Book Review: Watford FC on This Day

Watford FC on This Day
By Matt Rowson
Published by Pitch Publishing (Brighton) Ltd.
August 2009, £9.99, ISBN: 978-1-9054114-7-4

Memories are often conjured up by sensations. As Proust's nameless hero bites into the madeleine, the physical rush of the tea soaked cake brings childhood reminiscences flooding back. Hence for Watford fans, a wander down a Mediterranean sidewalk in blazing sunshine might remind them of the time they took a cheeky peek at a day old English newspaper in a Greek newsagent's to discover that Tony Coton had joined Man City for a cool million pounds in 1990; a chocolate egg devoured might remind them of an Easter Monday thumping of hated rivals Luton in 1983, with those twin heroes Barnes and Blissett instrumental; a Boxing Day hangover might evoke a subsequent win over the Hatters three years later, with Kevin Richardson and Gary Porter on the scoresheet. Our footballing memories are inextricably interwoven with the time of year that games were played - the "where were you when Ramon Vega signed" mentality.

Matt Rowson, steward of the peerless BHaPPY blog, has reacted to this with Watford FC On This Day, a trawl through the days of the year and the events that befell Watford Football Club thereon (in case you're interested, the Hornets went down 3-1 at Derby on February 29, 1992). It's an ingenious format and is a great book to dip in and out of. Of course Elton, Ross, Luther, Aidy, Kevin and Graham are all present and correct, with the Cup Final appearances, second in the Land finish, and play off triumphs all featured, once again underlining Watford's ability to punch above their weight as a club; but this reader took as much pleasure at recalling the names of half-forgotten individuals (to non-Hornets at least) such as Neal Ardley, Jan Lohman, Nordin Wooter and Malcolm Allen.

The snippets are accompanied by a Foreword from long standing custodian Alec Chamberlain and the now disgraced Brendan Rodgers is intriguingly thanked in the acknowledgements. Unlikely to be a book read all the way through at one sitting, the episodic format nonetheless rewards occasional browsing and events are described in Rowson's typically well crafted prose. Part of a series of books published by Pitch Publishing including Rick Cowdery's Plymouth Argyle on this Day and Matt Bozeat's Leicester City on this Day, it's the first in a double offering from the author, a follow-up being planned for the new year. It's a no brainer Christmas present for any Golden Boys fan.

Poachable Gaffers

Mayflies know they have a window – their lives vary from half an hour to the comparatively yawning time span of a full year and in that time, they have to make their mark. Similarly, the period of grace in which football managers are allowed to build their reputations gets shorter and shorter. Hang around at a waning club for too long, or step up too soon (the self-styled Guvnor) and you’ll be condemned to that fearsome fate – to be discredited. As recently as last Summer, Paul Tisdale and Andy Scott were the flavour of the month, out ranked only by the brightest young gaffer of them all, Mr. Darren Ferguson. Now, with scarcely a leaf having fallen in another mild autumn, the latter is out on his ear. Rumours of a link to the vacant Pompey hot seat are persisting, but there’s little doubt that Dazza’s star is now a little tarnished. So which managers in the Cocaleague are at their peak? – which of those among our phalanx of bosses are looking poachable, candidates to follow the Roberto Martinez route to the grim world of 9-1 defeats?

Not many. The upper reaches are populated by men with enough defeats on their CV for their gamekeepers to rest easy. Chris Hughton is still unproven and for all his quiet dignity, would find it hard to attract a higher salary elsewhere, and Ian Holloway has the reputation of an impact manager prone to some high profile catastrophes. On that subject, Olly’s former charges Leicester have the pragmatist Nigel Pearson at the helm, but for all their bright start, he still behaves and acts like a backroom boy Number Two. Down Glamorganshire way, Paulo Sousa has gripped the nettle well at Swansea after the false start at QPR and Dave Jones has probably had his shot at EPL fame (although it would be hard to identify a cannier chief steward than he). Lastly, Roberto Di Matteo could be prone to do a Gianfranco Zola in reverse if a struggling Serie A giant (Lazio perchance?) wanted to chance their arm, but my money would be on his remaining loyal for the moment.

So bosses likely to have their heads turned by truly bigger things are rare this November, but I would single out two exceptions. First, there is the excellent Gary Johnson. Saturday’s debaggie-ing will have underlined again Bristol City’s cementation in the middle reaches but a glance at Johnson’s record shows how warm any assessment of him should be. In laying the groundwork for Latvia’s unlikely appearance at Euro 2004, this man of the capital discovered Marian Pahars, before he returned to Blighty and performed a string of magician’s tricks at Yeovil and the big divided city to its north west. Johnson would be a clever choice for a bigger club should they want to build on strong foundations.

Secondly, there is Mark Robins. Barnsley looked simply not good enough back in September, but now, despite a couple of defeats, their form has exploded, with five proud wins chalked up. Robins hasn’t been at Oakwell more than five minutes, but his friends in high places (someone owes him one rather) might see him ascend to the firmament. Robins’ “conducts himself well on and off the pitch” to employ a cliché and the Tykes are now situated in midtable. It might be a little early for him to move on, but fans of Cardiff, Posh, Donny, Ipswich and West Brom will need no reminding of this emerging talent.

Places Eighteen to Twenty Four in the Championship

The bundle for the Premiership at the top of league has captured the imagination this season, but the current state of affairs at the league's nadir has been no less stirring. While three recent top-flight interlopers try to avoid a repeat of last season, the side propping up the rest of us has ditched the most successful manager in its history after a personal dispute with the Chairman. With a clutch of teams looking susceptible above them, what is the outlook for those that occupy places Eighteen to Twenty Four in the Championship?

Peterborough
So, on the back of a successful two and a half years at Kettering, Mark Cooper, who we should all know by now is the son of Terry, has been assigned the task of steering Posh clear of the drop. This headline probably sums his lot up, but with some plucky talent at his disposal, Posh may only need a good shot in the arm. It'll be tight, but two recent defensive signings bode well: Grimsby centre-half Ryan Bennett was much sought-after and Scott Griffiths, the flaxen-haired left back, was picked out by Lanterne Rouge as Dagenham's best player in Reading's League Cup win at Victoria Road last season. Chances of pulling away from danger: 10%

Ipswich
While Darren Ferguson was, almost to a fault, determined to cherry-pick from the further down the pyramid, Ipswich's Carlos Edwards thinks that his manager needs to look up a level for the solution to the Tractor Boys' draw problem. Having already brought in the Trinidadian and his former Sunderland teammate, Grant Leadbitter, to little effect, one wonders whether borrowing a moneyed Premiership striker with nothing to prove is really the answer. Much ink has been spilled on Ipswich's plight this season, so I won't waste any more. Chances of pulling away from danger: 20%

Plymouth
A dreadful start in which the Pilgrims collected just two points from their first 9 games saw coaches Kevin Summerfield and John Blackley depart. 70s club legend Paul Mariner has come in to revitalize the team's waning spirits, and his initial impact has been good. Confusion lingers over his specific role, though, and while it's an improvement, it all feels a little ad hoc. A settled back four and a return to winning ways at home in deepest Devon could hold the key. Chances of pulling away from danger: 20%

Scunthorpe
Are the Iron the Championship's equivalent of Wigan? They've beaten Newcastle, and comprehensive victories against Palace, Preston and Sheffield United suggest that this lot possess the pedigree, but yet they lie just 2 points clear of Plymouth after a torrid 4-game losing streak. Commentators cite attacking prowess as their best hope for survival, but one worries about the back four. Having already leaked 35 goals, fans will be wondering whether they have the means to tighten up. Chances of pulling away from danger: 20%

Reading
Manager Brendan Rodgers may have soiled his one time immaculate reputation after a weak start to his Royals reign, but the signs are that his charges are capable of pushing on and dragging others into the League One pyre. The home hoodoo has finally been cast off and a more consistent team selection has added much-needed stability. The next four fixtures could well see the Biscuitmen extend their unbeaten run into mid-December. Question marks persist over the ungainly size of the squad and the role of the £2m singing, Matt Mills, but things are brighter than they were. Chances of pulling away from danger: 30%

Derby
The seemingly omnipresent Robbie Savage may be making a decent living from ceaselessly reminding us that 'anybody can beat anybody', but it's clear that this rule doesn't much apply to his own team. Only one win has been recorded against sides from the top half and just two points have been mustered away from Pride Park, making the Rams the worst away side in the division. The fans remain ever loyal, but recent results have been poor and Nigel Clough is probably at his lowest ebb since jumping three divisions. An easing injury 'crisis' might help him straighten County's form, though. Chances of pulling away from danger: 20%

The current bottom six aside, Coventry, who haven't won since September, look the most vulnerable. Crowds are down, confidence is low and their talisman is Clinton Morrison. They've taken fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday's former captain, but I'd venture to say that they are in for a long, hard struggle. Wednesday will hope to replace Wood adequately and move on and up, but progress continues to be hampered by a lack of cash flow. They should be unspectacularly safe, though. Doncaster fans may have lost a little sleep over the last international hiatus after losing at Plymouth, but in truth Rovers look a little too good to go down. Donny, however, will always struggle to field 11 players that are able to play Sean O'Driscoll's style of football to its letter, so they shouldn't get too complacent. The softly-spoken Mark Robins seems to have turned the tide at Barnsley, which will give Mark Cooper at London Road a bit of hope: the Tykes were, after all, rock bottom themselves when Robins replaced Simon Davey after five games.

Places Three to Six in the Championship

Places Three to Six in the Championship have had an amorphous look all season and while the occupants of the automatic spots have an ominous aspect, few would bet on the four currently browsing the magazines in the promotion foyer to be the exact same four come May. We said this about Burnley last year of course, but what are the chances of the current quartet hanging on to those lofty perches?

Leicester City
The Foxes have ground out many a good result this season, not least in Saturday’s late show 1-0 triumph over Plymouth– but they keep on defying us all. Old school in their approach to the game, but intelligent of tactic, they do have a convincing spearhead in the classy Matty Fryatt and his double in the recent win at QPR underlined how essential he is to Leicester. Chances of staying the course: 70%

Swansea City
I think many dismissed Paulo Sousa when he accepted Roberto Martinez’s baton in June – but the Portuguese playing legend has inspired the lilywhites to an eleven game unbeaten march and a cherished victory against their Glamorganshire rivals. Roy Keane may not like draws very much, but they suited the Swans well in September, allowing the side to put down firm foundations and build confidence for their late Autumn fixtures. However, there has been a sense of their creeping up unawares and they still haven’t properly replaced Jason Scotland. Chances of staying the course: 55%

Cardiff City
Bluebirds have that right combination of aggression and skill to challenge the top two but it’s been a difficult two weeks for them. Of course the dispiriting news of Stephen McPhail’s cancer treatment would be a heavy burden for any club to bear, but the freewheeling form of wins against Derby and Watford six weeks or so back has deserted the South Wales club. Tempestuous derbies are never a good way to relaunch seasons; the red mist tending to obliterate the calmness required, but the reverse at Barnsley will have worried Dave Jones. However, I think this mini-run does still have the hallmark of a blip. Chances of staying the course: 80%

Queens Park Rangers
Enchanting in the trio of hammerings meted out to Barnsley, Reading and Derby a month ago, the South Africa Road boys have since turned in some performances that evoke that old, but never over-used phrase, “Fancy Dans”. A few years ago, Danny Dichio proclaimed himself not too keen on away fixtures up north (although he ended up playing there) and so it has proved with the more cultured of today's hooped midfield and attack. Yesterday’s 2-0 defeat at Doncaster was unacceptable for a club with money and pretensions, but not all that surprising. At the moment, it’s just the same old QPR at times. Chances of staying the course: 65%

Underneath this school of teams, Middlesbrough would be the club most would pick out as showing potential, although famous managers don’t always turn round downward spirals. The Blackpool story has been romantic and spirit will serve them well, although they were by all reports comprehensively outplayed yesterday. Nottingham Forest have every chance, but Watford, brilliantly turned round by Malky Mackay, might just come short (although their poorer performances have been in matches they were expected to lose). Lower down, Sheffield United managed to reverse the slide in sneaking past bottom dwellers Peterborough, but will still look on their lack of progress this term with disbelief.

Tonge's no longer stoking the fire

Michael Tonge’s loan move from Stoke to Preston after Tony Pulis’s unsuccessful attempt to establish the languid midfielder as a Premier League player comes as little surprise; his spell at the Britannia Stadium having been as excitement packed as a Cabinet meeting to discuss the Lisbon treaty. Tonge is one of a special breed of players who look the part – and his formative years in some dramatic Sheffield United cup runs were impressive.

Tonge falls into that category of players who have the talent but are outshone by the roundheads surrounding them. Even early on, the likes of Nick Montgomery, Chris Armstrong and Michael Brown would work like beavers around him, with Tonge scarcely breaking into a sweat. It set me thinking of players of a similar type – going back a bit, Chelsea’s Mike Fillery was a classic example, a kind of lo-rent Glenn Hoddle (perhaps the exemplar of this type). He stood out in some lean second flight years in the Eighties but only because the team was so mediocre. More recently, Darren Currie for a range of clubs, Iñigo Idiakez in one special season for Derby County and Junior Lewis at Gillingham showed an ability “to put their foot on the ball”, but quickly faded from view. The Championship is peppered with players who could potentially go the same way – Kris Commons anyone? – but I would trace the decline of this kind of performer to the emergence of all purpose midfielders such as David Beckham – skilled, but also willing to graft. From then on, the Tonges of this would always become a dying breed.

Television review: Football Focus

Football Focus
Wednesdays, 7.30pm (Indian time), ESPN Star
Presented by John Dykes

Nothing to do with Lawro or Dicko, Football Focus is the moniker adopted by ESPN for their weekly magazine show, a broadcast that is aired throughout the Asian continent. Based in Singapore, the programme chiefly provides a showcase for the channel’s exhaustive coverage of the Premier League (which they call the “EPL”), so mentions for the Championship can be at a premium. However, this week, the panel did discuss one key issue affecting our league, so I thought an appraisal of how the game is presented in Asia would be informative.

The interlocutors are an intriguing bunch. First there is presenter John Dykes, a man whose delivery screams the words SKY! despite his employment by a fierce rival. On November 18, he was joined by Shebby Singh, a former Malaysian international and one of the foremost stars in the country’s fairly undistinguished footballing history; north Midlander Paul Masefield, a journeyman with Stockport, Doncaster and Preston in the nineties; and Jamie Reeves, an FA Vase winner with Billericay Town and Stansted a generation before that. Although this might bring to memory Terry-Thomas’s catch phrase of “an absolute shower!”, it should be stated that on a previous visit to Asia, I had witnessed the considerably more decorated figure of Steve McMahon take part in the discussions.

The World Cup qualifiers (step forward Rory Fallon) formed the lion’s share of the debate – ESPN seem to have spent so much money obtaining Premier League rights that they don’t have the wherewithal to show much else - and a major drawback of the show was the severe lack of actual footage (in this it resembles radio based vehicles like the BBC’s Five Live Football League). Nonetheless, it was stimulating to hear a wide ranging discussion of the game from a non-partisan point of view (of course I would be in favour of that), with a heated debate on the format for the Qualifiers providing a highlight. Singh called for weaker regions such as Oceania, South and South East Asia to be grouped together, separately from the powerful East and West Asian nations.

The Championship came in towards the end of the show with the appalling, and thankfully junked proposals of Phil Gartside given undeserved house room. Singh and Reeves shamefully called for the Auld Firm to be included – a reaction to a Philippines based correspondent’s email agreeing with the Two Unfortunates line. Masefield to his credit, Brummie accent getting stronger by the second, pronounced himself firmly opposed to the idea, barely stopping short of swearing out loud. All in all, this is a diverting assessment of the week in Football and worth catching if you happen to be in the region.

What's in a Name?

This is a guest post from Ben Woolhead, co-founder of the esteemed Newcastle United Blog, Black and White and Read All Over. Ben turns his attention to the ongoing furore surrounding the naming rights to St. James' Park.

Earlier this month it was announced that Newcastle owner Mike Ashley had taken it upon himself to rebrand St James’ Park with an unwieldy new name, crowbarring in a reference to his sports firm for the duration of the season to demonstrate the value of naming rights. Cue a storm of outrage from fans, myself included, and a chorus of guffaws from everyone else (apart, perhaps, from fans of Spurs and Chelsea, both of whom subsequently and bizarrely followed our lead and declared themselves open to offers).

Should we have been surprised? No, not really. What else were we to expect of a man apparently hell-bent on a dastardly mission to reduce us to nothing more than a laughing stock, who claimed in all seriousness that the club’s handling of the Keegan affair was ‘an exercise in public relations’?

Is it (he writes, gritting his teeth and temporarily taking on the role of Devil’s advocate) all a lot of fuss over nothing, though? It could be worse - Ashley could have emulated his great business rival, Dave Whelan, a man who’s repeatedly accused our owner of undignified behaviour but who has just renamed Wigan’s ground after himself? (People who live in glass houses shouldn’t wander around in the nude and all that, Dave...)

And after all, branded stadiums are nothing new. This season in the Championship we’ll visit the Ricoh Arena and the Walkers Stadium, and the FA Cup might send us to our customary 3-0 defeat at the Emirates. But these are newly built grounds with no history to speak of, like Huddersfield’s Galpharm Stadium, already onto its second corporate name. A more apt comparison is York’s Kit Kat Crescent, a name so daft that, like ours, it seems parodic.

According to Ashley and his stooge Derek Llambias, the rationale behind the rebranding - one with which prospective buyer Barry Moat has said he agrees - is a simple win-win equation: we get cash, the brand gets valuable exposure.

But it just won’t work like that. For a start, we’re getting nothing from Ashley’s company for this season - nowt, nada, zilch. The (supposed) benefits are all on the firm’s side. In any case, who’s going to shop with them on the strength of the renaming? No one in Newcastle, certainly - it’s going to make us even more determined not to line Ashley’s pockets.

What’s more, having seen all the furore, anger and negative press the rebranding has provoked, which company is really going to want to take on the mantle in the summer? It’s hardly the attractive prospect Ashley envisages. Even the business logic that argues for the benefit of gaining exposure every time the new name is mentioned looks far from sound when you consider that the BBC - gawd bless ‘em - appear to be deliberately steering clear of reference to the stadium. Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes on The Football League Show actually went so far as to make explicit that she wouldn’t be giving Ashley’s firm the oxygen of publicity.

But, still, does the rebranding matter? Well, yes it does, for two reasons.

First, as yet another instance of ‘man of the people’ Ashley riding roughshod over the wishes of the supporters, 23,000 of whom signed a petition and one of whom - MP David Clelland - tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons in protest. The unilateral decision is symptomatic of the contempt with which we’ve been treated over the past two years.

And second, as a tawdry defacing of a century of proud tradition. No doubt for some this casts us in the role of obstinate ostriches, trying to obstruct ‘progress’ and ignoring the modern world in which we live by sticking our heads in the sand. But from here it seems like a short step to leagues full of Red Bull Salzburgs, and that’s a future that doesn’t bear contemplating.