[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Murder at the Vicarage: Albion's first-ever competitive trip to Watford ends in a 3-0 defeat, 11th September 1983

It's never a great introduction to the season when you come away from the opening game thinking "well, at least it was only three."  But Monday night left us crossing our fingers that some of last year's leftover problems - the tendency for our defence to switch off and/or get done for pace, the lack of real creativity in the centre of the park, the ineptitude in basic passing - can be solved quickly, before more teams punish us.  Signings like Lambert, Gnabry and Rondon have buoyed hopes a little, though talk that the latter will be missing this weekend due to "lack of match fitness" is a nasty bit of deja vu I thought we'd left behind with the Irvine experiment.  But somehow, we need to find a response to Monday night's setback and deliver an improved performance at Vicarage Road this weekend.  Points on the board aren't an absolute necessity at this point in the season, but the longer you go without them, the more the pressure builds...

Albion's Carl Hoefkens tries to escape unmolested from Watford's Adam Johnson, 3rd November 2007

Watford are historically interesting opposition for us.  A quintessentially lower league side until the 1970s, the Hornets' fortunes were changed permanently by the famous partnership of Graham Taylor and Elton John (a partnership which, frankly, they're welcome to keep).  They became a regular fixture for us over the next quarter of a century, though recent meetings have been more scarce.  The good news?  We haven't lost a league match at Vicarage Road since 1994.  The bad news?  We haven't won there since 2007.

Here and now, Watford's priority will be building on their excellent draw at Goodison last week by clinching that all-important first home win, and naturally they'll target us as fair game for that win.  Their promotion-winning side has been augmented by quality additions like Valon Behrami and Etienne Capoue, and there's no doubt they'll pose plenty of problems up front.  The question is whether we can overcome our own slightly-ponderous attacking style to exploit any weaknesses they have.

An Andwele Slory cross, a Chris Brunt header, and one point closer to the Premier League, 5th April 2010

I'd be more than happy with a point at Vicarage Road to get us off the mark.  A few pieces of the jigsaw need swapping around - a few may still need to be added - but in the meantime, with a bit of guile and concentration, we should be capable of keeping things ticking over.

COME ON YOU BAGGIES

[betterthanbaird]

I fancy a score draw here.

I think Yacob will (and definitely should) come into the team. Gnabry in for Gardner too (hopefully).  I'm not sure about McLean but he may well join McManaman on the bench. I'd like Chester and Dawson to swap round but I can't see it happening, Chester is quite short for a centre back in anyone's book especially Pulis'. I think we may well have an extra body in midfield, so Yacob and Fletcher with Morrison in front (did Pulis suggest this or did he just say 442 was wrong specifically for the City game with their quality?). I can't see Rondon starting but he'll get a place on the bench imo, Rickie will start again up front and Saido will probably be out wide (which is a shame for me I think he can play as an attacking midfielder/second striker/no 10 who helps a bit in midfield).

Watford have made a lot of signings and they have a lot of quality to threaten us. Deeney has been quality in the championship and his size will cause problems, Ighalo is a capable goal scorer and Vydra's pace will be dangerous off the bench. They'll probably score but I think we will too.

Let's try to be positive for this one and not be too down about the City game.

[WBA-Josh]

GK - Myhill 

RB - Chester 
CB - Dawson
CB - Lescott 
LB - Brunt 

RM - McManaman
CM - Yacob
CM - Fletcher
LM - Berahino

AM - Morrison

ST - Lambert

Subs
Rose
McAuley
Gardner
McLean
Sessegnon
Ideye
Rondon

[talkSAFT]

"I'd like Chester and Dawson to swap round but I can't see it happening, Chester is quite short for a centre back in anyone's book especially Pulis'."
.......................................................................................................................................................
Why did we buy Chester then? And he's too short for a Pulis fullback!

We should be targeting this game as a 3-pointer. Please, no more 10 man defence. If we haven't got the confidence to go for 3 pts tomorrow, we might as well go and play Championship football. No disrespect to Watford (I know nothing about them), but come the end of the season, we'll be wishing we'd got more than 1 point from games like these. It won't be easy, but if we're going to hope for breakaways all season long, we're going to finish bottom.

[aries22]

I remember the game at Vicarage Road in the spring of 2000. We were 2-0 down at half-time and the Watford announcer mischievously asked Frank Skinner on the pitch what he thought, and Frank said the game wasn't over and that 'he who laughs last laughs longest'. Sure enough, Albion came out all guns blazing and were 3-2 up with minutes to go when Watford got an equaliser.
Edit:
As Ska'd points out, this game was in December 2000. I've only ever been to Watford twice, you'd think I'd remember it!

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

I remember the game at Vicarage Road in the spring of 2000. We were 2-0 down at half-time and the Watford announcer mischievously asked Frank Skinner on the pitch what he thought, and Frank said the game wasn't over and that 'he who laughs last laughs longest'. Sure enough, Albion came out all guns blazing and were 3-2 up with minutes to go when Watford got an equaliser.

Almost the perfect match (although it was actually December 2000).  What a goal to add to Sneekes' outstanding collection!

[Squirrel Regis]

 Anyone know any good pubs for a pre match pint in Watford ?
3 pts would be nice but a draw not the end of the world.
C O Y B

[Luke_East_Baggie]

Apparently there's a few pubs and an away pub about a 100 yards from the ground. Not sure which 1 we will end up in, but whichever looks like it has the most away fans in, and probably have 1 or 2 in the town first before heading there

[DanTheSmethwickMan]

Myhill
Dawson McAuley Olsson Brunt
Gardner Yacob Fletcher Mozza
Lambert Berahino

[May68]

Is Chester injured? Or has our £8m signing been dropped after one game?