January 15th 2000

  Watford 2 Liverpool 3  - League

Vlad the Inhaler breathes life into top three challenge. 

Is it a reflection of Elton John's 'habits' that Vicarge Road resembles a public lavatory these days?

 

JJP & JMac report.

 

 

    It's been twenty years since I last ventured down to Vicarage Road and quite frankly if it's another twenty years before I go again I won't be all that bothered. Like many clubs outside of the elite ten or twelve who've opted for wholescale rebuilding, Watford have built a few Stands, stuck in a few seats and upped their prices to suit. But the place is a dump and a health hazard! Underneath the Stands that dog from Goodison would have been hard pushed to find space (Ed's note: a dog somehow invaded ... sorry, found it's way onto the pitch at The Tip on Saturday) and it got even worse when people went in! They try to paint an image of Watford as a family club but to stick people in a few uncovered seats and charge them big bucks; then add insult to discomfort by calling it a Family Stand doesn't quite square with the ideals of twenty-first century football. Maybe I'm being over-critical (What you, John? -JMac) and maybe having to put up with a two hour delay on the trains [not bad on a journey from Nuneaton that was supposed to take an hour] didn't quite set me up in a good mood either. Down below our Stand the gangway was so narrow that it was a job getting past anyone who was either at the refreshment bar or trying to get into the bogs; ah, yes, the bogs! A portaloo, no less. I was told that the facilities for the girls were a similar disgrace! How these places get a Safety Certificate beats me. (What? You need a safety certificate for a toilet? JMac)
   On the pitch it was Jekyll and Hyde! Going forward we looked superb at times, although a bit more width on the left wouldn't have gone amiss. But our defending [if you can call it that] was abysmal at times, and even worse at others. Watford were valiant in their efforts but they still look the worst team in the Premier Division. The first goal from Paddy - a cracker and he did play a lot better than of late. The floodgates should have opened after that but they didn't. Paddy himself missed an easier chance shortly after and maybe Michael should have done better than to hit the bar when clean through. When we scored what was a belated second a couple of minutes before halftime I expected us to get at least four and maybe five or six because Watford were that bad. Someone near me said when Hamann took the free kick that it was going in and he was proved right when Thommo got a bootlace to it and made it bobble past the keeper. With just a few minutes to go til the break many fans took the opportunity to disappear for refreshments or to visit the loos. Before most of them got back from the trek downstairs it was two-all and I couldn't believe it. I could not be described as a particularly happy bunny at precise that moment in time.*1 The first goal was just rank bad marking whilst the second came from another needlessly conceded free kick. We don't seem happy at defending them yet we give them away like presents at Christmas. I would have been annoyed if a decent side had scored two - but this was bloody Watford!
   It was beginning to remind me of Barnsley away, a couple of seasons back but without the red cards or the riot, or of those occasions when we scored two or three goals away from home but still failed to win. We passed them to death at times but nerves frayed when they went went forward. When Owen went through them like a dose of salts only for his effort to be scrambled away I started to fear the worst - we've been here before haven't we? When Smicer came on the last thing I expected him to do was score but thankfully he did. It might not be the best goal he's ever scored - but it's the best one he's ever scored for us. By then I could hardly raise a cheer due to the fact that I was still seething at seeing us lose those two goals, it gets me like that at times. Sixty seconds later Des Lyttle nearly squared it up again as we once more dozed off. Thankfully he didn't and it might not have been plain sailing from that point onwards but at least we looked just as likely to score as they did.
   So we climb to the dizzy height of fourth but I don't think any Liverpool fan that goes on a regular basis will be kidded. It may not be a false position but we've got a lot of work to do to get too much further. We may have the best defensive record in the Premier but we haven't got the best defence. Middlesbrough come to Anfield next and are on a downer after losing 4-1 at home and Captain Cockout is under pressure. We need to add to that pressure because from then onwards February looks slightly more difficult with Leeds and Arsenal both on the agenda and a few other toughies looming on the horizon. Maybe we more bobbled back than bounced after the Blackburn game, but we should beat the Watfords of the Division and I'm grateful that we did. The true test of our potential, however, is waiting around the corner. Let's hope for the best. (JJP)

JMac adds: Listened to this on Radio Merseyside as I couldn't afford the £100 day out to Watford. The car blew up just before Christmas and it's meant no away games during January. Anyway, my radio-days routine is quite simple: Surf the net for latest news, gossip, messages after watching 'Football Focus' on BBC1 (crap these days but a million times better than watching Barry Venison on 'On The Ball'), then around 2:50 on goes the kettle. The teapot is then topped up regularly throughout the 90 minutes and I usually end up with a browny-grey fur all over my tongue and teeth. I reckon I drink 4 or 5 pints of tea during an average league game. It must be the nerves: if I smoked I'd be on an iron-lung by now. The early goal from Paddy had me shouting and celebrating around the living room even before the first pot had brewed. I settled down and anticipated further goals. We sounded well in control following an unsteady start during which we allowed Watford one or two reasonable chances on goal. Ric George (of Liverpool Echo fame (shame?)) was co-commentating on the match in his new capacity as 'Liverpool's internet correspondent' and he said that we seemd to have settled into our stride well. Soon afterwards Berger races into the right-hand side of the area and chooses to flick the ball across the face of goal with the outside of his left boot, rather than lashing it with his right (I'm going from that night's TV coverage now). It's only a matter of time before we add a second, surely. Then Berger plays Owen in with a brilliantly threaded through-ball and St Michael clips the bar causing Ric to comment, "That was Patrick Berger at his absolute best... a superb piece of vision with a 50 yard pass" (and it looked good on Match Of The Day too.). Just before half-time we get a free-kick, up steps Didi Hamman and I hear, "It's there from Hamman - 2-0 to the Reds!!". After apparently watching several TV replays Radio Merseyside eventually attribute the goal to Davey Thommo. "I can relax now", I thought to myself and got up to put the kettle on again. I'd just flicked the 'On' switch when I heard another roar as Watford pulled one back. Shit!
   As the cliche goes, 'Pulling a goal back just before half-time is pyschologically important for any team'. Watford were 'right back in it' Ric George said, at least four times during the interval. So I suppose pulling another goal back - and equalising - just after half-time is even more important is it? Shit! Were we going to piss this game away? That second Watford goal, however, seemed to be their last throw of the dice and they never really threatened after that (Unless you count Des Lyttle's fabulous Marco Van Basten-style volley which could have gone anywhere, including in the back of the net). Watching 'MOTD' that night you've got to say that Westerveld was at fault for the equalising goal - he had no need to come out that far for the cross. (Was it just me, or did the flight of the cross and the header looked almost exacty like Barry Endean's winner at the same end in 1970?). A draw would have been a great disappointment given the first 40-odd minutes. But then up popped Vlad the Lad with an accurate effort that crept in at the near post. "Smicer's scored", I shouted upstairs to 9yr old Sean who was engrossed in his Playstation. "It's about time!", he shouted back. Out of the mouths of babes, eh?

*1 New RAOTL competition: When has JJP ever been a "particularly happy bunny"? Answers to PO Box 296, etc.

 

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