Happy Birthday to Me!

My wife and her parents got me a 125th anniversary Watford jersey and a couple of Watford t-shirts for my birthday!! Look for pics in the future.

Tottenham Hotspur (0-0) 0-6-4 6 Pts.

The match just got rougher in the second half with Jay DeMerit, Hameur Bouazza, and Gavin Mahon all being shown the yellow card. Tottenham's Jenes picked one up as well. A big point we were not expected to get. Man of the Match has to be Ben Foster who picked up seven saves as ALL of Tottenham's shots were on goal. Way to go 'Orns!

Next match, Saturday Nov. 4 at (assuming I've got the daylight savings time right) 8:00 am St. Louis time vs. Middlesbrough at home.

Nil-Nil at the Half

A fairly even match thus far in terms of possession and shots (though more of Tottenham's have be on goal). The big imbalance has been in fouls with Watford up 9-3, most in our attacking end. We've played well in the first half, but our weakness all season has been the second half. A draw would be big, a win fantastic.

Cards Win The Series! Cards Win The Series!

Ok. Nothing to do with football, but I wanted to congratulate my other team - our St. Louis Cardinals - on becoming the 2006 World Champions. A big 'hat's off' to Tony & the boys. They came into the playoffs with the worst record ever and just played good old grind-it-out winning baseball. A lesson to be learned.

Game Day - Tottenham Hotspur

Vicarage Road hosts the Lilywhites today as Watford searches for their first Premiership win. Though definitely the underdogs once again, the 'Orns are fresh off their League Cup win v Hull City and are coming in with the same line-up save Tommy Smith back in for goal-scorer Priskin:

Foster
DeMerit
Shittu
Doyley
Stewart
Francis
Mahon
Young
Smith
Bouazza
Henderson

Go 'Orns!

Injury Report

Going into tomorow's game:

Watford:

King - knee
Loach - broken foot
Carlisle - thigh

Tottenham Hotspur:

Malbranque - hernia
Tainio - hernia
(I didn't know it was contagious)
Zohora - malaria!?

Fourth Round League Cup Ties

Watford will play host to Newcastle United (always been a fan Newcastle's beer) the week of Nov. 6 - just in time to wear us out for Chelsea. The full schedule is:


Notts County v Wycombe Wanderers
Tottenham Hotspur v Port Vale
Birmingham City v Liverpool
Chelsea v Aston Villa
Watford v Newcastle United
Chesterfield v Charlton Athletic
Southend United v Manchester United
Everton v Arsenal

Third Round League Cup - Wednesday's Results

Newcastle United 3-0 Portsmouth
Charlton Athletic 1-0 Bolton Wanderers
Liverpool 4-3 Reading
Milton Keynes Dons 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur
Crewe Alexandra 1-2 AET Manchester United
Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Chelsea

Other League Cup Results

I don't know why I'm so enamored by the League Cup - probably the underdog effect of a single game knockout tournament that lets the lower leagues play as well (see Notts County's result).

Also L*t*n Town was humiliated by the Toffees, eliminating our chance to give them a spanking ourselves. The un-Man of the Match was Keane, who managed the daily double of an own goal AND a yellow card.

Wycombe Wanderers 2-2 AET Doncaster Rovers (Wycombe wins 3-2 on penalties)
Sheffield United 2-4 Birmingham City
Leicester City 2-3 AET Aston Villa
Leeds United 1-3 Southend United
Chesterfield 2-1 West Ham United
Notts County 2-0 Southampton
West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Arsenal
Port Vale 0-0 AET Norwich City (Port Vale wins 3-2 on penalties)
Everton 4-0 Luton Town

LC: Hull City (2-1)

The Hornets held off Hull City in the second half to advance to Round 4 of the League (Carling) Cup. Watford went up 2-0 in the 54th minute when Tamas Priskin drilled a shot from 12 yards out past goalkeeper Boaz Myhill for the insurance goal. It was needed as Hull's Barmby scored in minute 71, three minutes after coming in as a substitution, also from 12 yards, off a cross from France.

Hull stepped up the pressure, but Watford held fast, aided by fresh legs in the person of Malky Mackay who came in for Danny Shittu with ten minutes left of full time.

Next match this Saturday, 9:00 AM (watch how bad I'll screw this up after Daylight Savings Time kicks in) at home against Tottenham Hotspur.

1-0 at the Half

Young scored early (minute 2) from 18 yards out on a free kick to give Watford a lead they've taken into the half. Watford held the possession advantage for the first 20 minutes or so but Hull fought back until the end of the half which ended with a slight Watford advantage. Watford also leads in shots on goal 2-0 and the fouls are concentrated at Hull's end, a further sign Watford is controlling this game. Looking forward to the second half (and Round Four!).

Game Day - Hull City Athletic

The Tigers pay a visit to Vicarage Road this afternoon (St. Louis - evening in Watford). No Matchcast, but I'll have the BBC up and running to follow the score. King is still out with knee problems, but it looks like Aidy's going to get serious and start some - well - starters after squeeking by Accrington Stanley on penalty kicks in Round Two. The line-up is the same as Charlton with the exception of Priskin in at striker for Smith:

Foster
Doyley
DeMerit
Shittu
Stewart
Young
Mahon
Francis
Bouazza
Henderson
Priskin

Hull City will be missing strikers Forster & Bridges along with striker Craig Fagan, serving a one-game suspension.

The Tigers seem confident, the bookies say 'not so fast', making Hull City 17-4 underdogs in full time.

Go 'Orns.

Charlton (0-0) 0-5-4 5 pts.

Another rough half for Watford as Charlton drew two yellows (Bent & Holland) and outshot the 'Orns. Boothroyd played it safe, subbing defender Powell for striker Bouazza in the added time. I realize we were away, but I was disappointed to see us playing for the draw. The point puts us in a tie for 18th with West Ham, who plays tomorrow against Tottenham Hotspur; Charleton remains on the bottom.

Next game is Tuesday, a League Cup Game vs. Hull City. The next Premiership game is Saturday, October 28 vs. Tottenham Hotspur.

The other game of note - L*t*n Town squeeked by Leeds United 5-1. A lucky break for LT.

Nil - Nil at the Half

Not much to report on. No goals, no cards, Charlton has the lead on possessions and shots on goal, but not by much. A pretty quiet half.

Marlon (Sez You're a #$%@) King Out!

King is down with a knee injury. Henderson to start.

Game Day - Charlton Athletic

The Hornets travel to London to take on the 'Mumblypoofs'. Just kidding . . ., the team name is . . . the 'Addicks'. There's a bit of debate on the origin and meaning of Charlton's nickname. Some view it as a corruption of 'haddock', reflecting the team's roots in a fishmongering section of London, while others see it as 'addicts' as in football addicts or 'athletics' as in Charlton Athletic. It's little charming details like this that convince us in the states that the entire island south of Hadrian's wall is populated with Mr. Beans and Miss Marples. Anyhow, back to football . . .

Watford must win today or I fear we are headed to relegation (a brief reminder for the stateside fans, the bottom three teams in the Championship League get sent back down to League 1 next season). Starters for Watford same as Arsenal except Henderson for King:

Foster
Demerit
Shittu
Doyley
Stewart
Francis
Mahon
Young
Smith
Bouazza
Henderson

Third Round League Cup Game this Tuesday

Hull City will be coming to Vicarage Road this Tuesday for the third round of the Carling Cup. Game time will be 1:45 pm St. Louis time.

The Hornets head to The Valley Saturday as underdogs once more. Anything less than victory would be demoralizing in the extreme. Charlton has three points on one win and are sitting in last place, but at least they've found a win this season. On the injury front, Carlisle & Loach are still out for Watford and Charlton lost their striker Kevin Lisbe last week.

On an unrelated note, I have to congratulate my hometown baseball team, the Cardinals, for fighting their way into the World Series! Way to go! I expect all the U.K. readers to stay up after the Charlton win Saturday and tune in the game at 1:00 am Sunday morning.

Arsenal (0-3) 0-4-4 4 pts.

Pretty much as expected, Watford finished the day still searching for their first Premiership win. Arsenal continued their dominance of the match, adding a goal from Emmannuel Adebayor (assist Henry) at the 67 minute mark. Boothroyd shook things up in the second half, bringing in Henderson & Powell for Smith & Bouazza respectively, but to no avail.

The 'orns were certainly the underdogs in this match and no one expected them to walk away with 3 points. In fact, a net -3 goals may be seen as a victory smacked up against expectations.

The telling match will be next Saturday (9:00 am St. Louis time again) against fellow relegation-bait Charlton (1-0-6) at The Valley.

0-2 at the Half

Like Francis before him against Fulham, Jordan Stewart hurt his own team's cause with an own goal on defense at the 33 minute mark. Striker Thierry Henry added one of his own at 43 minutes (assist Lehmann) to take to the half up 2-nil.

Arsenal has controled the pace of the first half, with roughly 27 minutes of possession to Watford's 18, 4 shots on goal (3 saves by Foster) to none, and drawing 10 fouls, including Tommy Smith's first yellow card, while committing only 3.

A big hole for the 'Orns to crawl out of.

Game Day - Arsenal

Watford takes their game to Emirates Stadium in North London today to battle Arsenal. The Hornets are massive underdogs against one of the most storied clubs in football (see Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby for fan's-eye view of life at Highbury), but are sticking to their solid, if thus far unproductive strategy, employing only one change (Doyley for Malky Mackay) from Fulham. Update at the half.

Foster
Demerit
Stewart
Doyley
Shittu
Smith
Mahon
Francis
Young
King
Bouazza

Injury Report

Heading into Saturday's game v Arsenal, Carlisle, Powell, & Loach are still sidelined. The good news is Arsenal reported two midfielders - Ljungberg (calf) and Baptista (hamstring) - and defenseman Eboue (knee) out for at least two games.

Despite this, oddsmakers are still quoting 14-1 against a Watford win and 11-2 against a draw - ouch! I'll be watching the upset - see you Saturday. Go 'orns!

Correction - Arsenal Next Weekend

Despite my previous post, the Arsenal match is October 14, not the 7th (I saw Saturday and got excited).

Fulham (3-3) 0-4-3 4 pts.

Well it could have been much worse.

At the 87th minute, Damien Francis put the ball in his own goal after a Fulham corner kick to give the Cottagers at 3-2 lead, but the Man of the Match, Ashley Young, countered with his second goal of the day at minute 89 to salvage a point for Watford.

Young's first came 1 minute into the 2nd half off an assist by Bouzza as Watford took a 2-0 lead. Fulham did their best to equalize the yellow cards, if not the score, earning two (Helgusson & Pearce) by the 66th minute.

Fulham finally found the net in the 71st minute as Brian McBride scored off an assist by former Hornet Heidar Helgusson. Aidy brought in the midfielder Matthew Spring for stricker Tommy Smith to bolster the defense, but to no effect. Helgusson tied the game on a goal of his own, assisted by Tomasz Radinski who had earned Fulham's third yellow of the half 10 minutes earlier.

Frustration prevails as we have yet to see a Premiership win and with a trip to visit powerhouse Arsenal on Saturday, odds are we won't this week. Kickoff Saturday is at 9:00 am St. Louis time.

1-0 at the Half

When's the last time I got to use that headline? The answer: never. The Hornets leave the pitch ahead 1-0 on a Marlon King goal (assist Young) at 23 minutes and, if not dominated, at least controlled the game thus far.

Watford went into the match with four defenders and four strikers (the same starting 11 as the Wigan game I think) and has played a rough half, drawing 11 fouls (a good deal of them clobbering the wonderfully named Papa Bouba Diop) and a yellow card (Mahon) vs. Fulham's 3.

The 'orns have been more precise on offense as well with 5 shots, 2 on goal, 1 in, against Fulham's 4-0-0.

We've see the lads give up the equalizer before this season, but I'll predict their confidence and patience will prevail and we get our first Premiership win. Go 'orns!

Game Day - Fulham

The Fulham Cottagers (man I've love these names, I fully expect to be writing of a match against the Old Lesser West Upper Darbyhamshiredowns Fields Crumpet-Eaters at some point), the oldest professional London club, bring their game and 8 premiership points to Vicarage Road today.

Fulham's missing their midfielder Jimmy Bullard, out after knee surgery and Carlisle & Powell are still out for the 'orns. Watford is the odds-on favorite based on the U.K. line. Kickoff is at 2 pm St. Louis time.