As it’s been a little while since my last football-related blog post you’ll forgive me for indulging in a little gloating, won’t you? It’s just that, well, Watford are doing awfully well of late. We were hotly tipped for relegation at the beginning of the season, and with a relatively inexperienced manager and depleted of some of last season’s key players, with very little money to speak of to spend on any new ones, and competition from undoubtedly one of the strongest groups of opposition that the Championship has ever seen, you could understand why. Prior to kick-off back in July and August, Watford fans spoke with stars in their eyes of the possibility of reaching the dizzying heights of mid-table, and that was the absolute best we could hope for. Just to avoid the dreaded drop had to be our main aim for the season.
But then a strange thing happened. Buoyed by, amongst other things, the decision of John Eustace to remain at the club and take the captain’s armband rather than signing for rivals Leeds, and the signing of a couple of promising young players on loan, Watford started the season brightly, daring to win their opening match away at Norwich, one of the sides tipped for greatness this season. We all held our breath and wondered... Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all? Things levelled off a little after that though, and we all screwed our heads firmly back on after the initial flurry of excitement, and settled in for the long haul. And then, in September, it all went a bit silly again, as we had the audacity to win some more games, the highlight being a 6-1 demolishing of last season’s League 1 stars, Millwall, on their patch. We seemed to become quite good at winning away. And in Danny Graham and Marvin 'Score-dell' Sordell a strike partnership was born which had to potential to be one of the all time greats. Well, in the dreams of Watford fans it did, anyway.
There was a blip in October as I attended my first match of the season, against Scunthorpe at Vicarage Road, a miserable affair which we lost 2-0 and we’re all best off forgetting about. Sorry about that everyone, I’ll just stay oop norf in future and not get in the way of our triumphant march for glory.
And then what happened? Erm... we seemed to lose 3-2 quite a lot. Annoyingly. But it proved that we did not have any trouble finding the back of the net, an affliction which has affected us in recent seasons with varying degrees of severity; never have we seen quite such a glut of goals as we have this season, and it’s truly delightful. Malky Mackay has put together a young, exciting, adventurous and pacy side, not afraid to attack, or to be creative.
And so we dragged our heels into December on the back of a couple of dull draws, but proceeded to turn the 3-2 scoreline that had been our albatross in recent weeks to our advantage, beating Leicester at the Vic, and sparking a run of form the likes of which we couldn’t even have dreamt of before the season started. On Friday 10th December, in front of the BBC cameras, we took our bold and fearless side to the league leaders, QPR, and systematically broke them down with style and grace; it was a joy to behold. Suddenly the potential we glimpsed flashes of back in September was being writ large, and people were starting to take notice of little Watford, sneaking up the table. We continued our barn-storming run with another thrashing of a top side, beating Cardiff 4-1 at home – so that’s the top two teams beaten, in consecutive matches. Ten goals scored in the last three games. New Year’s Day? Another three goals and a clean sheet against Portsmouth, this time in front of the Sky cameras? Don’t mind if I do. Can we play on TV every week? A nice little away win at Scunthorpe brings us bang up to date, and tops off our streak at five wins on the bounce, and seven games unbeaten. If I were a statto I could probably prove we were the top side in the league form-wise, but I’m not. And I’m lazy. But I’m assuming we are!
John Eustace: Who's the Daddy? Er, I do believe it's you, sir. Pic from watfordpics.co.uk
So what now? There’s basking in reflected glory, which is always nice for a while, but we all know that nothing good lasts forever in sport, Watford fans more so than most. The bubble will burst, it simply must; it’s just of case of when, and how, and to what protracted and painful extent. Injuries have taken their toll on our already small squad; the loans of Andrew Taylor and Jordan Mutch are yet to be extended, and with the ever-ominous transfer window open, it seems just a matter of time until, in addition to the almost inevitable departure of Scott Loach to a Premiership side, others of our players may be the subject of interest from rival clubs, having doubtless attracted attention during our recent run of good form. On a lighter note, I’d wager that as a shoe-in for December’s cursed ‘honour’, the Manager of the Month award, it could be gaffer Malky Mackay who is our downfall; if it’s not from having that notorious hoodoo bestowed upon him, then it could be a case of him being tempted away from Watford, attracting interest himself recently, most notably from Alan Pardew at Newcastle, but rumours also abound linking him with the vacant managerial post at Burnley. He’s been a revelation since his period in charge began, making waves rather than ripples in the Championship pond so far this season, not afraid to play untested youngsters (in many cases it’s been down to necessity rather than boldness, but I fully believe he would have thrown them in even if it weren’t a matter of not fielding a full squad!), and forming a tight-knit unit of players who seem determined to perform for him week in, week out. I’d buy him a beer and a pie.
In short, I just want to wrap ‘now at Watford’ up in cotton wool and never let it go. Do I want us to get promoted? Well, yes – in the sense that I want us to win every game, so by extension, of course I want us to be playing to the best of our abilities and the against top opposition. Is it the right thing for the club? That’s a debate for another pint in another pub on another day.
Having established that our little bubble of brilliance probably isn’t going to last until next weekend let alone until the end of the season, I’m off now to sit in my Watford-themed shrine, squeeze my eyes closed and not open them again until the season is over and whichever outcome is least damaging to the club has occurred. Okay? And unless you all have stronger constitutions than I, I suggest you all do the same! Happy New Year everyone!
