For the 1st time since Gus has been here........

[Deano's Invisible Pants]

.......I genuinely think we are going backwards. We were beaten fair and square by a better team today. Normally I can live with that. Beaten by West Ham at Upton Park by 6? Fine. Spanked by Liverpool at Anfield? OK. Edged out by Middlesbrough or Cardiff? Even beaten by The Scum at Selhurst. No great surprise. Watford are a club with much more limited means, lower aspirations, and much smaller crowds, but Zola has transformed them since last season. Man-for-man they were comfortably better than us, and Zola won the tactical battle.

Meanwhile, if anything, we look weaker and more predictable than ever. Gus, much as I admire him, has a very mixed record in the transfer market. With the benefit of hindsight, we have grossly undervalued Noone and Murray. CMS, Hoskins, Dobbie, Crofts, Bruno - all big signings and all to a greater or lesser degree proving disappointing. And before anyone questions my inclusion of Bruno, he is a liability defensively as he proved once again today.

26,700. That's TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED. Having watched us piss around in front of a few thousand for the 25+ years I've been watching them (including as a season ticket holder at Gillingham and at Withdean), I can hardly believe the support we're getting right now, and it's soul destroying to see us fail to put on a show. I can live with not being promoted, I can live with not being in the play-offs - and yes, we are light years better on the pitch than we were a few years ago. BUT, we MUST give people the sense we are progressing, otherwise the crest of the wave the club is still riding on will be lost and crowds will dip very quickly.

It's a good thing we've got a long-term strategy with a chairman who puts his faith in his manager, but for the first time some fairly major question marks are hanging over GP. I feel this transfer window may prove to be a very important few weeks in the short / medium term future of the club and I hope GP quickly dispels those question marks. It's a commercial imperative that he starts getting the big decisions right.

 

[brightonmark1234]

the only time we started singing was when we scored the pen and we didnt even deserve the penalty and also the atmosphere was rubbish

 

[portslade seagull]

GP's signings sadly leave a lot to be desired and if I were Bloom i would be filled with trepadation at the prospect of Gus spending more of his hard earned wedge on totally mediocre players

 

[timbha]

good post. Unless we make some good signings in January we could quickly slip down the league.

 

[Gazwag]

I thought the first 15 minutes we were very good, had we a goalscorer we could have easily won the points in that period and put the game to bed.

As far as Murray is concerned last season he was mediocre and would probably have left last summer with the fans on his back for the last three months of the season, so its really pointless people keep on naming him as a big error

 

[Spanish Seagulls]

.......I genuinely think we are going backwards. We were beaten fair and square by a better team today. Normally I can live with that. Beaten by West Ham at Upton Park by 6? Fine. Spanked by Liverpool at Anfield? OK. Edged out by Middlesbrough or Cardiff? Even beaten by The Scum at Selhurst. No great surprise. Watford are a club with much more limited means, lower aspirations, and much smaller crowds, but Zola has transformed them since last season. Man-for-man they were comfortably better than us, and Zola won the tactical battle.

Meanwhile, if anything, we look weaker and more predictable than ever. Gus, much as I admire him, has a very mixed record in the transfer market. With the benefit of hindsight, we have grossly undervalued Noone and Murray. CMS, Hoskins, Dobbie, Crofts, Bruno - all big signings and all to a greater or lesser degree proving disappointing. And before anyone questions my inclusion of Bruno, he is a liability defensively as he proved once again today.

26,700. That's TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED. Having watched us piss around in front of a few thousand for the 25+ years I've been watching them (including as a season ticket holder at Gillingham and at Withdean), I can hardly believe the support we're getting right now, and it's soul destroying to see us fail to put on a show. I can live with not being promoted, I can live with not being in the play-offs - and yes, we are light years better on the pitch than we were a few years ago. BUT, we MUST give people the sense we are progressing, otherwise the crest of the wave the club is still riding on will be lost and crowds will dip very quickly.

It's a good thing we've got a long-term strategy with a chairman who puts his faith in his manager, but for the first time some fairly major question marks are hanging over GP. I feel this transfer window may prove to be a very important few weeks in the short / medium term future of the club and I hope GP quickly dispels those question marks. It's a commercial imperative that he starts getting the big decisions right.

Sensible post.

 

[pork pie]

GP's signings sadly leave a lot to be desired and if I were Bloom i would be filled with trepadation at the prospect of Gus spending more of his hard earned wedge on totally mediocre players

My thoughts exactly. Poyet needs to go now, to let the new Manager spend in the January Transfer Window, and create a team capable of winning football matches.

 

[greyseagull]

Can't disagree with any of this - you seem to have covered all bases. Good post.

Nonetheless, wait a second for those who believe Gus should be given another 63-years to turn it around to get on your case.

 

[Bigbelly]

I'm looking how many places were finish above the relegation zone not the play offs.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

For me it's a weird one. I don't want him out, but at the same time I don't trust him with a childs pocket money, let alone a transfer window budget.

 

[Lower West Stander]

I wish he would stop looking at bringing in mediocre Spanish players and focus on players in the division with genuine promise who would regard the setup here as a genuine step up - not a meal ticket or pension.

Buckley a great example of this.

 

[Lethargic]

Have to agree with most of that and if this continues the crowd could be closer to 16k next year not 26k. I do find it frustrating that we are in touching distance of being a very good team but seem to really be struggling to take this next step. To me the biggest disappointment is the lack of pace when we started this season we played with purpose and speed, at the moment my Granny could play with more urgency and she's been dead for 20 years

 

[Diego Napier]

.......I genuinely think we are going backwards. We were beaten fair and square by a better team today. Normally I can live with that. Beaten by West Ham at Upton Park by 6? Fine. Spanked by Liverpool at Anfield? OK. Edged out by Middlesbrough or Cardiff? Even beaten by The Scum at Selhurst. No great surprise. Watford are a club with much more limited means, lower aspirations, and much smaller crowds, but Zola has transformed them since last season. Man-for-man they were comfortably better than us, and Zola won the tactical battle.

Meanwhile, if anything, we look weaker and more predictable than ever. Gus, much as I admire him, has a very mixed record in the transfer market. With the benefit of hindsight, we have grossly undervalued Noone and Murray. CMS, Hoskins, Dobbie, Crofts, Bruno - all big signings and all to a greater or lesser degree proving disappointing. And before anyone questions my inclusion of Bruno, he is a liability defensively as he proved once again today.

26,700. That's TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED. Having watched us piss around in front of a few thousand for the 25+ years I've been watching them (including as a season ticket holder at Gillingham and at Withdean), I can hardly believe the support we're getting right now, and it's soul destroying to see us fail to put on a show. I can live with not being promoted, I can live with not being in the play-offs - and yes, we are light years better on the pitch than we were a few years ago. BUT, we MUST give people the sense we are progressing, otherwise the crest of the wave the club is still riding on will be lost and crowds will dip very quickly.

It's a good thing we've got a long-term strategy with a chairman who puts his faith in his manager, but for the first time some fairly major question marks are hanging over GP. I feel this transfer window may prove to be a very important few weeks in the short / medium term future of the club and I hope GP quickly dispels those question marks. It's a commercial imperative that he starts getting the big decisions right.

You are completely wrong about Watford's limited means and lower aspirations; the Italian family that own Watford also own Udinese. Watford currently have 10 (yes 10) Udinese players on loan, the majority of their team today was composed of those players.

All the people moaning about our players should realise what a good team Watford have, they made us look bad.

 

[Deano's Invisible Pants]

For me it's a weird one. I don't want him out, but at the same time I don't trust him with a childs pocket money, let alone a transfer window budget.

What stood out for me today was just how pedestrian we have become. Without a Buckley, LuaLua or Noone to come off the bench, we had no means through which to change the game. Dobbie, to be brutally frank, looks out of shape. Why is he playing? I know pace isn't his main selling point, but he just isn't involved enough to make an impact. Lopez, for a period, looked decent against Millwall. Good penalty today, but again, he is too slow to be a major concern for championship defenses.

Orlandi looks decent but LuaLua is the only one at the moment that looks as though he has the speed and directness to bother defenses. I hate to say it, but that's why our friends from up the M23 are ahead of us: Zaha and Bolasie are a constant threat and Murray kicks it in the net - simple as that.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

.......I genuinely think we are going backwards. We were beaten fair and square by a better team today. Normally I can live with that. Beaten by West Ham at Upton Park by 6? Fine. Spanked by Liverpool at Anfield? OK. Edged out by Middlesbrough or Cardiff? Even beaten by The Scum at Selhurst. No great surprise. Watford are a club with much more limited means, lower aspirations, and much smaller crowds, but Zola has transformed them since last season. Man-for-man they were comfortably better than us, and Zola won the tactical battle.

Meanwhile, if anything, we look weaker and more predictable than ever. Gus, much as I admire him, has a very mixed record in the transfer market. With the benefit of hindsight, we have grossly undervalued Noone and Murray. CMS, Hoskins, Dobbie, Crofts, Bruno - all big signings and all to a greater or lesser degree proving disappointing. And before anyone questions my inclusion of Bruno, he is a liability defensively as he proved once again today.

26,700. That's TWENTY-SIX THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED. Having watched us piss around in front of a few thousand for the 25+ years I've been watching them (including as a season ticket holder at Gillingham and at Withdean), I can hardly believe the support we're getting right now, and it's soul destroying to see us fail to put on a show. I can live with not being promoted, I can live with not being in the play-offs - and yes, we are light years better on the pitch than we were a few years ago. BUT, we MUST give people the sense we are progressing, otherwise the crest of the wave the club is still riding on will be lost and crowds will dip very quickly.

It's a good thing we've got a long-term strategy with a chairman who puts his faith in his manager, but for the first time some fairly major question marks are hanging over GP. I feel this transfer window may prove to be a very important few weeks in the short / medium term future of the club and I hope GP quickly dispels those question marks. It's a commercial imperative that he starts getting the big decisions right.

How many of the Watford team playing against us today are permanent signings for them? How many were on loan to them from Udinese? - the answer, most of them. That's how come they have been transformed, the owners (the Pozzo family) also own Udinese and they also a Spanish side where they too have a large number of Udinese players on loan.

They are another club that can't be judged only on their recent history or crowd size as the OP implies.

 

[Albion Dan]

I thought the first 15 minutes we were very good, had we a goalscorer we could have easily won the points in that period and put the game to bed.

As far as Murray is concerned last season he was mediocre and would probably have left last summer with the fans on his back for the last three months of the season, so its really pointless people keep on naming him as a big error

Rubbish. Murray was exactly what we missed last season and Im convinced we would have made the play offs with him here. This season we would be top with him playing the lone striker role.

If anything Glenns slow start last season was because he would probably have rather stayed with us but Poyet didnt want to shell out to keep him and it took Palace time to play to his strengths.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

Break down of their line up from todays match

01 Almunia - Former Arsenal Goalkeeper
06 Hall (Neuton - 42'(on loan from Udinese))
18 Pudil (on loan from Granada)
31 Hoban
39 Chalobah (on loan from Chelsea)
40 Ekstrand (on loan from Udinese)
08 Hogg
21 Anya (on loan from Granada) (Mujangi Bia - 73' Booked (on loan from Standard Liege) )
22 Abdi Booked (on loan from Udinese) (Battocchio - 80' (on loan from Udinese) )
09 Deeney
20 Vydra (on loan from Udinese)


Only 4 of the players that appeared for them today are actually permanent signings at Watford

 

[s5.bha]

What we need is a young 6ft 6" south American striker........mmmm , let's wait and see..........

 

[chrissyboy01]

the only time we started singing was when we scored the pen and we didnt even deserve the penalty and also the atmosphere was rubbish

Sorry, but I was singing way before that and sorry, no penalty is 'deserved' - you either get it or ya don't - so, sorry again. Generally, I am sorry, very sorry......sorry for being sorry.....sorry for being a sorry bastard. Sorry

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The current set of players, with a few exceptions, have taken us as far as they can IMHO. We're just looking like a so-so Championship side. Which is fair enough seeing as how we only just got into this division. But its patently going to take a serious injection of the chairman's money and some inspired managerial know-how to make the next step up in class.