Yesterday, I shared a post with you from the perspective of a Watford F.C. fan about their take on their club and the game on Saturday. Earlier, I had received a request to answer the same questions for their forum www.wfcforums.com, a copy of which, including their preliminary introduction can be found below in this post or at Barnsley FC V Watford FC | OnThePontyEnd.com's View
Incidentally, the Watford Forum also invites away fans to debate on their board if you wish. What are your views on the same series of questions? Here's mine:
Ahead of our game on Saturday, how do you rate your chances of condemning us to another away defeat?
I honestly rate our chances very high. We have had good form at home, with defeats coming at the hands of Cardiff City & a “Sven inspired” Leicester City. Our confidence has risen since we have started picking up points on the road.
Garry O’Connor & Paul Hayes give us more options up front nowadays and Mark Robins can change things up front because of this, if Plan A isn’t working.
About Barnsley FC, tell us something new, something old and something borrowed?
What a great series of questions, they are very tough to answer. Now then, things don’t change much in Barnsley, but let’s have a go.
Something New – Not heard in previous meetings V Watford, “Adam Hammill is a Red, is a Red, is Red, Adam Hammill is a Red, he hates Leeds scum!” which will be ringing from the Ponty End on Saturday.
Something Old – We won the FA Cup in 1912, a feat that has never been achieved by Watford FC!!
Incidentally it was the FA Cup in the previous season that provided the first ever meeting between our two sides, with Barnsley overcoming Watford away from home 0-2 to progress from Round 1.
Something Borrowed – Again, a hard one to answer. It’s probably the (borrowed) time we have left to enjoy Hammill in the Red of Barnsley or even in this league.
What were your pre-season expectations for Barnsley and how are you fairing compared to those?
Since Mark Robins arrived, fans have expected a marked improvement from the Simon Davey era, where we were regularly scraping the basement in the Championship. Given that in March we were dreaming about bothering the play-offs, our end of season was another disappointment.
Most fans are now looking for mid table obscurity as a minimum. Perhaps now, Barnsley are representing the kind of form which will secure that, but our dreams are always bigger than what we’ve grown to expect.
You seem to be building a nice little outfit at Oakwell with some tidy players, but what are your squad’s weaknesses?
Like most teams, once injuries and suspensions kick-in, we don’t have the strength and depth in our back-four we would like, although results over the last three games have not demonstrated that. We have a tendency to lack that killer touch up-front too. Perhaps inconsistency is our weakness.
What would you say the squad’s strengths are?
Our Midfield has shown that they can “Boss” games by killing the opposition in that area and sparking the creativity up-front for goals. If we win that battle, we can win any game.
Who is Barnsley’s star player, squad clown and undervalued gem, in your eyes?
Star Player – Adam Hammill (say no more, you must have seen the goals!)
Squad Clown – It depends on your definition of “Clown”, on a bad day, Luke Steele (Goalkeeper) might have been better positioned at the circus, but I also gather that Jim O’Brien likes to croon in the dressing room with his guitar (to his self penned tunes).
Undervalued Gem – (Sir) Bobby Hassell, a bargain acquisition from Mansfield a number of years ago and the only surviving member of the League One Play-Off winning side (with the exception of Martin Devaney – loaned to Walsall presently) . He can play anywhere across the back-line and is a canny addition to bolster the midfield. Should have won Player of the Year last year!
If you could have any one Watford player for your starting XI, who would it be?
Marvin Sordell interests me the most. He’s young, knows where the onion bag is and is still relatively unknown at this level, which is always difficult to legislate for.
What is your opinion about Watford FC as a club, and as a team?
I have mixed feelings with regard to Watford FC as a club. Over the last thirty years, you have seemingly had more good fortune than us, with a Multi-Millionaire Pop benefactor, top flight football and a few high profile managers to boot. Maybe I should feel sorry for the fans because a lot of resources seem to have been squandered.
As a team, I think you’re very similar in Barnsley in terms of being able to pull out your fair share of good results against the so-called form or big teams. The result on Saturday, whichever way it goes, will not tell us either about how our seasons will end. I think you have to look at other teams and other games.
Incidentally, the Watford Forum also invites away fans to debate on their board if you wish. What are your views on the same series of questions? Here's mine:
Ahead of our game on Saturday, how do you rate your chances of condemning us to another away defeat?
I honestly rate our chances very high. We have had good form at home, with defeats coming at the hands of Cardiff City & a “Sven inspired” Leicester City. Our confidence has risen since we have started picking up points on the road.
Garry O’Connor & Paul Hayes give us more options up front nowadays and Mark Robins can change things up front because of this, if Plan A isn’t working.
About Barnsley FC, tell us something new, something old and something borrowed?
What a great series of questions, they are very tough to answer. Now then, things don’t change much in Barnsley, but let’s have a go.
Something New – Not heard in previous meetings V Watford, “Adam Hammill is a Red, is a Red, is Red, Adam Hammill is a Red, he hates Leeds scum!” which will be ringing from the Ponty End on Saturday.
Something Old – We won the FA Cup in 1912, a feat that has never been achieved by Watford FC!!
Incidentally it was the FA Cup in the previous season that provided the first ever meeting between our two sides, with Barnsley overcoming Watford away from home 0-2 to progress from Round 1.
Something Borrowed – Again, a hard one to answer. It’s probably the (borrowed) time we have left to enjoy Hammill in the Red of Barnsley or even in this league.
What were your pre-season expectations for Barnsley and how are you fairing compared to those?
Since Mark Robins arrived, fans have expected a marked improvement from the Simon Davey era, where we were regularly scraping the basement in the Championship. Given that in March we were dreaming about bothering the play-offs, our end of season was another disappointment.
Most fans are now looking for mid table obscurity as a minimum. Perhaps now, Barnsley are representing the kind of form which will secure that, but our dreams are always bigger than what we’ve grown to expect.
You seem to be building a nice little outfit at Oakwell with some tidy players, but what are your squad’s weaknesses?
Like most teams, once injuries and suspensions kick-in, we don’t have the strength and depth in our back-four we would like, although results over the last three games have not demonstrated that. We have a tendency to lack that killer touch up-front too. Perhaps inconsistency is our weakness.
What would you say the squad’s strengths are?
Our Midfield has shown that they can “Boss” games by killing the opposition in that area and sparking the creativity up-front for goals. If we win that battle, we can win any game.
Who is Barnsley’s star player, squad clown and undervalued gem, in your eyes?
Star Player – Adam Hammill (say no more, you must have seen the goals!)
Squad Clown – It depends on your definition of “Clown”, on a bad day, Luke Steele (Goalkeeper) might have been better positioned at the circus, but I also gather that Jim O’Brien likes to croon in the dressing room with his guitar (to his self penned tunes).
Undervalued Gem – (Sir) Bobby Hassell, a bargain acquisition from Mansfield a number of years ago and the only surviving member of the League One Play-Off winning side (with the exception of Martin Devaney – loaned to Walsall presently) . He can play anywhere across the back-line and is a canny addition to bolster the midfield. Should have won Player of the Year last year!
If you could have any one Watford player for your starting XI, who would it be?
Marvin Sordell interests me the most. He’s young, knows where the onion bag is and is still relatively unknown at this level, which is always difficult to legislate for.
What is your opinion about Watford FC as a club, and as a team?
I have mixed feelings with regard to Watford FC as a club. Over the last thirty years, you have seemingly had more good fortune than us, with a Multi-Millionaire Pop benefactor, top flight football and a few high profile managers to boot. Maybe I should feel sorry for the fans because a lot of resources seem to have been squandered.
As a team, I think you’re very similar in Barnsley in terms of being able to pull out your fair share of good results against the so-called form or big teams. The result on Saturday, whichever way it goes, will not tell us either about how our seasons will end. I think you have to look at other teams and other games.
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