Swansea City Match Called Off

A frozen, unplayable pitch has scrapped today's match. It will be rescheduled.

It Could Have Been Us!

Crystal Palace has been hit with a ten point deduction for entering administration (bankruptcy for us Yanks). Palace, who had been hovering near the play-off zone, now sit three points from relegation and face the prospect of player sales to meet operating expenses.

Defenders Coming & Going

The Hornets have signed Martin 'Tiny' Taylor from Birmingham City on a free transfer and have sent Mat Sadler to League One side Stockport County.

Taylor, 30, a former U21 national squad member, signed for 2 1/2 years.

Sadler has not played since December 2008. Stockport County currently sits at the bottom of League One with 14 points.

Will Buckley Signs

Rochdale winger Will Buckley signed with Watford Tuesday as the transfer window slowly closes. Buckley, who scored 13 goals in one full & two partial seasons with the League Two side, can play striker as well as winger.

Mike Williamson Off to Newcastle

The BBC is reporting former Watford defender Mike Williamson is on his way to Newcastle United.

Let's recap.

Williamson spends nine months with the Hornets, costing the club £150,000 then declares himself unfit (despite no injuries) and pouts until we deal him to Portsmouth for £2-3 million.

Pompey sits on him for five months and never plays him. Not one appearance! Not exactly getting your money's worth is it? Serves ya right!

At least Watford gets a sell-on fee for this latest move.

Good luck Newcastle.

Blackpool (2-3) 8-8-10 32 pts.

The Live Player was not working on the Blackberry Saturday (I was in Iowa) so I got this second-hand through the BBC.

Up a goal with a minute of regulation time thanks to Henri Lansbury & Tom Cleverley, the Hornets dropped all three points in the span of three minutes.

The next match finds Swansea City at Vicarage Road January 30. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.

Sheffield United Match Rescheduled for Groundhog Day

The Jan. 9 Sheffield United match, canceled due to inclement weather, has been rescheduled for February 2, provided United does not have a replay of their FA Cup tie with Bolton. Kickoff is 1:45 pm St. Louis time.

Doncaster Rovers (1-2) 8-8-9 32 pts

The eighth away match without a win was held to a nil-nil draw at the half but a Dean Shiels goal five minutes into the second half gave the Rovers the lead.

Despite defensive play by Doncaster, the Hornets failed to capitalize and found themselves down 2-0 with seven minutes left in regulation play after a right-footed volley by Gareth Roberts.

Heidar Helguson put Watford on the scoreboard with a penalty kick two minutes into injury time, but the clock ran out on the Hornets.

The next match is Saturday, January 23 at Blackpool. Kickoff is 9:30 St. Louis time.

Stephen McGinn Signs with Hornets

Watford has added to their midfield in the transfer window, picking up 21-year old Stephen McGinn from the SPL side St. Mirren.

McGinn, who can also work as a striker, has two caps with the Scottish under-21 national squad.

St. Louis Not On U.S. Host Bid Cities List

St. Louis has been slighted once again by the U.S. soccer world.

The list of the 18 host cities submitted to FIFA as part of the 2018/2022 bid for the World Cup does not include St. Louis.

For a map of those cities chosen, click the link above.

Helguson Back for the Season (and Beyond . . . ?)

Heidar Helguson, on loan from QPR through the first half of the season, is reported to be back with the Hornets after a single game last week with the parent club.

Furthermore, the option exists for a permanent transfer at the end of the season. Good news indeed for Watford.

Sheffield United Fixture Canceled

Just in case you were planning a trip to GB this weekend fr the match. Apparently their weather sucks too.

Taylor Staying on as Chairman Until End of Season

Graham Taylor, in a statement invoking the glory days of Elton John's chairmanship, announced he would be continuing as Chairman until the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 2010.

Taylor stepped in as interim chair when Jimmy Russo resigned in December at the Annual Meeting.

FA Cup: Chelsea (0-5)

Brutal. Expected - but brutal.

I looked at the live stats at one point and Chelsea had 10 corners to none for the Hornets as well as 70% possession.

Two goals from Daniel Sturridge and one each from Florent Malouda & Frankie Lampard.

John Eustace was the lone Watford name on the score sheet with an own goal 15 minutes in.

The Hornets will lick their wounds this week and be back at Vicarage Road Saturday, January 9, to host Sheffield United. Kickoff is 9:00 am St. Louis time.

O'Toole Loan to Colchester United Made Permanent

Happy New Year!!

In the first move of the mid-season transfer window, John-Joe O'Toole's loan spell to Aidy Boothroyd's League One Colchester United squad is made permanent.

Loaned out on Sept. 1, O'Toole's departure will probably be the first of many as Watford struggles to generate cash to boost their dodgy finances.