Mick's Match Preview - Watford vs. Derby
Friday, 12th Aug 2011 14:14 by Mick McDermott

From joy to despair in a matter of days - the Rams have slipped back into a familiar story and will look to pick themselves up off the floor at Watford.

Watford v Derby County

Vicarage Rd, Watford

3:00pm - 13th August 2011

Watford – The Hornets

The Hornets went to Burnley for the season opener and raced into a 2-0 lead. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't hold onto that lead and conceded two goals late on to only come away with a draw - A situation that Hornets' fans are familiar with, given the number of times it happened last season.

Hornets boss Sean Dyche gave a debut to four of his summer signings – Dickinson, Yeates, Forsyth, Iwelumo – two of whom provided the goals.

Midfielder Craig Forsyth bought from Dundee for £150,000 could be one of the division's surprise packages according to Sean Dyche; speaking after the Burnley game to the Watford Observer he said;

“Craig absolutely played well, he is very strong physically and he is very honest. He will cover acres for you and those are two great building blocks to have. I think he is a talent and he can play as well."

“You never know he could be a surprise this year and take the league by the scruff of the neck but time will tell."

Dyche goes on to comment that his delivery from wide left is excellent and he's good in the air. With Chris Iwelumo as an aerial threat it's to be hoped Nigel Clough knows this.

Watford Summer Signings

Tom James, free

Carl Dickinson from Stoke,

Chris Iwelumo from Burnley,

Prince Buaben, free

Mark Yeates from Sheff Utd

David Mirfin, free

Craig Forsyth from Dundee

Current Form

P 1 W 0 D 1 L 0 F 2 A 2

Leading Scorers

Forsyth, Yeats

Historical at Watford:

P 18 W 4 D 7 L 7 F 23 A 32

The last game we played at Vicarage Rd was a dismal 3-0 defeat back in January. A poor display where, like Tuesday we conceded three goals before half time - two of the in the dying seconds of the half.

Team: Bywater, Green, Roberts, Barker, Brayford, Addison, Savage, Bailey (Leacock 46), Commons (Pearson 46), Bueno (Davis 84), Porter

Historically we haven't won that often at Watford though we seem to come away with at least a point most of the time. I wonder if any fans remember the game from 1994 when the play-off-bound Rams came out best in a seven-goal thriller?

Current squad

No. Position Player

1 Keeper Scott Loach

2 Defender Lee Hodson

4 Midfield John Eustace

5 Defender Martin Taylor

6 Defender Adrian Mariappa

7 Midfield Mark Yeates

8 Midfield Josh Walker

9 Striker Troy Deeney

10 Striker Chris Iwelumo

11 Midfield Craig Forsyth

12 Defender Lloyd Doyley

13 Keeper Rene Gilmartin

14 Midfield Ross Jenkins

15 Midfield Stephen McGinn

16 Midfield Michael Bryan

17 Defender Dale Bennett

19 Midfield Prince Buaben

20 Striker Marvin Sordell

21 Defender David Mirfin

22 Midfield Sean Murray

23 Midfield Piero Mingoia

24 Striker Matthew Whichelow

25 Defender Eddie Oshodi

26 Midfield Britt Assombalonga

27 Striker Gavin Massey

28 Midfield Chez Isaac

29 Defender Adam Thompson

30 Keeper Jonathan Bond

- Defender Tom Aldred

- Defender Tommie Hoban

- Midfield Connor Smith

Injuries or suspensions

None reported for Watford.

How to get there

Straightforward journey down if you aren't taking the train. M1 south to J5 then take the A4008 into Watford. The ground is near the town centre on the left on the ring road.

Parking

It's not far from the town centre so parking there in the various car parks seems eminently sensible. There are a few car parks on industrial estates nearer the ground. There's also parking to be had at the school on Vicarage Rd but it tends to get congested after the game.

Where to drink

The town centre is about ten minutes walk away so you have all of the pubs there. The natives are friendly and in my experience most pubs admit away fans. There are the usual Wetherspoons etc.

Mick’s Prediction

Tuesday's result bought all the optimism generated by the Birmingham Result crashing down around the ears of Rams fans.

Players rested or played out of position, complacent players and poor tactics - and we were 3 down by half time. We got a couple back but for the third season running, we've gone out to league 2 opposition in the Carling Cup first round.

Watching the highlights, you can see that once again Nigel Clough had not done his homework. Exposing the lumbering Kevin Kilbane to Lionel Ainsworth was a recipe for disaster. It has to be remembered that though Kilbane has been bought in as a left back, his best days were in midfield.

The formation we were playing relied on Stephen Pearson to win the ball and pass to one of his own players - something he doesn't seem to be capable of, yet Clough persists in playing him. Our attacking midfielders were caught up field time and time again, leaving our fullbacks horribly exposed.

This was Shrewsbury. No disrespect - but we made them look good.

Yet Clough doesn't accept the blame himself as all good leaders should. He blames the players and wishes; "more of the fans had been there to see it". When we go behind he sits in the dugout with his hands behind his head - how is that leading the team?

In the grand scheme of things the League Cup is fairly meaningless... But you expect the team to compete in every competition they enter. Not many turned up, okay - but that's no excuse.

Let’s see how they react to that defeat. Are they annoyed and want to set the record straight? They were all willing to be quoted before Tuesday about how they wouldn't take victory for granted - yet they did. Go out and give us a performance against Watford.

We don't demand victory - but we want you to make us believe you gave 100%.

Watford 2-0 Rams