Andy Munro on Blues’ game at Watford.
It’s a shame that after the sterling performance against Charlton, Blues came up slightly short against the Hornets. It’s probably a reflection as to where we are, namely a lower middle of the table side (hopefully) which is still very much work in progress. Having said that I think that the green shoots of recovery are there for all to see and probably the more the team plays together, the better it will become. In football, understanding is nine tenths of the game.
However, on that subject, Tinkerman Clark was at work again with a change in formation to 5-2-2-1. I’m sure Manfred Mann wouldn’t have approved and neither did I. In fact, it never ceases to amaze that managers are often intent on changing their formation just to neutralise the opposition rather than concentrating on their own strengths.
If Watford’s formation was so frighteningly effective, the question has to be posed why most teams aren’t playing it. The Italian connection is still there but it was ex-Brummie Troy (what was his mother thinking of?) Deeney who dealt the killer blow. I suppose we can’t complain about the Italian connection, anyway, with Macheta arriving at Blues but it doesn’t seem right how Watford have worked it…..it’s certainly not good for English football.
However, we nearly snatched something at the death and would have deservedly shared the spoils but it just wasn’t to be. With regard to our late rally, it would have been good to have had the big Serbian as an option to throw on but he’s still obviously out of favour. He certainly polarises opinion, as following his diabolical performance against Yeovil I know of many Bluenoses who never want him to play for the club again. At the same time, others still regard him with a degree of fondness mainly due to his Carling Cup exploits. Either way, I think that while he’s still being paid massive amounts of money we should still utilise him, albeit from the bench. All that matters is that we stay up and, let’s face it, if he comes on with the wrong attitude, the fans will, rightly, soon let him know.