, once they put 5 men in midfield, we didn't have the necessary attributes to get past their rigid defence. Why's that I wonder?Oh yes, I remember again, it's because we don't really have the best players in the division.
And is that Mackay's fault? No.
Why isn't it Mackay's fault? Because he has such a small squad to choose from.
-
The moral of the story? Support the team, they need encouragement now more than ever. Just think what your extra encouragemnet might help them achieve.

RJL, Sundon says...
6:14pm Wed 10 Mar 10

Well put only2ross jenkins. At last someone with common sense

Hornet Cornet, Hornetsville says...
7:38pm Wed 10 Mar 10

Tricky Rick,

Couldn't have put it better myself. Those doughnuts who hope we'll be safe are a bunch of potatoheads. We're going only one way, and that way is down.

HC

garston edl, watford says...
8:28pm Wed 10 Mar 10

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?

Only 2 Ross Jenkins, oxhey says...
9:14pm Wed 10 Mar 10

garston edl wrote:
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?
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.
The reason I am choosing not to is because MM really can't win (and I don't mean on the pitch!). He is trying his damdest to make it work for us with all the upheaval and lack of choices he has.
I think aswell that many managers would potentially struggle with the players we have to choose from. And that's not a criticism of the players, it's just the way things are (ie losing players and having loads of youngsters etc).
That said, MM has definitely made mistakes, of course he has (Travner, Severin spring to mind for eg) and certain team selections have raised some eyebrows. I thought he left it 15 minutes too late to make any changes last night. It's incredibly frustrating, dispiriting and depressing following a team on a downward slide.
But maybe I am just seeing the wider picture in terms of the general circumstances he has to work in, rather than a short term demand for success that the vast majority of posters on this site seem to be demanding.
-
One final point, I am not sure what people truly expected this season. Again, totally frustrating I know, but the reality of the previous regimes may finally be hitting home.
COYH!

garston edl, watford says...
10:06pm Wed 10 Mar 10

Fair enough, you're entitled to you view and we dont want to make this the garston/jenkins board!

He is working under far from ideal circumstances but that said there is no excuses for some of his poor decisions, tactics etc.

One last point, this team of youngsters that you others talk about isn't actually too young or inexperienced - JDM, MT, LD,AM,JE,JH,HH, even DG plenty of age and games between that lot!

Anyway, lets hope we get a win Saturday with Cleverley back we've got a chance!

Chris the Vic, The Vic says...
8:48am Thu 11 Mar 10

The views here are either that Malky is an idiot and has to go or he is beyond criticism.
Tuesday he picks a bench and we chase the game, have a lot of possession and the replacements used in the last ten minutes are a defender, a defensive midfielder and a novice. Seems as sensible as Magilton losing at home 4.0 and dropping his three top scorers and his best defender Gorrks.
To a great extent Malky has his hands tied, the three best players are Loach, Lansbury and Cleverly ...two dont belong to us and by next season none of them will.
If Malky keep us up it will be brilliant but either way is the future rosy? I doubt it, no money, a poor team, a crowd that doesnt often turn up, a rubbish ground and an owner (to be) who doesnt want us.
The two strands of hope we have are Malky and GT.
If you want to judge the fans and contributors on here consider this fact. Whilst the much maligned Cathcart played for us we gathered points a plenty, then he was injured and USA returned and points beacame scarce. Go back over the threads and look at the stick cathcart took and look what is said about Jay and listen to tthe chants when he loses the person he is marking and has to make his showbiz tackle some of which result in penalties.
As supporters we get it wrong far more often than Malky and then we dont even turn up to vital games.
Sometimes we dont deserve a team and maybe soon if we dont get our act together we may not have a team. Lets change that on Saturday

enlightened one, Watford says...
2:14pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Amen to that Chris.

imuz, bushey says...
4:05pm Thu 11 Mar 10

its not where you post its the crap that you keep insisting on posting.....zzzzzz boring change to records...

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