retired_smelesko

Although never quite "Great", Watford enjoyed a burst of good fortune in the eighties, winning promotion into the Premier Division (then First Division) in 1982, and promptly reaching second place in 1983, followed by reaching (and losing) the FA cup final in 1984. So although they never quite made it big, they used to be in the Premiership, and that's all that matters, for this challenge anyway.

Get back, Watford.


To say things were awkward for the Hornets would probably be a bit of an understatement. Graham Taylor's reign at the club had ended, and the board had been proud to introduce Gianluca Vialli, Italian legend etcetera as their new manager, but he had bowed out last minute, leaving them in the middle of July with nowhere to go.

In their desperation to pull a manager from somewhere (don't ask), they came up with a Dutch unknown, with an affinity for "total football". A bit worrysome, but at least it held the prospect of attractive football. He said he was up for the challenge of returning Watford to the Premiership, eventually, but for now, the board expected a respectable league position.

He had 40 players and 2.5 million pounds to make it happen.

Of those 40 players, 21 were selected to make his Senior squad and 15 for the reserves. Three were transfer listed; 35 year old defender Nigel Gibbs, who was clearly past his prime, 25 year old striker Dominic Foley, who might as well never have a prime, and 27-year old striker Allan Smart, who was loaned out to Hibs when Snellink came into office, and whom he didn't really care to see come back. And then there was Arsenal youth loanee David Noble, whose loan was immediately terminated, due to a staggering lack of skill.

Those 21 players then. Baardsen would be the goalkeeper of choice, a young Norwegian with quite a lot of potential, with old sage Chamberlain as a back-up.
The defensive line would consist of (from right to left) Blondeau, Galli, Issa and Robinson, with Cox, Vega and Ward as the spares.
Nielsen, Vernassa and Hughes were the starting three midfielders, due in part to the fact that Aussie centre midfielder Richard Johnson would be out for most of the season with damaged cruciate ligaments. Glass, Hyde and the also injured Wright (One month, kneecap) were the other midfielders available to him at the time.
His starting forwards were an easy choice, Tommy Smith, Hreidar Helguson and Marcus Gayle would be his main men, with up and coming Noel Gifton-Williams and the Dutch Nordin Wooter, whom after two seasons at Ajax and a stint at Zaragoza had faded into obscurity, being a benchie even at Watford. At least he would be, because he was quite frankly dreadful.

Altogether, he felt he had a decent team available to him, with room for improvement. His main concern was to find a better right fullback, and perhaps another midfielder.

retired_nasty

What game are you using? 01/02?
Are you a Watford fan?

retired_smelesko

I am indeed using 01/02, and I really just picked a team at random, looked up their history on Google, and took it from there.

Early ups and downs.

Snellink strengthened his squad in July with the signing of Blackburn wingback Jason McAteer for £1 000 000, after initially being rejected in pursuing West Ham's Ian Pierce. That same month, two players went out. Nigel Gibbs went to first divisionists Walsall for £40 000, and second divisionists Notts County signed Allan Smart for £100 000.

The pre-season went pleasantly with friendly wins over Chesterfield (3-0) and ADO Den Haag (2-1), and a challenging game against NEC (2-3). Sadly, Noel-Williams picked up an injury during the friendly against NEC, which meanth he would not be available for the season opener against Burnley, but otherwise it was a good indication of how the squad fit together.
A new assistant manager was picked up in the pre-season, too. Swansea coach Glan Letheran was signed on.

Just before the beginning of the season, 19-year old goalie Richard Lee went to Tottenham for £140 000, prompting Snellink to start looking for a new keeper for his reserve squad. The goalie of choice ended up being Port Vale's 20-year old Dean Delaney, who joined the club in a £110 000 deal.

The season started well against Burnsley, with a 1-0 victory thanks to a Gayle header, however the good form wouldn't last through to the next game against West Brom, due partly to a plague of injuries (Gayle, Noel-Williams, Helguson and Johnson) and Issa's call-up to the South-Africa squad. Nielsen did put Watford in the lead, but in the end West Brom proved too strong, and the final score was 1-3, and another injury as Robinson strained a knee ligament.

A slightly fatigued side (still missing Gayle, Helguson and Johnson) then hosted second divisionists Reading for the first round of the League cup, a game that did not start encouragingly as Reading took a rapid 2-0 lead, and despite an attempt to turn things around, things only got worse as Reading set for a final score of 0-3, knocking Watford out. Snellink noted that he wasn't too worried, since the League cup wasn't really something he wanted to be distracted by, but as positively as the off-season had started, the start of the regular season was less then desirable.

retired_smelesko

September Sorrows

Barely a month after moving to Watford, Italian veteran Filippo Galli had come down with a terrible case of homesickness, he complained of not being able to adjust to the English way of life. Snellink understood his problem, and granted him a two week leave of absense, to get his head on straight.

Galli, however wasn't the only one with personal problems. Nordin Wooter was not pleased with the rotation system, and on top of that wanted a new contract. Seeing as how he was not exactly a key member of the squad, no real effort was made to make him happy. Beggars can't be choosers, really, and the only reason he was getting as many games as he did was due to injury issues in the midfield.

August ended with a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest, thanks to goals by Noel-Williams and Vernazza, and with two wins and one loss, Watford found themselves in 13th position.

September was not a great month for Watford, with only 6 points from 6 games. Firsts, Crewe took home three points from Vicarage Road, defeating the Hornets 2-1, Vernazza scoring the only Watford goal. Regular starter Nielsen suffered a groin strain shortly after the game in training, putting him out for about a month.
Barnsley was barely held to a 1-1 tie, thanks to a last minute equaliser by Gayle. Some much needed relief came with a delightful 3-0 win over Grimsby (which went over well with the Board), two goals for hot prospect Noel-Williams and one by Gayle. Then Watford came away with another 1-1 tie, this time with Portsmouth, but with the point came a devastating loss, as Gayle, who had been on a hot streak came off injured. The Watford goal in that match had come from Issa in the 22nd minute. Manchester City then proved an insurmountable challenge, as they waltzed over Watford 3-0 at Maine Road, followed by yet another 1-1 tie for the Hornets, paired with the loss of another first team player, this time Robinson. The 24th minute equaliser came from Hyde.

At the end of the month, Watford found themselves in 16th place, with one game less then most other teams, due to rescheduling of their encounter with Milwall, and within three points of 11th place Bradford. Not entirely living up to promotion ambitions, but reasonably around the board's expectation of respectable league position. The upcoming month would bring the challenges of 7th place Milwall, 1st placed Rotherham, 24th placed Stockport, 10th placed Wolves, 11th placed Bradford, 6th placed Coventry and 13th placed Wimbledon. A busy and tough schedule, but expectations were good as most first team players were expected to return from various injuries by the games against Rotherham and Stockport, and the team seemed to be getting used to the new 4-3-3 system.

retired_smelesko

After a dissapointing start to the season, manager Snellink decided that a slight change in tactics was needed, switching from 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3, to give more cover in the centre of the defense, and gain more dominance on the midfield against sides that mostly played four midfielders to Watford's three. Hopefully, that would create more chances, and ultimately, better results. The adjustment was easy, Snellink could just move McAteer up to the midfield, since he could play in either defense or midfield, as desired.

The new tactic immediately payed off, so it seemed as two goals by Smith and one by Helguson see off Millwall 3-1, altough the sending off of Millwall's defender Bircham might've helped, too. Either way, however, the downward spiral had been broken.
The good fortune continued as league leaders Rotherham were dismissed 2-0 at Vicarage, thanks to goals by Vernazza and Glass.

Much to Snellink's chagrin, West Ham fullback Ian Pearce, whom he had unsuccesfully pursued (up to 1.2 million) had just moved to Crystal Palace for only 850 000. It was mostly sour grapes, really as McAteer was an excellent addition to the Watford squad, but any excuse for a pint.

A bit of an upset followed as last placed Stockport held down the fort at Edgely Park, beating the Hornets 2-1, Watford's only goal coming from Helguson. Poor finishing was to blame, as Glass missed his only chance, while Helguson missed three out of four, Smith was 0 for 1 with shots on target, and both of Gayle's efforts were parried.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers then visited Vicarage Road, and Watford made easy work of them, goals by Smith and Gayle and a 26th minute sending off for Wolves' goalie Oakes meant an easy 2-0 victory, and the Hornets moved up to eight position. However, all could change in the span of one game, as the difference between 3rd place Rotherham and 15th place Sheffield Wednesday was only 5 points.

A chance then came to pass Bradford, who had just eluded Watford's attempts at overtaking them simply by continually having played one more game. They were up by only one point, so a victory here would move the Hornets up to the top 6, as Walsall (7th) also had one more game played were also just a point ahead. Sadly, by halftime it didn't look too good, as Bradford's Eoin Jess put them up 1-0, and Robinson decided to get sent off just before tea after pushing over Makel. A tad harsh of a decision by the referee, objectively speaking, a ****ing crime, according to the Watford crowd that had tagged along. To make matters worse, Makel moved the score up to 2-0 just after half-time, and then it was all over. Once again, dreadful aim handicapped Watford as only 4 of their 14 shots were on target, Helgusson going 3 for 8.

Snellink didn't waste any time complaining about the referee, and appealing Robinson's 1 match ban, claiming that although it had been a foul, it hadn't warranted a sending off. The FA agreed that the standard of refereeing had been very poor, however the ban was held up, which meanth that Robinson would be suspended for the away match with Gillingham in November.

The sour taste of defeat did not linger long, however as four days later, Coventry were brought down 2-1 at Vicarage, thanks to goals by Hughes and Gayle, doing a lot to bring hope back to the Hornets.

Finishing however remained an issue, as Wimbledon took the home victory in the last game of the month, 1-0, and Watford only managed 3 shots on target out of 9 chances.

retired_smelesko

A change of fortune.

Watford's win-lose-win-lose streak continued into November, as the Hornets snatched a 2-0 away victory at Walsall, thanks to second half goals by Hughes and Issa.
In the mean time, Galli's homesickness reared it's ugly head again, and once again Snellink obliged, sending him home to Italy for two weeks, and seriously considering if the veteran with the lonely heart was worth keeping.
Watford then went on to defeat Gillingham, a 1-0 away victory, thanks to a goal by Helguson, none more thanks to a superb performance by Gillingham's goalie. Ramon Vega picked up an injury, straining his knee ligaments, which would keep him out of the running for 3 weeks.
The up streak continued despite a horrible performance by startin goalie Baardsen, who twice over let Norwich gain the lead, until a killer performance by Gayle turned things around. The final score would be Watford 4, Norwich 2. Goals by Smith, Helguson and two by Gayle.
At this point, Watford's hot streak had propelled them to a season-high fifth place, ahead of Rotherham and behind Coventry on goal difference and suddenly really challenging for promotion, only 6 points behind league leaders Manchester City at the end of October, and earned forward Tommy Smith a well-deserved Player of the Month award.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English First Division - Saturday 1st December 2001********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Man City 19 6 3 0 20 9 5 3 2 22 13 39 2nd W.B.A. 18 9 0 0 25 5 3 2 4 9 9 38 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Bradford 19 6 3 1 15 5 4 1 4 12 10 34 4th Coventry 19 8 1 1 20 7 1 5 3 11 14 33 5th Watford 19 6 1 2 18 10 4 2 4 10 11 33 6th Rotherham 19 5 3 2 17 13 4 3 2 12 12 33 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Sheff Wed 19 6 1 2 19 12 4 1 5 15 16 32 8th Nottm Forest 19 6 2 1 20 11 2 4 4 13 19 30 9th Wimbledon 19 6 2 2 13 6 3 1 5 12 18 30 10th Walsall 19 4 1 5 15 17 4 4 1 17 14 29 11th Millwall 18 4 1 4 14 15 5 1 3 16 15 29 12th Wolves 19 7 2 1 22 11 1 2 6 12 20 28 13th Crewe 19 6 3 0 25 13 2 1 7 14 27 28 14th Birmingham 19 5 2 2 17 9 2 4 4 9 12 27 15th Sheff Utd 19 7 1 2 18 14 1 2 6 9 21 27 16th Gillingham 19 3 3 3 14 14 4 1 5 17 19 25 17th Portsmouth 19 4 2 4 14 12 3 1 5 11 16 24 18th Grimsby 19 5 2 3 21 15 2 0 7 11 22 23 19th Barnsley 19 4 3 2 16 12 1 4 5 8 15 22 20th Crystal Palace 19 4 0 5 20 19 1 1 8 12 20 16 21st Preston 19 3 4 3 9 10 1 0 8 10 25 16 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22nd Burnley 19 1 3 5 5 9 2 2 6 5 11 14 23rd Stockport 19 1 3 6 15 20 2 1 6 10 16 13 24th Norwich 19 3 1 5 8 14 0 1 9 5 25 11 ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Fixtures========================================== ================================================== ====Date Opposition Ven Competition Res Attend Scorers-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20.7.01 Chesterfield A Friendly 3:0 2152 Robinson, Issa, Nielsen25.7.01 NEC HOL A Friendly 2:3 3642 Wooter 229.7.01 ADO HOL A Friendly 2:1 1682 Helguson, Smith11.8.01 Burnley A First Division 1:0 18307 Gayle18.8.01 W.B.A. H First Division 1:3 18725 Nielsen21.8.01 Reading H League Cup 1st Rnd 0:3 11356 27.8.01 Nottm Forest H First Division 2:1 16368 Noel-Williams, Vernazza8.9.01 Crewe H First Division 1:2 14519 Vernazza12.9.01 Barnsley A First Division 1:1 14924 Gayle15.9.01 Grimsby H First Division 3:0 13533 Noel-Williams 2, Gayle22.9.01 Portsmouth A First Division 1:1 12633 Issa26.9.01 Man City A First Division 0:3 31459 29.9.01 Sheff Utd H First Division 1:1 14593 Hyde3.10.01 Millwall A First Division 3:1 19405 Helguson, Smith 213.10.01 Rotherham H First Division 2:0 14309 Vernazza, Glass16.10.01 Stockport A First Division 1:2 9672 Helguson20.10.01 Wolves H First Division 2:0 14682 Smith, Gayle23.10.01 Bradford A First Division 0:2 19857 27.10.01 Coventry H First Division 2:1 16875 S.Hughes, Gayle31.10.01 Wimbledon A First Division 0:1 9761 3.11.01 Walsall A First Division 2:0 9599 Hughes, Issa17.11.01 Gillingham A First Division 1:0 11457 Helguson24.11.01 Norwich H First Division 4:2 14912 T.Smith, Gayle 2, Helguson</pre>

retired_smelesko

There'll be a short break, I have my family visiting over from the Netherlands, so I won't be writing. Starting Thursday though, I'm going to the Prem! (Maybe)

retired_smelesko

On December 1st, Galli returned from his holiday, just in time for the encounter with Sheffield Wednesday. For the game against Wednesday Snellink started Baardsen in goal; Issa, McAteer and Robinson would be the defensive three; Nielsen (c), Vernazza, Hughes and Glass would be the midfield and the attackers would be Smith, Helguson and Gayle. On the bench would be Chamberlain, Galli, Hyde, Wooter and Noel-Williams. Watford took the lead in the 18th minute as Gayle headed in a cross by Nielsen, and five minutes later the score was doubled as Helguson scored his fifth of the season, heading in a Vernazza cross. Sheffield's Scott then grabbed one back in the 34th minute, keeping the game close. Just before half-time, the score went up to 3-2, as Gayle headed home his second of the night, and an undeterred Sheffield took another one back through an Ekoku volley.
Then, in the 54th minute, Vernazza scored a stunner that would certainly be nominated for goal of the month, as he latched on to a low cross by Nielsen just outside the area, turned past Soltvedt, ran past Harkness and buried a ringer in the top corner to make it 4-2, making it look like the game was in the bag. Until the 80th minute, when Ekoku made it a close game once more, but after that Sheffield never quite managed enough to get a chance at the equaliser.
Watford 4-3 Sheffield Wednesday

As Burnley had held Coventry to a scoreless draw, the magnificent 4-3 victory put Watford in 4th place, still only one point behind Bradford.
On December 2nd, Mica Hyde's contract came to within 6 months of expiry as well, leaving him open to negotiation by other teams, as he doesn't believe that Watford can meet his demands, despite the offer of a £7 000 a month raise. Meanwhile, Wooter decided to turn down the offer made to him by Watford, after not getting offered the £10 000 a month pay raise he requested.
On December 3rd, Watford tied up the contract of 18 year old left fullback Nick Williams.

It became evident rather rapidly that the wage bill was pressing on the clubs finances too much, and the club would go in the red by the end of December if something wasn't done soon. Snellink, too realised this, putting Blondeau, Vega and Wright on the transferlist, which would relieve about £125 000 a month, as well as hopefully bring in about £ 2 000 000.
On December 5th, Watford faced Preston, who were in imminent danger of getting relegated. It looked to be an easy victory as all the chances went to Watford, and a strong dominance over the game was maintained throughout, which first showed in the 10th minute as Gayle headed the 1-0 home after a beautiful cross by Nielsen, scoring his 10th of the season. It stayed that way for almost 45 minutes, until in the 53rd minute, Hughes made himself available for the pass just outside the penalty box, and then took it in and scored a lucky goal after a speculative right-footed shot. Then, in the 70th minute, Helguson sealed the win by volleying home a chip from Hughes completely umarked to make it three-nil, and in the last minute, Issa set the final score at 4-0 by outjumping the goalkeeper on a floating corner by Hughes and planting the ball in the net.
Watford 4-0 Preston North End

The win gave Watford more distance from Rotherham and Coventry who lost to Nottingham Forest and Gillingham respectively, and tied them for third place with West Brom, although West Brom had 2 less games played.

On December 6th, Portsmouth offered a contract to Micah Hyde, and it looked likely that he'd leave Watford in pursuit of better wages and first team football.
Watford tied up contracts with goalie Espen Baardsen for 6 years, as well as hot prospect Thomas Neill, a 20 year old right fullback who signed for another 5 years.

Then, the match against Crystal Palace, with a highly altered squad due to fatigue, leadin to a boring 1-1 draw, with goals by Wooter and Bogarde.
Crystal Palace 1-1 Watford

On December 8th Northampton fired their manager, and offered the spot to Watford coach McDermott, prompting Snellink to start looking for a new coach.
The next day, some bad news came as the draw for the FA cup put us against Tottenham. There was excitement and despair, where some were talking about a possible upset, others were talking about a massacre that might wreck morale, although that itsself didn't show much morale.

On December 11th, two players left the club, Blondeau went to AA Gent for £375K, and Wright went to Portsmouth for £825k. That same day, Micah Hyde agreed terms with Portsmouth, and agreed to join them on a free on June 4th.

On December 14th, Swiss veteran defender Ramon Vega left Vicarage road for Derby, earning Watford a cool 1.1 million pounds. The 19 time international wasn't getting many games, and earned too much to sit in the stands.

Then, Birmingham came to visit on Vicarage Road, and they were sitting in a dissapointing 14th place, despite their strong squad. However, they were coming out, all guns blazing, and 15 minutes into the game, Andy Johnson gave them a 1-0 lead. After securing the lead, they fell back on defence, and let Watford start making the play, which was exactly what the Hornets needed to get into the game. Four minutes later, Vernazza netted his fifth of the season, smashing a low cross by Gayle home in the bottom corner. Birmingham then realised that it needed a little more focus on the attack, but the damage was done, and Watford had kicked into gear. In the 52nd minute, Helguson picked up a loose ball that Bennett had punched away, and made the finish, and despite efforts from both sides, that would be the final goal.
Watford 2-1 Birmingham

On December 16th, John McDermott accepted the job as Northampton's new manager, leaving one spot open on the coaching staff that would need filled.
On December 17th, 2 time Dutch international Ferdinand Vierklau signed for Watford, coming over from Ajax for £700 000, which meant a significant improvement of the defense. Contrary as it may have seemed with the needed budget cuts, some transfer money had been made available, and with an eye on the excellent league form, and the high possibility of promotion, Snellink wanted to prepare his squad for the Prem, so they wouldn't go back down with 2 points from 38 games.

Then, possibly one of the biggest games of the year came around, packing almost 20 000 fans in Vicarage Road, anxious to see how the Hornets would fare against league leaders Manchester City. As it turned out, quite well, as the game ended in a scoreless draw, which is a good result against City any time. Helguson did manage to lay one in, but it was denied as he had been off side.
Watford 0-0 Manchester City

On December 23rd, Cees Koppelaar signed on as our new coach, and negotiations started with Chamberlain to sign on to the coaching staff, as Snellink discovered that he had considerable coaching skills. Assistant Manager Glan Letheran was sacked, in order to promote Kevin Hitchcock to that position.

Then, on Boxing Day it was off to face Nottingham Forest, who started off strong with David Johnson making a spectacular run up the middle, and coolly putting it in the net to give Forest a 8th minute lead, which doubled in the 22nd minute as Stern John picked up a long clearance by Louis-Jean, and hit it in low to make it 2-0. However, Watford fought back and in the 60th minute, Vernazza put a low pass in the area which Glass layed off to Smith who made the one-touch pass to Hughes who then blasted it in the top corner. Two minutes later, the score was tied as Helguson picked up a loose ball that Vierklau had headed upfield and scored the 2-2. The final goal of the game came as Noel-Williams, who had replaced Helguson picked up a goal kick, and took it upfield straight through the defense and in to the penalty area, making it look very easy as he planted the ball behind Darren Ward.
Nottingham Forest 2-3 Watford

Burnley was next, a side that was at serious risk for relegation, and Watford wasn't looking to give them a break. Helguson quickly opened the score after a beauty of a solo run down the left side by Robinson, who then floated the ball in, leaving a simple header at the near post. In the 25th minute, Glass chipped the ball into the area, where Helguson again proved his aerial prowess by beating Burnley's goalie and heading home his tenth of the season to set the score at 2-0, and despite a plethora of chances for Watford, that would also be the final score.
Watford 2-0 Burnley

On the last day of the year, the Manager of the Month award went to Watford manager Snellink, finishing off a very busy, but succesful month of December, and putting Watford in contention for promotion at the end of the season.

retired_smelesko

In the first game of 2002, Watford went to visit direct competition. West Bromwich Albion were the opponents, in one of the bigger games of the year, one that had profound impact on the race for promotion. Both teams of course came out in their strongest form, and it showed as an attractive game saw chances on both sides throughout the game, though it took 77 minutes for the blank score to be broken, as Helguson blasted in a long shot, putting Watford up one, prompting West Brom to go all out, but to no avail, and Watford took second place as Bradford had lost 4-1 to Grimsby.
W.B.A. 0-1 Watford

Two future signings proved a good start to the year for Watford as Aston Villa's right midfielder Steve Stone and Newcastle's defensive midfielder Robert Lee agree to join them in the summer.

Then, the FA cup match against Tottenham, bringing in a big crowd looking for an upset. Tottenham, however had no intentions of letting that happen, and two goals by Iversen and one by Poyet put a definitive end to any cup aspirations Watford might have had, and also gave Snellink something to think about for the next season, if they were to go up.
Watford 0-3 Tottenham

To add injury to insult, Helguson bruised his thigh, and would be out for ten days after the game against Tottenham.

On a cold, drizzly and miserable saturday, Barnsley came to Vicarage Road, and the approximately 15 000 fans in attendance had no idea of the spectacle about to befall them. Six minutes into the game, Gallen headed in a corner by Donovan to open the score for Barnsley, and within 15, Rankin had doubled the damage, heading in a cross from Donovan after a nice run down the right from the latter. Watford, however weren't about to let Barnsley run them flat, and it showed as Nielsen put in a low cross for Hughes to pull one back two minutes later, giving Hughes his 5th of the season. Then, a piece of sublime skill by Noel-Williams again showing his impressive skills, as he took a chip from Smith, held up the ball, then turned it away from Palmer, ran it into the box and then simply laid it off smoothly for Vernazza who was left with the easy finish to tie the game, all in the first half hour. McAteer then took the ball upfield from his own half, easily taking it past Kevin Dixon, before chipping it to Nielsen, who with a single touch squared it for Vernazza, who was completely unmarked and scored a pot-shot just before half-time.
After half-time then, the score-fest continued as Noel-Williams again proved his flair and technique, taking a solo run through the defence, past Neil and Gorré, hitting it in high and hard to score a beauty of a goal, giving Watford a 4-2 lead in the 55th minute. His fifth of the season also. Another fifth of the season came for Tommy Smith, who blasted in a comet after Glass had laid it off to him, setting the score at 5-2 after 58 minutes. Then, with 15 minutes to go, Noel-Williams secured his man of the match award by heading in a corner by Hughes. The final score, however would be 6-3, as Hayward played a nice pass on the run of Gallen, who took it on the bounce and scored a very nice goal.
Watford 6-3 Barnsley

The 6-3 win would turn out to be a new record high scoring game.

Some more injury trouble surfaced on the 15th, as Paul Robinson twisted his knee in training, and was put out for two weeks. In the mean time, Richard Johnson, Watford's talented defensive midfielder who'd missed all season due to damaged cruciate ligaments agreed to go to Tottenham on a free transfer at the end of the season, much to Snellink's annoyance, as he'd been pegged for a first team spot.

Then it was off to Grimsby at Blundell Park, and they had freshly keeled over Bradford 4-1 a short while ago, and also tied with Man City, and they were fancying themselves as somewhat of giant killers. That image, however seemed to take a dent when Groves jumped unfairly with Vierklau and conceded a penalty, which Tommy Smith converted into a 1-0 lead. In the 41st minute that lead doubled as Helguson picked up a rebound after Coyne failed to hang on to a volley by Gayle. In the second half, however Grimsby started turning the tables, as Pouton caught Baardsen out of position to make it 1-2 in the 59th minute, and in the 76th minute, Livingstone ran perfectly onto a deep pass by Burnett and drove the equaliser in low and hard. Vernazza however prevented the loss of points for Watford, as Gayle headed down a Nielsen cross, and Vernazza volleyed it home.
Grimsby 2-3 Watford

McAteer was banned for one match after collecting his fifth yellow during the game against Grimsby, the ban went into effect on February first.

Glass sprained his ankle in training at the end of the month, which put him out for most of February, but the month ended with a happy note as Snellink won Manager of the Month.

Watford were now in second place, with a 2 point cushion to West Brom and 5 points on Bradford, and only 6 behind league leaders Manchester City

retired_smelesko

After a 13 game unbeaten streak in the league, a single goal by Millwall's Neil Harris meant Watford's first loss since November 3rd.
Watford 0-1 Millwall

February continued miserably as Crewe trampled Watford 3-0 at Gresty Road, and all of the sudden the comfy 5 point lead to Bradford went down to 2, while West Brom passed them with one game in hand. With 15 games to go, a little dip wasn't too bad, but Snellink knew he'd better turn things around quick.
Crewe 3-0 Watford

West Brom however didn't slip up as they beat Birmingham 2-1, thus securing a 4 point lead on Watford.

The game against Portsmouth then seemed like a good time to turn the tide, and it looked all right as Helguson got the lead with a 39th minute header, finishing off a cross from Hughes, and Robinson sealed the deal with 1 minute to go. The last second goal by Primus wasn't enough, and Watford broke their short losing streak, and the sights were set back on promotion.
Watford 2-1 Portsmouth

Rotherham then came to visit Vicarage Road, and Espen Baardsen started the match of well for Rotherham by getting himself sent off, 8 minutes in to the game. Rotherham then converted the penalty without problems. Despite the man down, Watford held themselves alright, until the 41st minute when Talbot made it past McAteer, Robinson and Hughes to shoot home the 2-0, which made things look desperate, to say the least. Gayle however brought a shimmer of hope, as he blasted a slider in across the wet grass to take one back just before half time off the post.
After half-time, McAteer even managed to get Watford tied, after Nielsen nodded on a pass by Vierklau, he picked it up and shot it in hard and low, making his first ever goal for the Hornets. Noel-Williams then took a nice pass from Nielsen and turned on it brilliantly, then drove it in low to send Watford home with a win despite the odds.
Rotherham 2-3 Watford

Baardsen however would be banned for three games, which Snellink appealed, claiming that it was a tad excessive, but the FA didn't budge.
Vierklau then stubbed his toe in training, which meant he'd be out for games against Wimbledon, Sheffield United and maybe even Stockport.

Visitors came to Vicarage Road again on February 23rd, midtable Wimbledon, who took the lead in the 11th minute as Shipperly powered a header at goal. Hughes then tied the game at 32 minutes, blasting it in low from a ways out, and by half time it was 3-1, as Wooter tipped in a rebound from Helguson and Vernazza volleyed in a Nielsen cross.
Wooter then layed the ball off to McAteer in the 67th minute, and Jason made no mistake, taking the score up to 4-1. Wimbledon did get one back, but not nearly enough.
Watford 4-2 Wimbledon

The month ended well, with Watford in third place, very close to the leaders, with a month of easy fixtures and one big one (the game against Bradford) coming up.