The Game's Gone Crazier

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Wednesday 17 April 2013

Has Zola been found out at Watford?

It was all going so swimmingly for GianFredo and the Hornets of Pozzo Wood. The loan signings bedded in brilliantly, Zola's affable character meant that nobody asked any questions about the questionable strategy of capitalising upon the Pozzo connection, and Watford looked like genuine contenders for automatic promotion. Glory seemed to be there for the taking and some even started talking about GianFredo as a contender to replace Benny Benitez at Chelsea.  Until...

Well, despite the win at Hull, it all started to unravel when Watford came out for the second half at Wolves intent on holding on to what they had. That second 45 minutes at Molineux was a betrayal of everything that Zola is supposed to stand for.  Leading 1-0 at the break, Watford were defensive, conservative, cowardly. And they got what they deserved with the late, late equaliser.

Wolves were there for the taking in that game. They were shocking. Inept. Clueless. Had Zola and his band of borrowed men gone for it, they might have won 3-0. Vydra was withdrawn and it seems that Vydra has never quite been the same since.

It's true that Sheffield Wednesday were beaten next game up, but since then, Watford have played seven, and won just once, ironically at Hull. Defeats against Blackpool, Barnsley, Millwall and Peterborough tell a story of wheels coming off in a major way and Vydra has done a complete Lord Lucan.

Meanwhile, the old warhorse Bruce has bullied Hull through and, with a buffer of six points and just three games to play, its looking odds on that the Tigers will roar down the buzz of the Hornets.

So, what's gone wrong? Have the Watford players been found out, or is GianFredo at fault? He started well at West Ham, of course, but the longer he was in the job, the more out of his depth he appeared. Lately, he has resorted to blaming the officials, failing to accept that you make your own luck in the game. Instead, Zola ordered a classical Italian retreat at Wolves, and it has all gone tits up ever since.

17 comments:

  1. wanna buy some pegs ?!

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  2. You haven't got a girlfriend have you?

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  3. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

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  4. The victory at Hull wasn't ironic you pleb. Look up what irony means.

    How in the hell have got on NewsNow? In what way to this add to anything?

    You've clearly got some kind of unresolved crush on Zola. Did he turn you down? Is he taller than you?

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    Replies
    1. Ironic because it was your hardest game on paper and because it will count for nothing!

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    2. pikey ,,,,why are you logged on here trying to upset these gentlemen when your so called team are playing against man u ??! why are you not at upton park ??! just shows what a wanker you are ,,,,,

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    3. It doesn't count for nothing. It likely ensures us a third place finish. Bookies pay out top 3 in an ew bet watford at 50-1 for title looks good for me...

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    4. That doesn't make it ironic you imbecile. Find a dictionary.

      Your obsession with Leeds and Watford for a West Ham fan is really weird.

      Why don't you focus your ire on the appalling anti-football West Ham play. What happened to the 'West Ham way'. N more passing football right? Arse munch

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  5. Does anybody disagree that the problems stem from that second half showing at Wolves?

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  6. I've bl00dy loved this season, expectations were low, so a top 6 finish is fantastic. Overall the football has been a joy to watch. Frustrating form of late, granted, but the bigger picture is important.

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  7. No. You have to remember that Zola has done exceptionally well in blending at lot of players - many with little match experience - to be playing excellent football. Currently, we are suffering from their tiredness and a huge amount of injuries to our back 3 / GK (although Almunia has now returned). It didn't help that owing to the delay in the takeover, we didn't have a pre-season.

    For example, the three key players are:

    Vydra
    2010 - 2011 - 16 apps
    2011 - 2012 - 1 app (out for 18mths with injury before starting with us)
    2012 - 2013 - 36 apps

    Abdi
    2010 - 2011 - 19 apps
    2011 - 2012 - 23 apps
    2012 - 2013 - 34 apps

    Chalobah
    2010 - 2011 - 0 apps
    2011 - 2012 - 0 apps
    2012 - 2013 - 34 apps

    So all in all, Zola has done magnificently. Certainly at the start of the season we were all saying that he had to at least match Dyche for it to be seen as a success, but most feared worse, many relegation.

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  8. Bring back Mick Mcarthy

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  9. Hammers fan does have a point. This year's Watford side is a poor comparison with the heady days on 1982/83 when the Orns finished second in the top league.
    And obviously from a West Ham point of view, a massive club soon to be playing in the Olympic Stadium, with their best top tier finish of third, we really should be humble at the Vic that this site is so interested in our little club and gratefully accept that taxpayers money should benefit the wonderful institution that gave us Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. God bless West Ham!

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  10. I agree HF!
    and I cannot see Watford winning the Playoffs.
    Their form is terrible of late and generally the form team wins the playoffs....

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  11. 13.28 you talk in riddles!

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  12. I think the point Hammersfan is making in a particularly bad way is that having put ourselves in with a great chance of automatic promotion we should be gutted that we seem to have blown it. I agree that expectations at the beginning of the season were low but that changed when we went 23 games and only lost three up to the beginning of March. If we had continued in the same vein we would be up already. However the recent run has seen us fall back and we cannot argue with that fact. It is disappointing having gone second and looked unbeatable but as Watford supporters we don't expect success, we are just grateful for any that does come our way.

    Hammersfan is judging us purely on results and has only seen the televised matches. In the last two we have been distinctly nervous against Palarse and Wolves. In regard to the Wolves game he makes a valid point and we could and should have put the game to bed in the second half. However as regular fans we know we have not had the breaks recently and how we are not given penalties especially when the opposition blatantly handle the ball (step forward Danny Shittu)is beyond me. Maybe we are due a bit of luck and if we keep playing as we have in most games we will get our rewards.

    As proper fans we know what the Pozzo's and GFZ has done for us and Hammersfan can't understand why we are not complaining about recent results. I have to say I find the blogs amusing. It seemed that no one cared about us before this season but I think it is great that we now seem to be hated as much as Millwall. I would rather we were hated than ignored.

    Keep up the writing Hammersfan. I enjoy a good laugh especially when I am upset about the previous nights result. By the way, when was the last time West Ham finished second or above in the top English league..............what never!!!

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