Barrister's

St. Louis soccer fans - check this place out. Here's where I managed to catch Tuesday's Watford match. They have Setanta Sports on the satellite and are more than happy to accommodate match requests (just don't get in the way of my Watford matches!).

Located at 15 N. Meramec in Clayton, they have good food, a darn good selection of beer and are very 'football friendly' with a Premier League standings board next to the bar. The only thing missing is a Watford flag!

Sheffield United (0-1) 1-6-7 9 pts.

A gorgeous afternoon in St. Louis, a couple of Bass on tap, my friend Mike there to explain the finer points of the game to me and . . .

. . . disaster. I got up at 5:00 am for this?

In typical (for this season at any rate) Watford fashion, the squad let in an 88th minute goal to come out on the short end of a six-point swing in the battle to stay up. Instead of 2 points ahead of Sheffield United, we're 4 behind, one goal ahead of Charlton for the cellar with only one match against each of those squads and two against Newcastle United. Tough odds as we cannot rely on the others to lose and, quite frankly, we've only captured one win in 14 games ourselves.

Admittedly, 1/3 of our starters were out (Foster, King, Bouazza, and Young) and I was struggling to recognize some of the squad, but it'll only get worse as the recently returned Powell was booked with a red card (missing Manchester City) and Mahon earned his 5th yellow putting him out for Reading next Saturday. According to the fans more knowledgeable than me (and who isn't) as well as Boothroyd, we played Gawd-Awful.

Next match is Monday, December 4 at 2:00 pm St. Louis time away at Manchester City. I doubt I'll get up early/leave work early for that one, but with luck I'll manage a late lunch at Barrister's and catch the first half. Go 'Orns!

Game Day - Sheffield United

Got to work at 6:00 this morning with the notion of leaving early and actually being able to SEE a Watford match. I'm excited about the opportunity - we'll see if I'm still excited after the match.

Consequently, there'll be no half-time update and the game summary may have to wait until tomorrow.

Along with Charlton, Sheffield United shares relegation territory with us at the moment. Thus far we've drawn Charlton and lost to Newcastle United (currently on the bubble) though that was fortunately a League Cup game. I said it of Charlton too, but this is a must-win - a potential six-point swing in the relegation derby. Both teams are battered, but with the game at Vicarage Road, the 'Orns are favored. Go 'Orns!

Injury Report

Neil Warnock's (anagram - Colin Wanker) Sheffield Blades pay a visit to Vicarage Road tomorrow (for more on the Sheffield/blade connection see the cover of Joe Cocker's Sheffield Steel).

The 'orns are favorites despite being down some key players - Bouazza and Foster will not return from their Portsmouth injuries and King and Carlisle remain out.

Official Watford Forum Taken Down

From fear of libel and just general prudishness, the powers that be have taken down the Fan's Forum. As an alternative, check out Glory Horns.

Shake it Up or Plow Ahead?

We're now well into the season. FourFourTwo magazine has written of our Premiership jitters but if we want to stay here, we need to step up. The question is: how?

Plow Ahead

We've played well, but ineffectively. Draws that should have been won (Fulham), losses that should have been draws (Portsmouth) seem to be more mental deficits than physical. Opposing coaches have, with few exception, praised our XI and we've thrown more than one team off their game.

Shake it Up

On the other hand, when there have been shake-ups to the line-up (e.g. loss of King, Foster), there seems to be a renewed spirit on the pitch as the reserves explode with desire to prove themselves. Alas, it rarely lasts more than one game. Boothroyd has stated his desire to get another striker after the first of the year, but with a limited budget in their first year in the Premiership it remains to be seen if an impact player can bet had.

Conclusion

I think we should concentrate on seeing to it that our current squad get the opportunity to coalesce and grow in this division with spot changes as the opponent warrants.

I started rooting for Watford without knowing where they were in the league (see first entry) and the promotion was icing on the cake, but they are running the risk of relegation. For the long-time fans, this is a special season and I hope they stay up but even if they don't, building a Premier-tested squad will help them climb back up the year after.

Portsmouth (1-2) 1-6-6 9 pts.

If this game were 70 minutes long we'd have 14 pts. by now. Again we lose it in the end with a 89th minute penalty kick from a foul by DeMerit. He picked up a yellow card as did Stewart & Priskin. Is the fatigue mental or conditioning? Are we just not used to Premiership teams playing full-out for the whole of regulation time? Something got to change.

The Blackburn Rovers game has been postponed; the next match is Tuesday November 28 at Vicarage Road against Sheffield United. Kick off at 2:00 pm St. Louis time.

Game Day - Portsmouth: 1-1 at the half

With the in-laws on their way for a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner, I've missed the first half (and probably will miss a bit of the second). We're dogs in this away match, but we've held it to a tie thus far with a goal by Green Bay native Super Jay DeMerit. Bad news on the injury front, Priskin's in for Bouazza and Lee is in for Foster at goal, both injury subs though Foster, coming off of surgery, came out after the half so may not be as serious.

This would be a decent draw and a terrific win. Go 'orns.

Tournament News

The League Cup goes on without us - the final eight will square off the week of Dec. 18. Round Five Ties:

Tottenham Hotspur v. Southend United
Liverpool v Arsenal
Newcastle United v Chelsea
Charlton Athletic v Wycombe Wanderers

We are still in the running for the Hert Cup - next round is Dec. 5 at Stevenage Borough.

Chelsea (0-4) 1-6-5 9 pts.

I had to miss this one but no big surprise here. Lloyd Doyley picked up a yellow card as well. Next match Saturday Nov. 18th at Portsmouth.

Wednesday League Cup Results

The big boys advance to Round 5:

Everton 0-1 Arsenal
Birmingham City 0-1 Liverpool
Chelsea 4-0 Aston Villa
Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 AET Port Vale

Other League Cup Results

A stunner in Round Four League Cup play as Southend United played giant-killer, taking out defending Cup-holders Manchester United before a home crowd of 11,500+.

Notts County 0-1 Wycombe Wanderers
Chesterfied 3-3 AET Charlton Athletic (Charlton 4-3 on penalty kicks)
Southend United 1-0 Manchester United

LC: Newcastle United (2-2) aet (4-5 on penalty kicks)

Watford finished its League Cup run with a wild & woolly match determined by penalty kicks. Ashley Young featured in both second half goals, but missed right on his penalty try.

Damien Francis hit the equalizer with an assist from Young's penalty kick (foul by Carr) in minute 71. Danny Shittu pulled the same trick in extra time (107) from a free kick arising from a Babayaro foul to go ahead. Parker (asst. Emre) tied it up yet again at minute 116 however, to bring it down to penalty kicks. Young's miss, a save on Jordan Stewart's shot and only one save by Lee and we're done for the Cup this season.

Next game away at Chelsea this Saturday, November 11. Kickoff 9:00 St. Louis time.

0 - 1 at the Half

A minute 3 goal by Sibierski (asst. Babayaro) put Newcastle United ahead and there they've stayed through the half. The Hornets have been playing catch-up, eventually gaining a slight lead on possession and keeping the fouls in the Newcastle end, but Newcastle ends the half up on shots on goal and, most importantly, shots in goal.

Things got rough in the Watford end as Lloyd Doyley earned a Yellow card in the 32nd minute followed by Babayaro retaliating on Doyley ten minutes later. Both for unsporting conduct.

Well - Looks like Saturday's Posts Disappeared

I guess I can't be too cranky with a free service - but I had trouble publishing Saturday. The posts were there Saturday, but are gone now.

Suffice it to say WE WON!!!! Middlesbrough (2-0) 1-6-4 9 pts.

Game Day - Newcastle United

The League Cup is down to 16 clubs as Newcastle United visits Vicarage Road for the fourth round today. Despite the trash talking from some Newcastle fans we are favored for this round even missing some of our key starters (Foster, King & Smith).

For those following the game on-line in the US, I'd say BBC Football is going to be your best bet (see link to right). I tried Fox Saturday and it didn't add much. Kickoff 1:45 pm St. Louis time. Go 'orns!

Starting Line:

Lee
Doyley
DeMerit
Shittu
Stewart
Young
Francis
Spring
Bouazza
Henderson
Priskin

King Out for Season

Striker Marlon King will be out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury. Ben Foster on the other hand should be back for Chelsea, but will miss the League Cup game tomorrow. The roster is further trimmed as Tommy Smith is ineligible for League Cup games.

Long-standing injuries: Carlisle is expected back in two weeks - Loach out until X-Mas.

Watford is the favorite at home tomorrow. Go 'orns!

New Links

I've added a couple of new links. The first to the BBC Football site - I've followed the last couple of games there and they seem to provide much better coverage (League Cup Games, for example) and better play-by-play than Yahoo! UK. No graphics but when you come right down to it, the Yahoo! graphics weren't on par with, say, the Emirates live MatchCast during the World Cup. I'm going to check out the Fox site this Saturday and if it's any good, post the link here.

I've also added Glory Horns, another fan site. Commentary, song sheets, L*t*n jokes, a pub guide!!!, they're all there. I'm leaving the Ben Watford link up for now though he seems to have lost interest after August.

One reader directed me to www.oleole.com , a pretty good general soccer site. Explore, have fun, and let me know of any other sites that look good.

Reserves Win First Round of Hertfordshire Senior Cup

The reserves took Cheshunt out 2-1 to advance to the second round of the Herts Cup yesterday. They take their game to Stevenage Borough the week of December 4.