Topic: Watford

[Redsnappa]

Wasn't it beautiful seeing Roy Hodgson CBE getting completely humiliated 1-5 in his last Watford home game by a shit Leicester team?

I hope that sustains the arrogant prick throughout his retirement.

[Lusty]

Watford isn't London or even Greater London.

Interesting looking at that map and seeing how many teams there are from the south/south east. That's a big swing compared to a few years ago when the likes of West Brom, Stoke, Sunderland, Cardiff, Swansea, Wigan, Hull were all parts of the Premier league at some point.

Brighton, Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham added to the PL regulars (Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham, Chelsea, Southampton, Palace) means you have half the PL in the south east or on the south coast.

If you went back to 2011/12 there was 8 clubs from the North West (Liverpool, Everton, Bolton, Blackburn, City, United, Wigan, Stoke).

I think that map comes the closest I can remember to properly representing the population density in England.  Could do with one of the Bristol clubs coming up at some point then it would be perfect.

[Iska]

How come the southwest is so underrepresented?  Exeter and Plymouth are quite big, let alone Bristol, how come none of them can support a decent team?  Is it rugby country or something?

I know nothing about the place except it’s big for smugglers, but looking at that map East Anglia’s just as empty but most years one of Norwich or Ipswich is up or knocking on the door.  The nearest thing the southwest has managed to a top-flight side in my time watching footy is Bournemouth and an absolute non-event of a year with Swindon, and I don’t think anyone would say either of these is even in the southwest.

[newterp]

It would be amazing if Watford told Roy to not show up for the last game of the season.

[Jookie]

How come the southwest is so underrepresented?  Exeter and Plymouth are quite big, let alone Bristol, how come none of them can support a decent team?  Is it rugby country or something?

I know nothing about the place except it’s big for smugglers, but looking at that map East Anglia’s just as empty but most years one of Norwich or Ipswich is up or knocking on the door.  The nearest thing the southwest has managed to a top-flight side in my time watching footy is Bournemouth and an absolute non-event of a year with Swindon, and I don’t think anyone would say either of these is even in the southwest.

The south west is a bit of an anomaly. I'm assuming Bristol is the biggest city in England never to have had a team in the PL. Like you say Plymouth and Exeter aren't small places either. No idea why they haven't had more success and why their clubs seem relatively small given the size of the respective cities.

In terms of East Anglia, they have 3 biggish town and cities -  Norwich, Ipswich and Peterborough. Norwich and Ipswich both have quite big support. Norwich get support not just from Norwich but from across Norfolk. It's the same with Ipswich and Suffolk. I was surprised when I moved to Suffolk and there was big Ipswich support in places like Haverhill, Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds. Haverhill is about 50 miles away fro Ipswich and a fair few of the locals still support Ipswich. Bury St Edmunds is about 30 miles away and I'd say the majority of locals support Ipswich.
 
Cambridge isn't necessarily East Anglia but they are a small football club for the size of the city. I don't even really think it's a rugby town either. Their rugby union side is 3rd tier. Canterbury is another biggish place like that. No real sports teams of any note  -  football or otherwise.

[Crosby Nick]

The South West in general is a bit of a rugby hotbed at grassroots level I think. Played a lot in Cornwall and Devon. Then in the top flight rugby there’s Bristol, Bath, Gloucester and Exeter.

Bristol as a city does have a big football following too. City are owned by Steve Lansdowne who I think is one of the richest men in the country but he runs them properly/is a bit of a mingebag depending on who you talk to. He also owns the rugby club and not sure if he’s more of a rugby supporter or it’s just easier to compete at the top there with things like the salary cap in place. They were also in the top flight in the late 79s/early 80s and maybe have just missed out by virtue of not being in the mix at the launch of the Premier League era.

3-4 years ago they looked like they could challenge for promotion but seem to have got steadily worse since then.

[blacksun]

The South West in general is a bit of a rugby hotbed at grassroots level I think. Played a lot in Cornwall and Devon. Then in the top flight rugby there’s Bristol, Bath, Gloucester and Exeter.

Bristol as a city does have a big football following too. City are owned by Steve Lansdowne who I think is one of the richest men in the country but he runs them properly/is a bit of a mingebag depending on who you talk to. He also owns the rugby club and not sure if he’s more of a rugby supporter or it’s just easier to compete at the top there with things like the salary cap in place. They were also in the top flight in the late 79s/early 80s and maybe have just missed out by virtue of not being in the mix at the launch of the Premier League era.

3-4 years ago they looked like they could challenge for promotion but seem to have got steadily worse since then.

This is very much it, I was born in Somerset and there were no teams at a decent level anywhere near me, the Bristol teams would have been the closest. Thankfully my cousin was a Red and gave me a hat and scarf from one of the 70's cup finals and I was a red for life.

[Red Beret]

It would be amazing if Watford told Roy to not show up for the last game of the season.

Like I said earlier, I'm surprised they didn't sack him after his jollies after the Crystal Palace match.  He was brought in to do a very specific job and utterly failed at it. After that game there was no need for him to stick around.

[Samie]

https://twitter.com/AdamLeventhal/status/1633145523447234561

Watford FC breaking: Slaven Bilic has been sacked after six months in charge.

[Red-Soldier]

https://twitter.com/AdamLeventhal/status/1633145523447234561

Wilder, who has agreed a contract until the end of the season, is Watford's ninth full-time manager since Javi Gracia left in September 2019.

Since Gracia was sacked just four months after taking the club to the 2019 FA Cup final, Quique Sanchez Flores, Nigel Pearson, Vladimir Ivic, Xisco Munoz, Claudio Ranieri, Roy Hodgson, Edwards and now Bilic have all had spells in charge.

[semit5]

I recommend they give Fat Sam a call, he’s not been there yet has he?

[gerrardisgod]

Wilder getting sacked already

There are an utter farce.

[frag]

Giving a manager an 11 game contract and sacking them 6 games in would be peak Watford.

[Ray K]

Wilder getting sacked already

There are an utter farce.

@WatfordFC
The Hornets confirm Chris Wilder will remain the club’s Head Coach until at least the end of the 2022/23 season, as per the terms he and Watford FC agreed upon his appointment in March.

***
Our 'Chris Wilder is not getting sacked' statement has people asking a lot of questions already answered by our statement.

[Riquende]

As an ex-Luton native with a Hatter for a best mate, watching Watford being typically Watford is great... from above them in the table.

[Fromola]

We've finally seen the back of these and West Brom for a good while if they don't get back up while they've got the parachute money.

[Samie]

Valerien Ismael was sacked last night.