It’s fair to say that Watford’s televised fixture with Reading didn’t go quite as we’d hoped. A 1-2 home defeat wasn’t what we needed, and the team will have to bounce back quickly if we are to continue pulling away from the dreaded relegation zone.
HOWEVER, it wasn’t all bad…
As you may have noticed, we at From the Rookery End used the Reading fixture as a bit of an experiment, recording the podcast before, during and after the game and asking you for your input, thoughts and comment throughout the evening -with the aim of featuring as many of your opinions on the podcast as possible. We were delighted with the response, with many of you sharing your thoughts on the topics and questions we posed on Twitter and Facebook.
We also did some live updates here on the blog, along with a few photos, hopefully providing those of you who couldn’t make the game with a feel for how things are going. See how the game unfolded, live, here on the blog.
Here are a few of the questions we put out there, along with a selection of your great responses:
Which player are you most concerned about losing in the transfer window, and which former Hornet would you most like to see return?
In terms of who you didn’t want to see go, it was a toss up between Marvin Sordell and Adrian Mariappa, some of you keen to keep it tight at the back by hanging on to Aidy, whilst others feared for our goal scoring capability should Marvin leave for pastures new. Fair play to Luke Fox (@lukefox88 on Twitter) who was the only one worried about hanging on to Mark Yeates. Congratulations on having a unique suggestion, Luke!
There was an overwhelming consensus that the best player to have back would be Tommy Smith, with a few votes for Ashley Young, Danny Graham and everyone’s favourite puffin muncher – Heidar Helguson. My favourite response came from Jason Chapman on Facebook who called for the return of Paul Robinson. Great shout Jason – Is there anyone out there who wouldn’t like to see ‘Robbo’ back in a yellow shirt?
Podcast co-host Jason missed the first goal as he was answering the call of nature. We asked what Watford moments you have missed, and why?
On Facebook, Rob Bennell remembers missing most of the Cardiff game last year – “Because it was foggy!” You and the rest of us Rob! Several of you have missed crucial goals following in Jason’s steps and going to the loo when you should have been watching the game, whilst Alex Stephenson proves that celeb spotting has no place at football. He told us:
“At the Play-Off Final in 1999, someone next to me said Lennox Lewis was in the stands with us. I looked over to try and see him and missed Nick Wright’s goal“.
Not to worry Alex, I’m sure there will be plenty of other overhead kicks scored by Watford players at Wembley! Our Facebook favourite though, came from Robert Bliss who missed the Play-Off Final in Cardiff:
“I missed the Final in Cardiff as I had to finish my dissertation which was due in the next day. When I say ‘finish off’ I actually mean write 10,000 words! I was pushed for time as I’d only had six months to write it…”
Shame on you Robert, but thanks for sharing and may it be a lesson to all those other Watford supporters currently at University!
Over on Twitter, we had some absolute belters.
Damian Owens (@demonskot) missed a couple of goals in a game with Brentford after taking a wrong turning en route, whilst Jordi Connor (@jordiconnor) missed our 7-2 demolition of Bradford in ’89 as he went to see the Nutcracker Suite ballet instead! Come on Jordi – there is a time and place for culture, and that time is NOT when Watford are playing!
One man had a very good excuse for missing the entire 2002/03 season though. Step forward Matt Page (@matt_s_page) who spent that year out in Bosnia.
Ying and Yang – What have been the best and worst moments in the last month of watching Watford?
A pretty unanimous answer on this one. Michael Kightly.
The good? Seeing him in action for Watford. The bad? Seeing him in action back at Wolves.
I’ll leave you with another one.
The bad? Losing at home to Reading. The good? Hearing from loads of fellow Watford fans and recording another great edition of ‘From the Rookery End’!
The new episode will be out in the next couple of days and you can get it direct from this site, or download it from iTunes. Thanks to you all for taking part – let’s do it again soon!
PS You can see a few pictures from our day over on our Facebook page. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a Facebook member to see them!

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