Watford Post Match

[Super_horns]

, too busy banging on about Malky Mackay. <_<

Why?

<_<

He's not under pressure and expecting the sack which is what the press usually talk about!

Doing a decent job so far..helps that you have been at the club for a few years and know the young players coming through for us.

[orangecity23]

I'm not saying that Mackay isn't doing a good job, but I'd much rather hear some interesting thoughts on the match(es), instead we just get the usual select 1 person from the last 3 games we've shown, for some vague and not particularly sincere sounding praise routine. I just tire of the same old '(blank) are doing well aren't they Steve? Yeah, (blank) have made a good start to the season, (blank) came in as manager last year, and he's done well'. Incisive journalism there.

[Super_horns]

I'm not saying that Mackay isn't doing a good job, but I'd much rather hear some interesting thoughts on the match(es), instead we just get the usual select 1 person from the last 3 games we've shown, for some vague and not particularly sincere sounding praise routine. I just tire of the same old '(blank) are doing well aren't they Steve? Yeah, (blank) have made a good start to the season, (blank) came in as manager last year, and he's done well'. Incisive journalism there.

Yes sorry I wasn't disputed your post.

The point was they always seem to concentrate on teams/managers (usually the "big" ones) under pressure in a negative way (more so papers maybe than TV) so its good to see praise given (should be for both sides really..)

[Joe.]

I'm not saying that Mackay isn't doing a good job, but I'd much rather hear some interesting thoughts on the match(es), instead we just get the usual select 1 person from the last 3 games we've shown, for some vague and not particularly sincere sounding praise routine. I just tire of the same old '(blank) are doing well aren't they Steve? Yeah, (blank) have made a good start to the season, (blank) came in as manager last year, and he's done well'. Incisive journalism there.

It's because very few people have a great knowledge of the Championship, it's always going to end that way. It's not as if they've watched the match either (if any matches from that team at all during the season), so it's all going to be generalised rubbish.

[orangecity23]

Yes sorry I wasn't disputed your post.

The point was they always seem to concentrate on teams/managers (usually the "big" ones) under pressure in a negative way (more so papers maybe than TV) so its good to see praise given (should be for both sides really..)

That reminds me, no-one has asked Ipswich fans to email in their thoughts on Roy Keane this week. How will we ever cope without knowing what Frank in East Anglia thinks about Keane 'losing the plot' and thinking that 'Town should go for Steve Coppell'?

In fact, no one has asked for Steve Coppell as their manager. Poor Steve, his popularity is clearly wavering in the Beebs inane email department.

[suffolk fox]

Having watched the highlights it is clear that Gallagher wasn't close enough to the right back on the first couple of goals. Considering that Wellens was doing the most pressing in the first half, and it was Gallagher and not Adams that dropped into Wellens' position, I suspect that he has failed to fulfil his task. Not that I blame him, he has only been here 5 minutes and he has played about 5 positions in a million different formations. Strange choice by Pearson.

Nielson was even more responsible for the first and third goals than I thought. Lamentable defending.

N'Guessen's header was delightful.

Another quality post? :laugh: :laugh: ??? Having watched the highlights..............Perhaps you should be coach....with observations like this...............You obviously have unlimited coaching talents??

[ThurmastonFox]

I think it's been summed up - great first half - dodgy second half. I was in the top corner to the left side of our section - stupid bloke who started singing we're the right side when he was sitting right on the left hand corner flag - muppet :-P

[teblin]

Just watched the goals again, Hobbs was at fault with a poor header for the first and neilson maybe should have done a little better.

The second goal looked like poor marking by neilson.

The third goal was hobbs he ducks out of the way of a header. poot marking by neilson maybe too.

Our centre backs have cost us quite a few goals this season. The 2 "wonder" goals we conceeded at sheff utd and newcastle could've been avoided too.

Hobbs sliced a clearance to the guy at sheff utd and at newcastle should've not been bossed. Last week against watford i thought he was dreadful. (i do like hobbs by the way, just think he goes to sleep at little)

Brown is awesome against the likes of sheff utd where a team has a big man and they hoof to him, anyone with a decent amount of pace will cause him an issue.

Tunchev has to get in now he is one of the best players at the club.

On the plus points great header from n'guessan and good old matty is still scoring.

I do wonder if we maybe need an alternative to big steve, a target man with a bit of pace maybe someone like Marcus Bent on loan? But i guess we should give Kermegant a chance before bringing anyone else in.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

Two poor performances on the trot. SLOPPY is the keyword.

[C-man]

Two poor performances on the trot. SLOPPY is the keyword.

Two poor halves actually. But 'Sloppy' is correct.

[Lillehamring]

Gallagher only played on the left after Wellens got injured. He was playing in behind the front two in the first half.

but didn't they start off with a flatt 442, with gallagher and oakley on the wings, before shifting to the diamond?

and by all accounts, were very shaky until pearson (mercifully) made the switch....

[Lillehamring]

That was Howard last season and alot of people seem to moan about him now.

yes, but a season older and a division higher have clearly taken the edge off of howard...

Howard does a job for the team, it might not be pretty but it can be effective. He's not had a great couple of games recently, fair enough, but he's still useful to have around, and Fryatt's best form by a mile has been when Howard has been his partner, and he's said that himself.

but 'useful to have around' is not enough at this level - it's clear that howard is more 'dead wood' than 'dead good' right now, and we now have other options to play alongside fryatt

maybe fyatt's best form has been alongside Howard, but the only other player he's played with has been dickov... i've no doubt fryatt would be just as good if not better alongside other players, players that can hold the ball up rather just just head it (now and again) - and some one with the pace and movement to draw defenders away and provide options.

[marbelladave]

but didn't they start off with a flatt 442, with gallagher and oakley on the wings, before shifting to the diamond?

and by all accounts, were very shaky until pearson (mercifully) made the switch....

True enough.

Taking the field without knowing how you are supposed to be lining up is criminal. We started flat as you correctly stated but NP changed it almost immediately, little more than 5 mins in. Fortunately this made all the difference as we grabbed control of the midfield and refused to relinquish it up to the interval. What was that all about?

Second half started with even greater confusion! Three things happened almost simultaneously.

Firstly we sat back to hold what we had, thinking the game was won.

Secondly Watford came at us with real energy determined to get back in the game, Helguson playing a big part in this.

Wellens got a knock within seconds of the restart and his substitution threw our midfield into total confusion.

From then on it was pretty much all Watford. We were lucky with the equaliser as we were creating little and even more fortunate that Helguson had to go off.

That was the essence of the game, there are plenty of details to get our teeth into but to go into a game without knowing how we were to play in midfield and failing to re-organise effectively when we lost Wellens was dreadful and cost us dear!.

Had we gone about our business professionally in the second half I doubt even the introduction of the excellent Helguson would have troubled us that much.

[demon_dog]

Seems like all the posts say the same thing,

BRING BACK TUNCHEV TO REPLACE BROWN

Nigel please take note.

[Legend_in_blue]

Some fans on here make me laugh. The general opinion at the start of the season suggested that most people would be happy with midtable. Now as soon as anything goes slightly awry with a result, we get this and that opinion, we should have done this, done that, etc etc in order to get a win.

Now, under this sort mentality, we'd have to assume we wouldn't lose more than 8 games this season and therefore finish as strong contenders for promotion.

Hang on a minute, most people want a midtable slot at the end of the season.

Take a reality check people. I stuck my nose out for a top 10 finish, and assume we'll still get pretty close, or even there tbh, but don't go around singling out this or that player, saying he should have done this, that or whatever. It's a team performance, and considering our current league position, who we've played, and those around us, we ought to be pretty chuffed.

[Anish]

Some fans on here make me laugh. The general opinion at the start of the season suggested that most people would be happy with midtable. Now as soon as anything goes slightly awry with a result, we get this and that opinion, we should have done this, done that, etc etc in order to get a win.

Now, under this sort mentality, we'd have to assume we wouldn't lose more than 8 games this season and therefore finish as strong contenders for promotion.

Hang on a minute, most people want a midtable slot at the end of the season.

Take a reality check people. I stuck my nose out for a top 10 finish, and assume we'll still get pretty close, or even there tbh, but don't go around singling out this or that player, saying he should have done this, that or whatever. It's a team performance, and considering our current league position, who we've played, and those around us, we ought to be pretty chuffed.

That's all well and true but when you're 2-0 up at half time you really should be winning the game, don't you agree? Our collapse in the second half is bound to raise important questions, both in terms of the tactics and the personnel. We were fortunate to end up drawing after scoring with our only meaningful attack in the last 20 minutes of the game.

I'm really pleased with our start and delighted that we've only lost once, but we have seen that our team is actually quite strong in this league and we have given every team a good match. However, we could be doing better if we eradicate certain mistakes and tweak things slightly.

Anyway, having seen the goals again I have to say that the midfielders are just as culpable for the Watford goals as the defence. All three goals came from crosses which should have been blocked or prevented by our midfielders if they had closed down quicker and got tighter. Hobbs and Neilson also have to take responsibility for their missed headers and poor marking. It really was calamatous defending all round.

I was disappointed Fryatt got taken off - he was on fire and although Waghorn did quite well when he came on and supplied a magnificent cross for the goal, I still think it should have been Howard that got subbed. We really need to find somebody who can replace Howard because he doesn't look like he'll ever score, some of his headers today really should have hit the back of the net.

[Basingstoke Fox]

I think it's been summed up - great first half - dodgy second half. I was in the top corner to the left side of our section - stupid bloke who started singing we're the right side when he was sitting right on the left hand corner flag - muppet :-P

That was funny! :laugh:

[TrickyTrev]

but didn't they start off with a flatt 442, with gallagher and oakley on the wings, before shifting to the diamond?

and by all accounts, were very shaky until pearson (mercifully) made the switch....

You maybe right, I have no idea what was going on for the first 10 minutes, it was just a big pile of shite and neither team could get hold of the ball. But for the majority of the first half we were playing the diamond and very effectively.

[Lovejoy]

I think it's been summed up - great first half - dodgy second half. I was in the top corner to the left side of our section - stupid bloke who started singing we're the right side when he was sitting right on the left hand corner flag - muppet :-P

Same here that was epic :laugh: .

[Bert]

Howard can't get dropped though I'll say it again, if Fryatt was in Howards shoes, the Anti-Fryatt brigade would be totally lambasting him, and calling for him to be dropped. Yes Howards a great outlet, but he desperately needs a goal, and soon.

When they scored their second, I thought we came back into it a little and it was going to peter out with a 2-2 draw. Having watched the goals again, what a fantastic header that was from N'Guessan.

Oh was it just me that sturggled to hear their PA system?

[marbelladave]

You maybe right, I have no idea what was going on for the first 10 minutes, it was just a big pile of shite and neither team could get hold of the ball. But for the majority of the first half we were playing the diamond and very effectively.

More importantly our players had no idea what was going on for the first few minutes! To go out not knowing who is playing where and in what formation is laughable. NP was screaming at them from the first few moments and we got ourselves straight after about 10 minutes.

Strangely losing Wellens at the start of the second half caused even more confusion, Adams played right, then left, then in the middle, the disorganisation was so bad that Watford just blew right through us.

So if you want the primary reason we gave the game away, that was it!

[marbelladave]

Howard can't get dropped though I'll say it again, if Fryatt was in Howards shoes, the Anti-Fryatt brigade would be totally lambasting him, and calling for him to be dropped. Yes Howards a great outlet, but he desperately needs a goal, and soon.

When they scored their second, I thought we came back into it a little and it was going to peter out with a 2-2 draw. Having watched the goals again, what a fantastic header that was from N'Guessan.

Oh was it just me that sturggled to hear their PA system?

Why not, is it in his contract or something?

What did he actually contribute yesterday?

We played very narrow, no wingers so there were few crosses that were not from 40 yards out and most of our best attacking play came on the floor and through the middle. Howard is not quick or deft enough to do much to balls played into him in the box and he is hardly going to run the channels.

To put it bluntly, he is surplus to requirements if we continue to play the way we did first half.

[Dames]

I still feel that we need to inject a little bit of pace into our XI.

Our whole team in general is quite slow.

[Lillehamring]

Some fans on here make me laugh. The general opinion at the start of the season suggested that most people would be happy with midtable. Now as soon as anything goes slightly awry with a result, we get this and that opinion, we should have done this, done that, etc etc in order to get a win.

Now, under this sort mentality, we'd have to assume we wouldn't lose more than 8 games this season and therefore finish as strong contenders for promotion.

Hang on a minute, most people want a midtable slot at the end of the season.

Take a reality check people. I stuck my nose out for a top 10 finish, and assume we'll still get pretty close, or even there tbh, but don't go around singling out this or that player, saying he should have done this, that or whatever. It's a team performance, and considering our current league position, who we've played, and those around us, we ought to be pretty chuffed.

so are you suggesting that we all make a prediction at the start of the season, and then come back in may and discuss how close we were to our predictions

the whole beauty of football and, in particular, this forum is the pointless and endless opinion and conjecture on every aspect of the team.

coming on here and saying we can't comment on what went wrong, the same as after the p'boro gane is so bloody annoying - we're doing good, we could be doing better, yes, but i reserve the right to venture why that is, to be an armchair manager and to enjoy the banter between the 'great bunch of lads (and lasses)' that make up foxes talk....

why the hell shouldn't players be singled out, we've devoted lifetimes of support, of pleasure and sadness to LCFC and if brown plays like a donkey, or howard has passed his prime - then, fuck yeah, we're going to post about it...

yes, i'll be happy with midtable, but as a worst case scenario, i want play-offs or more, and if we needlessly squander points that can put us there, i want to know why, and i'll vent my spleen on these boards with people who feel the same or, alternatively, can give me a perspective that satisfies my concerns; and when we win, i'll be on foxes talk cheering on those who have excelled

life would be very dull if, after a game like yesterday everyone just sat back and said "ho hum, we're more or less where i thought we might finish at the end of the season, i'm chuffed with that."

[C-man]

I enjoyed yesterday. Shame we threw away a two goal lead, but if you can't enjoy the entertainment that was on show then I really do despair. Maybe why the people who didn't go to the game seem to be more critical than those who went.

Maybe it's just me but I go to football to enjoy the highs, not focus on the lows.