Only 3 months ago Watford were 90 minutes away from reaching the Premier League, but due to an unfortunate 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace The Hornets are welcoming Bournemouth, Doncaster and Yeovil to Vicarage Road and not Manchester United or Chelsea. However, despite the clubs spending most of their recent history in different leagues, Watford and Bournemouth actually have more in common than one would think.Both clubs are owned by wealthy foreign owners who have significantly boosted the fortunes of their respective clubs. Watford's owners are The Pozzo's, whom are also involved at Udinese and Granada, while Bournemouth are owned by the Russian Maxim Demin, with fellow Russian directions who have business at Fortuna Dusseldorf. In addition, both teams have arguably two of the brightest young managers in English football right now in Gianfranco Zola and Eddie Howe respectively.
J: We as fans referred to the experience as a 'Zolacoaster' (in reference to our fantastic manager). We suddenly found ourselves to be one of the bigger clubs in the division with some of the most talented players we'd ever had. However, as this whole experience was new we had no idea what to expect and we were as disappointed with every bad result as we were ecstatic with every good result.Hopefully, as this season we know what to expect from the club and the players, we may have a much smoother ride as fans
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| Vicarage Road: Home of Watford FC |
All the ingredients are there for this match to be an exciting and dynamic affair. Bournemouth are still riding high off their promotion and have won their first two matches this season against Charlton and Portsmouth., The Cherries have not actually lost a competitive match since the 9th of March, with their win over Pompey on Tuesday extending that run to an impressive eleven matches. The main worries for Bournemouth continue to be injuries, with the fitness of stars Matt Ritchie, Mohamed Coulibaly and Brett Pitman still unknown, although the latter looks set to be involved on Saturday.
Their opponents, Watford, have opened their campaign with wins over Birmingham and Bristol Rovers, and The Hornets looked set to be once again involved in the race for promotion. With a sell-out home crowd and confidence flowing through the home team, this looks set to one of the toughest matches Bournemouth will have all season. While long term absentees Nyron Nosworthy and Tommy Hoban will miss out, winger Ikechi Anya is set to return in time for the match.
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| Watford beat Leicester to reach the play-off final last season |
Two Watford fans, James (@JamesxStelzer) and Richard (@truehornet) , were kind enough to answer some questions for me about their club so Bournemouth fans could gain some insight into their opponents.
Although it ended in heartbreak, Watford had a brilliant season last year. What was it like for Watford fans?
J: We as fans referred to the experience as a 'Zolacoaster' (in reference to our fantastic manager). We suddenly found ourselves to be one of the bigger clubs in the division with some of the most talented players we'd ever had. However, as this whole experience was new we had no idea what to expect and we were as disappointed with every bad result as we were ecstatic with every good result.Hopefully, as this season we know what to expect from the club and the players, we may have a much smoother ride as fans
R: It was a poor division last season in reality & there's no doubt we missed a real chance to go up but, despite that, it was a fantastic season - one of my best ever supporting Watford. We played some great football (us Hornets are not used to playing such stylish football you know!), scored a ton of goals and had an absolute ball! It was definitely a 'Zolacoaster' of a season (sorry, couldn't resist it!). We didn't turn up for the play-off final but it was still a great season, one that will live long in the memory.
The Pozzo's ownership and Watford's links with Udinese and Granada have been criticized by many. Do you think this criticism is unfair, given what the club achieved last season?
J: While I can understand where the criticism stems from, no rules have been broken by the club. I feel the criticism of the club and its ownership, especially from other managers, is more of a way to cover up or excuse another clubs short comings and poor results.
The Pozzo's ownership and Watford's links with Udinese and Granada have been criticized by many. Do you think this criticism is unfair, given what the club achieved last season?
J: While I can understand where the criticism stems from, no rules have been broken by the club. I feel the criticism of the club and its ownership, especially from other managers, is more of a way to cover up or excuse another clubs short comings and poor results.
R: It's fair to say that many of us were unsure how the new ownership would pan out this time last season. A year on & we certainly believe - there is little doubt that the Pozzo's have football at heart. You won't see us being called Watford Hornets any time soon! ;-) The criticism we received was, in many instances, unresearched and ill-informed and that was, and still is, frustrating. We broke no rules with the loans last season - any club in the FL could have loaned players like we did. It was easier for us of course with the links with Udinese and Granada, but nothing stopped any other club doing the same. And it was never a long-term strategy, it was always our intention to buy players permanently as we have done this summer. Many clubs have invested silly money to try to progress & move forward. This feels like a much more sensible strategy to try to achieve the same thing. I'd rather be us than see what's happened to the likes of Pompey, Coventry, Leeds, QPR & more...
Are you satisfied with your club's summer transfers?
J: Very very satisfied. All of our important loans have been tied down to permanent contracts. We've also cleared out all of the clutter to lower league clubs with many players who were obviously not good enough for ambitions moving on with their careers. We've also managed to bring in McGugan from Forest on a free transfer, along with a few more players from Udinese and Grenada giving us fantastic squad depth.The only disappointment from the transfer window is the loss of Hogg (to Huddersfield) and Britt Assombolonga (to Peterborough). While neither of these players were vital to our success next season, it was disappointing to see us lose Assombolonga who had been very promising in the preseason, and Hogg who was fantastic
Are you satisfied with your club's summer transfers?
J: Very very satisfied. All of our important loans have been tied down to permanent contracts. We've also cleared out all of the clutter to lower league clubs with many players who were obviously not good enough for ambitions moving on with their careers. We've also managed to bring in McGugan from Forest on a free transfer, along with a few more players from Udinese and Grenada giving us fantastic squad depth.The only disappointment from the transfer window is the loss of Hogg (to Huddersfield) and Britt Assombolonga (to Peterborough). While neither of these players were vital to our success next season, it was disappointing to see us lose Assombolonga who had been very promising in the preseason, and Hogg who was fantastic
R: Without a doubt. Obviously it remains to be seen how the new players gel but there seems little doubt we've brought some real quality in. We have competition in every position and a very strong team spirit. We're certainly hopeful of a good season!
Which players should Bournemouth fans be worried about on Saturday?
J: Acuna and Deeney are a lethal strike force, while Foresteiri (if he starts) has thousands of tricks up his sleeve.
Anya's pace is frightening, while Abdi is a midfield maestro. Last year we had a habit of leaking goals, however the acquisition of Angella and Irriney should ensure that we're solid at the back
Which players should Bournemouth fans be worried about on Saturday?
J: Acuna and Deeney are a lethal strike force, while Foresteiri (if he starts) has thousands of tricks up his sleeve.
Anya's pace is frightening, while Abdi is a midfield maestro. Last year we had a habit of leaking goals, however the acquisition of Angella and Irriney should ensure that we're solid at the back
R: Where do I start?! ;-) If he's fit, Anya has pace to burn & was improving with every single game last season. He's my early bet for player of the season this year. Deeney is always a threat, he's a real handful for any defender. Then there's Forestieri, who has a bag full of tricks, things always seem to happen when he's on the pitch. The fans love Forestieri, he's fast becoming a legend already! And I haven't yet mentioned our player of the season from last season, Almen Abdi, a regular goal scorer and creator from midfield. I could go on I promise but I'll stop there!
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J: I'd like to hope we finish in the top 2, or finish comfortably in the play off places as promotion is definitely the goal this season, however the championship is a tough and unforgiving league so there will be no room for cockiness and consistency is the key
Where do you hope Watford will finish this season?
J: I'd like to hope we finish in the top 2, or finish comfortably in the play off places as promotion is definitely the goal this season, however the championship is a tough and unforgiving league so there will be no room for cockiness and consistency is the key
R: There's a danger that last season has driven expectations too high for this season. I think top 6 is a realistic target and once we're there, we can see where in that top 6 we might be able to get to.
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