0:00

Hello

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and

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welcome

0:07

to

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From

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the

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Rookery

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End.

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It's

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a

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Thursday.

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We are here at the Duke of Cornwall

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on Fulham Palace Road. Just over the road

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from Hammersmith Station. And there's a big old

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gang of us here from from the Rookery

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End and the extended Watford family here tonight.

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And on the pod, we're going to hear

0:41

from a number of voices I think on

0:43

the pod today, but with me right now

0:46

to kick things off. We've got Mike. Very

0:48

good evening to you David. We've got Jordi.

0:50

Hello. And we got Kieran. Good evening. So

0:52

I think tonight lads it might be a

0:54

game where we have to make our

0:57

own fun Because team news is going

0:59

to be out in about three minutes

1:01

time But I judging from Tom's comments

1:03

about playing youngsters and seeing whether they're

1:05

good enough to stick around or whether

1:07

we loaned them out I think we

1:10

could see a bit of a much-changed

1:12

team for us tonight and I think

1:14

full and will be the same but

1:16

Yeah, it's just got the feeling of

1:18

a night that we're going to have

1:20

to enjoy regardless of what happens on

1:23

the pitch, which is not a not

1:25

an unfamiliar situation for us to be

1:27

in, but how are you feeling about

1:29

it Mike? Do you know what? It's

1:31

really, it's the FA Cup, we're away

1:33

at Fulham, I still haven't quite got

1:35

my head around the whole thing, because

1:38

it's Thursday night. It should be the

1:40

Tashiba Cup or something we're playing in

1:42

tonight. or the LG Cup probably would

1:44

be more appropriate for Fulham. I think

1:46

everyone probably has got that feel about

1:48

it tonight, hasn't it? Everyone's sort of

1:50

in relatively good spirits, only a day

1:53

to go to the weekend. There's going

1:55

to be a really busy away end,

1:57

actually, which I think, which is, probably

1:59

tells its own story, about 4,500. tonight

2:01

which is probably answers a question about

2:04

whether it's bad that the game's on

2:06

a Thursday night everyone's turned up so

2:08

that answers that but how am I

2:10

feeling it's a free hit in it

2:12

it's a free hit and hopefully the

2:15

players that haven't got many minutes recently

2:17

we'll go out there and give Tom

2:19

a headache for the for the next

2:21

league game but yeah it's got the

2:24

potential to be a long night I

2:26

agree with you Surely, it surely, surely

2:28

can't be much worse than the last

2:30

away game we went to, which was

2:33

QPR on New Year's Day. My socks

2:35

are dry currently, which is more than

2:37

could be said for that day. Did

2:39

those boots go in the bin? They

2:41

did, as they did. As soon as

2:44

the first thing I did when I

2:46

got home, took the laces out because

2:48

they were new and got rid of

2:50

the boots. I mean I woke up

2:53

mutting about those bloody boots the next

2:55

day, so yeah, glad to get rid

2:57

of the QPR was terrible was terrible

2:59

and I think. In all seriousness it

3:02

is a good chance to sort of

3:04

have a break from the league and

3:06

just try and sort of not enjoy

3:08

ourselves because professional footballers don't go out

3:11

to enjoy themselves but a bit of

3:13

a palate cleanser maybe tonight could go

3:15

two ways of course because Fulham obviously

3:17

an excellent coach and we also I'm

3:19

saying it through gritted teeth obviously is

3:22

a good time to have a game

3:24

like this and what's waiting for you

3:26

see? We've seen two former Watford managers

3:28

lose their jobs today. Rob Edwards has

3:31

left Luton. A little bit more surprisingly,

3:33

Sean Dyche is left Everton. Depending on

3:35

which way the result goes tonight. Could

3:37

we see another former Watford manager lose

3:40

their job? I think it's like a

3:42

heck of a result for Silver to

3:44

lose his job because he's doing a

3:46

good job for him. As Mike said,

3:48

through grit and teeth. So I don't

3:51

think he's in danger of losing his

3:53

job and I certainly don't think we're

3:55

in danger of endangering his job with

3:57

the team we put out today. I'm

4:00

quite keen to see it because you

4:02

said that The team's coming out in

4:04

a few minutes and obviously as fans

4:06

we're focused on the game now. Why

4:09

we've come out today is what we're

4:11

interested in. But it's some interesting choices

4:13

to Tom because we've lost Backman so

4:15

does he play bond in the cup

4:17

and risk losing him to another injury

4:20

for the league which is probably his

4:22

focus and we've lost Jefferson which on

4:24

the face of it isn't a huge

4:26

loss but it means that we've only

4:29

got one striker. Well. You say that,

4:31

I'm going to give you the team

4:33

news right now, and I can see,

4:35

as I'm recording here, I can see

4:38

the notification from the club's Twitter account,

4:40

and they've gone with the headline, Doomia

4:42

Starts. I mean, is that a good

4:44

thing? Is that a bad thing? I'm

4:46

not sure, but who else have we

4:49

got? Let's have a little look. Right,

4:51

okay, so we got Bonding goal, as

4:53

expected, we've got a back three of

4:55

Portius, Tikvitch, Tikovich, and Og Bonner. Wingbacks

4:58

of LaRucci and Andrews, midfield two of

5:00

Inks and Dwamo, or maybe Ints and

5:02

Kayembe and Dwamo, and then Bata and

5:04

Dumbio. So, yeah, so Dumbia up top,

5:07

Bata-Kembe behind ins and Dohomo, probably in

5:09

midfield, and on the bench, Miles Roberts

5:11

is on the bench, Sireota, Czech Vatété,

5:13

Louisa, Bio, Bio, and Young player Nabizida.

5:15

attacking midfield I think. Okay well maybe

5:18

we'll see him tonight but yeah so

5:20

there's been a there's been a few

5:22

changes there Kieran what do you make

5:24

of that? Well I think what it

5:27

highlights is how thin our squad is

5:29

because what what Tom said in the

5:31

lead up to this game was that

5:33

he would play fringe players to determine

5:36

whether they're going to be here. for

5:38

the second half of the season, whether

5:40

they need to be loaned out. What

5:42

we actually live seeing that team is

5:44

that there's actually quite a few plays

5:47

that have played a big chunk of

5:49

the season, so there's an opportunity to

5:51

look at the beer, there's an opportunity

5:53

to look at Guomo, but it's antique

5:56

bits as well, but actually a lot

5:58

of the players that are playing have

6:00

been, you know, regulars the first half

6:02

of the season, so I think Tom

6:05

probably hasn't had. the opportunity to rotate

6:07

the squad as much as he would

6:09

like to because the reality is he

6:11

just doesn't have the numbers. So, you

6:13

know, it's a team, we can't change

6:16

the whole team because we'll just get

6:18

completely rolled over, which we might still

6:20

do anyway, but yeah, I think what

6:22

it highlights is how thin the squad

6:25

is because he probably just hasn't been

6:27

able to rotate as much as he

6:29

would like. So let's have a look

6:31

at the Fulham team as well, because

6:34

they've been expected to make to make

6:36

changes. Cessnion is playing, Lucas, he's a

6:38

starter for them in the Premier League,

6:40

Pereira, Captain tonight, he starts, Adama Triore

6:42

starts, so he'll give something, give our

6:45

wing back, something to think about, Smith

6:47

Row starts, I woebe starts and Robrigo

6:49

Muniz up top. I did notice earlier

6:51

on actually that, you know, we're playing

6:54

on a Thursday night, right, and there's

6:56

been a little bit of disquiet about

6:58

us being in the FA Cup third

7:00

round on a Thursday night. One of

7:03

the reason cited is that we're here

7:05

that we're here for... international television market.

7:07

So I had a little look at

7:09

just where we are being broadcast. It's

7:11

all over the world to be honest,

7:14

quite a lot of territories taking up

7:16

the game, Malaysia, Indonesia, Disney Plus Caribbean

7:18

have got us tonight. That's the teams

7:20

and we'll see how the game goes.

7:23

But before we make our way down

7:25

to the ground, I just wanted to

7:27

bring you guys a little bit of

7:29

FA Cup, statistical compiling that I've done,

7:32

right? Because I was thinking... We were

7:34

checking the other day about what the

7:36

FA Cup means to us and reminiscing

7:38

about our memories and we've had a

7:41

good old time of it over the

7:43

years in general terms in the FA

7:45

Cup, been to two finals, plenty of

7:47

semi-finals and all that. And I wondered,

7:49

pound for pound, are we one of

7:52

the best FA Cup teams beneath the

7:54

big boys? And I thought well, how

7:56

could we work this out? What would

7:58

be a what would be an interesting

8:01

way a fair way to try and

8:03

quantify that? So the system is the

8:05

system that I went for If you've

8:07

won the English Top Flight at any

8:10

point in your history, I've ruled you

8:12

out of this league table. So any

8:14

club that hasn't won the English Top

8:16

Flight, what's their record in the FA

8:18

Cup? We're saying that that's the next

8:21

best thing in English football, right? And

8:23

so what I've done is, if you've

8:25

been in the final, you get one

8:27

point, if you've been in the semifinal,

8:30

you get 0.5. So I've combined the

8:32

two, the final appearances in your semifinal

8:34

appearances in your semifinal appearances, to give

8:36

me a league table. of teams I

8:39

should add that are still meaningfully existing.

8:41

So the likes of the Wanderers, Royal

8:43

Engineers and Eaton, they're gone because they

8:45

would actually be above us in this

8:47

table, right? But in this table... Both

8:50

would probably give us a decent game

8:52

with that, with a side we've got

8:54

out tonight as well. They probably would.

8:56

But in this table, we'll be pleased

8:59

to know, or maybe surprised, I'm not

9:01

sure, the Watford our fifth. We have

9:03

the fifth best record in the FA

9:05

Cup by my metrics matrix by the

9:08

Walker Index, teams that haven't won the

9:10

top flight. Any guesses that the four

9:12

teams who are above us and have

9:14

a better record in the FA Cup?

9:16

So more finals are semi-finals on that

9:19

metric. So sorry, have you ruled out

9:21

teams that have won it? No, no,

9:23

just won the top flight. And so

9:25

how many points do you get if

9:28

you've won the FA Cup? One, no,

9:30

you don't get extra points of winning

9:32

it. It's just final appearances and semi-finals.

9:34

Bolton, Bolton Wanderers are top of this

9:37

table because they have been in the

9:39

final seven times and semi-finals 14 times.

9:41

14. Yeah, they're in the final in

9:43

1929, 26, 29 and in 58. What

9:45

about someone like Stoke City? Stoke City,

9:48

I'm not in my table. Oh, they

9:50

are, sorry, they're 15th, actually, they're way

9:52

down. Okay, I'll tell you, the other

9:54

top four, so you got South Hampton

9:57

in second place. Yeah, four final appearances.

9:59

13 semi-finals for them. West Ham, five

10:01

appearances in the final, seven semi-finals, and

10:03

then just above us, Birmingham City, two

10:06

appearances in the final, nine appearances in

10:08

the semi-final, and then we are there

10:10

obviously with our in fifth place of

10:12

two appearances in the final, seven semi-finals,

10:14

giving us a score of 5.5 overall.

10:17

But rounding out the top 10. Any

10:19

other ideas? Palace is one of them,

10:21

you've mentioned already clearing. So three other

10:23

teams in the rest of the top

10:26

10. Cardiff? Card, if a sixth place,

10:28

just beneath us, yeah. So we've got

10:30

three more. Portsmouth? No, because I think

10:32

they won the league. They did win

10:35

the league once. What was I like

10:37

Brian? Bright and nowhere near it? West

10:39

Brom won the league. Yeah, I think

10:41

they did. And there, so they're not

10:43

in the table. Are there any real

10:46

rogue teams in the top 10? I

10:48

say there's two teams that are pretty

10:50

surprising and there's one team who's not

10:52

as surprising. Okay. I've been running low

10:55

on inspiration. Tell us who they are,

10:57

because the point is, what I'm actually

10:59

thinking about is that with my Watford

11:01

lens on, it does reiterate how amazing

11:04

we sort of the years we've had

11:06

watching what would have been have been.

11:08

That leaves them on the league, aren't

11:10

they? So now I am thinking about

11:12

it. So the other two, the other

11:15

three teams. So you've got Knox County.

11:17

They are eight, they've been in the

11:19

final twice, five semi-final appearances. Blackpool, three

11:21

final appearances, three semi-final appearances. And in

11:24

10th place, rather appropriately, is full of.

11:26

who have been in the final once

11:28

and achieved semi-final status six times. And

11:30

we will find out tonight whether either

11:33

of Watford or Fulham will have a

11:35

chance at progressing in the Walker Index.

11:37

So we're walking down Fulham Palace Road

11:39

now, making our way down to Craven

11:42

Cottage, not quite as picturesque and pleasant.

11:44

walks it would be if this was

11:46

a Saturday afternoon April but it is

11:48

what it is but there's been a

11:50

bit of Watford news a few few

11:53

developments in the last few days I

11:55

think we should all have a little

11:57

have our say on first of all

11:59

Kieran we now know that Daniel Backman

12:02

will be out for 12 weeks roughly

12:04

they say he's gonna be having surgery

12:06

on ankle ligament damage after sustaining that

12:08

injury in the final moments in the

12:11

dying embers of the game against Sheffield

12:13

United. It must be really frustrating for

12:15

him because it was a game that

12:17

was basically lost. A chance that came

12:19

about because it looked to me like

12:22

Sierra Alto had sort of given up

12:24

on the game. He thought the referee

12:26

was going to blow the whistle and

12:28

then their player gets through and lashes

12:31

a shot from an angle and backman

12:33

obviously has to save it and then

12:35

ends up doing his ankle. But he's

12:37

going to be out for three months

12:40

so... bit of uncertainty over our goalkeeping

12:42

situation now Bond's playing tonight we've recalled

12:44

Miles Roberts but where do you think

12:46

that leaves us going forward do you

12:48

think we should try and bring in

12:51

another keeper or go with what we

12:53

got yes good question I think I

12:55

saw today that we've been linked with

12:57

a goalkeeper was it from the next

13:00

year I couldn't tell you his name

13:02

I saw that was on social media

13:04

but I don't tend to read too

13:06

much into these rumours until we see

13:09

something official but I think we saw

13:11

at the start of the season Jonathan

13:13

Bond play a part We saw last

13:15

season Daniel Backman was actually dropped wasn't

13:17

he for a big portion you know

13:20

with Ben Hamer given preference as first

13:22

choice so I think it's probably a

13:24

position that we can cope for the

13:26

period that he's out for but I

13:29

would not be surprised if we go

13:31

and get a goal we don't know

13:33

much about Miles Roberts has obviously been

13:35

on Lona is it partic thistle he's

13:38

been on loan we've recorded him from

13:40

there. is he's one of these classic,

13:42

he's in this classic scenario where he

13:44

appears to have played well at Partic

13:46

Fistle. But that's in the Scottish championship,

13:49

which, you know, the level in the

13:51

Scottish championship is obviously lower than being

13:53

in the championship in England. And just

13:55

because he's performed well, it doesn't mean

13:58

that he is necessarily ready to jump

14:00

into first team football in a pressurized

14:02

situation, the championship. Equally, maybe he is.

14:04

Maybe he is ready, but that's obviously

14:07

the gamble that the coaches would have

14:09

to take. And it seems to me,

14:11

from the words that cleverly... has come

14:13

out and said after the backman news

14:15

that they were they were preparing to

14:18

send Roberts out on another loan So

14:20

they thought well he's done well enough

14:22

there Let's try and get him a

14:24

level up now and see if he

14:27

can perform at that level wherever he

14:29

was going to go But it's a

14:31

different kettle of fish moving down to

14:33

all of a sudden be the number

14:36

one for a championship team who have

14:38

ambitions of being in the playoffs Yeah,

14:40

and what's interesting Jordi and I traveled

14:42

in on the tube over here and

14:44

he made a point of, do we

14:47

want to play Jonathan Bonta? Obviously we

14:49

know he is starting, but you know

14:51

it's cold, pitch maybe a little bit

14:53

hard. Do you play Miles Roberts in

14:56

the game tonight? Personally I'm glad that

14:58

we haven't. I think ultimately if you

15:00

play, especially a young goalkeeper, you throw

15:02

them in too soon, if they have

15:05

them there or if they have a

15:07

game where they've really struggled, you can

15:09

destroy their confidence before they've even started

15:11

their career. It's an interesting one. I

15:13

think if the club were keen to

15:16

loan him out again, it probably suggests

15:18

he's not ready. So if he's not

15:20

ready, Tom's right in not kind of

15:22

throwing him in to a game like

15:25

this. Of course, we could see him

15:27

stay and with the situation that we're

15:29

in now, but I wouldn't be surprised

15:31

if we go out and get another

15:34

goalkeeper. Whether that's the backup Jonathan Bond

15:36

or whether we're actually going to go

15:38

out and try and get a first

15:40

choice, which I'm midway through the season,

15:42

midway through the season, I can't going

15:45

to be very easy. It does take

15:47

Daniel Batman out the firing line a

15:49

little bit doesn't it because he wasn't

15:51

a popular boy in the last game

15:54

had a bit of back and forth

15:56

with some of the fans. He's going

15:58

to have a lot of time to

16:00

reminisce and reflect on that Croith turn

16:03

in the next three months. Absolutely. And

16:05

look, you know, I don't like to

16:07

see what we saw. I don't like

16:09

to see our players giving a stick.

16:12

He shouldn't have done what he did.

16:14

But it obviously rattled him, didn't he?

16:16

I'm not sure we talked about it

16:18

that much in the last podcast. But

16:20

rather than playing out of the back

16:23

every single ball, you and I sit

16:25

next to each other and every single

16:27

ball. You know, I don't like to

16:29

see a player out injured, especially for

16:32

the period of time that he is.

16:34

It might be an opportunity for him

16:36

to just have a bit of time

16:38

to reflect on the first half of

16:41

the season, get himself fit and come

16:43

back ready to finish the season with

16:45

us. But yeah, it's definitely a situation

16:47

that we need to address. I wouldn't

16:49

be surprised if we bring someone in

16:52

before the end of the January transfer

16:54

window. Yeah, going to be interesting to

16:56

see what Watford. he's got that long

16:58

contract so every chance he could still

17:01

be with us for the next few

17:03

years or if things go a certain

17:05

way sometimes these things in football you

17:07

get injury at a certain time and

17:10

it leaves your career down another path

17:12

maybe we get a new keeper in

17:14

and we move on from Batman that'll

17:16

be interesting to see but I'm gonna

17:18

move on from Kieran now his career

17:21

is not ending on their football on

17:23

the from the rookery end podcast though

17:25

don't worry I'm gonna go and speak

17:27

to Jordy and he's with He's with

17:30

Andy parking as well. Mike's brother is

17:32

here with us tonight. But lads, I'm

17:34

going to quickly get your thoughts on

17:36

the other significant Watford development this week.

17:39

And that is the termination of Daniel

17:41

Jefferson's loan deal. He's gone back to

17:43

Bournemouth. Andy, how will you remember Daniel

17:45

Jefferson as a Watford player? Well, firstly,

17:47

I haven't slept since he left. Sleepless

17:50

nights, I just don't know when the

17:52

girls are going to come from. Yeah.

17:54

quite but Jordi he obviously didn't work

17:56

did it as Thomas said and it

17:59

was interesting seeing what Tom cleverly had

18:01

to say he was he was careful

18:03

to be as complementary as he could

18:05

be about Daniel Jefferson as a player

18:08

and as a person and but whilst

18:10

also recognizing that he clearly just didn't

18:12

work he came in with some sort

18:14

of fanfare because I suppose we were

18:16

just looking for a striker because we

18:19

didn't have that confidence in bio but

18:21

It was just an absolute disaster, wasn't

18:23

it for everyone involved? Yeah, it was.

18:25

It's a strange one, like you say,

18:28

the expectations there, because he's come from

18:30

a Premier League team. But then you

18:32

scratch the surface and you see that

18:34

he's been out for a year or

18:37

so, he's been looking around a bird.

18:39

He might have been on the bench

18:41

and played some Premier League games and

18:43

had a bit of a kind of

18:45

a burst on the scene when he's

18:48

playing when he was 16 and stuff.

18:50

If you look at it, he's not

18:52

one of his players, he's been like...

18:54

banging in like 45 goals in an

18:57

over-aged football. No, exactly. You know, and

18:59

suddenly, oh, the goals have dried up.

19:01

The goals were probably never there for

19:03

him. So it was a case of

19:06

what could he do? And he never

19:08

got going. And if you're playing with

19:10

one up front, he's up with a

19:12

goalkeeper. Either you're playing or you're on

19:14

the bench. There's no other way forward.

19:17

And yeah, we got rid of Ryovich,

19:19

and that was his chance of getting

19:21

with Bayo. I guess from the last

19:23

couple of games we saw him you

19:26

can understand the charges you missed. He

19:28

could easily have left us with five

19:30

goals to his name and he's got

19:32

none. So yeah I mean it's not

19:35

going to remember him really because there's

19:37

not much to remember. So good luck

19:39

Jim. I saw the Bournemouth record him

19:41

because they've got injuries to their strikers

19:43

and I'm just thinking you know if

19:46

you can't play for him like essentially

19:48

a midtable championship team. that's got bio

19:50

as the only alternative. I mean, I

19:52

don't know what Bournemouth are going to

19:55

do with him. Maybe he's going to...

19:57

Maybe he's going to hit the ground

19:59

running and we would wonder what happened.

20:01

But, you know, good luck to him.

20:04

Keep your eyes on match of the

20:06

day. Let's see if he pops up

20:08

for, not high flying Bournemouth, but certainly

20:10

well performing Bournemouth in the Premier League.

20:13

So that obviously leaves a gap in

20:15

our squad. It leaves a place in

20:17

our squad. We've only got bio up

20:19

front and we've also got doom bea

20:21

who we know is going to start

20:24

tonight. So we'll see whether he makes

20:26

an impression. Surely you would think now

20:28

that Geno and the recruitment team, Jean-Lucanani,

20:30

will go into the market and we'll try

20:33

and get another striker from somewhere. You'll expect

20:35

so, but then it's what's the sell to

20:37

the team that's loading him? You know, you're

20:39

going to come in and be guaranteed to

20:41

start or you're going to have to fight,

20:44

you know, vacuum bayo again. And if it's

20:46

not a player who's kind of like we

20:48

spoke about the other day, other and ready,

20:50

you feel like, I've already, you feel like,

20:52

you know, you know, I've been there might

20:55

be their first year. They'll be joining halfway

20:57

through the season, a team that's some element,

20:59

I mean the last few games have maybe

21:01

eroded it slightly, but aspirations of playoffs potentially.

21:03

So it's going to have to be someone

21:06

who, they won't get a lot of time

21:08

to bed in. So is there an established

21:10

professional somewhere that is willing to join us

21:12

on loan and his team is willing to

21:14

let him out of the week and afford?

21:17

And we'll look up and down the Premier

21:19

League, I don't know. Again, the thing with

21:21

Jefferson is, he's pay for two teams now,

21:23

so. If someone else has had a similar

21:25

thing, they might not be available to us.

21:27

So it would be interesting to see what

21:30

we do. Do we bring in someone

21:32

from abroad? Do we say, look, there's

21:34

a stick it with doing beer and

21:36

except we're not going to make the

21:39

playoffs, but it's more important to give

21:41

him minutes, as they say, so that

21:43

he's a better player next season, if

21:45

we think he's got the potential to

21:48

be another one on the Al Pedro,

21:50

Richarlerson, and Andy's conveyor belt. So let's

21:52

conveyor belt. So let's. And whatever we

21:54

do. And whatever we do. I think

21:56

it's important, Gen Luca, if you're listening.

21:59

Don't get someone who's going to be

22:01

cup-tied. our fourth

22:05

round

22:08

F.A.

22:11

Cup

22:14

tie.

22:36

Half-time. Craven Cottage. Full and one. What

22:38

for one? We've seen Gold at the

22:40

Round already, Dave. So far. Gold at

22:42

the Round? Gold at the tournament, surely.

22:44

You're going to do well to beat

22:46

that. We've just lived with the replay,

22:48

actually, as you're walking out. Keering got

22:50

on his phone. It's even further out

22:52

than I realized. Oh really? Well, I

22:54

mean, you've had a good 30 yards,

22:56

and what a goal. I mean, it

22:58

does speak, I mean, yeah, I mean,

23:00

let's luxuriate in that moment for a

23:02

minute. Absolutely fantastic. But those vast expenses

23:04

of space that we're getting in the

23:06

final third, I say that like we

23:08

spent a lot of time there. But

23:10

it is tailor made for someone like

23:12

Rocco Vato who's shown he's got that

23:14

quality, that positive intent, that desire to

23:16

take it on and do something special.

23:18

Christ Almighty has done it tonight. What

23:20

a hit behind us in that, what

23:22

for the way, and I've got to

23:24

say it again, said it before the

23:26

game, four and a half thousand odd

23:28

here tonight, making a hell of a

23:30

dim on a freezing cold Thursday night,

23:32

so three and a half people can

23:34

watch this in Indonesia. It's an incredible,

23:36

an incredible effort, but... worth it just

23:38

for that alive because we were behind

23:40

the goal perfectly in line behind it

23:42

so you get arrowing in into the

23:44

top right hand corner what an if

23:46

a cup moment what a awkward moment

23:48

what a moment I love it it

23:50

come on right Jordi be very careful

23:52

here no jinks is okay for the

23:54

second half but what are you making

23:56

that performance I mean the goal was

23:58

obviously amazing but the 45 minutes there

24:00

what do you make of the performance

24:02

I think it's been really good I

24:04

mean it's an element of amazing a

24:06

big shift team playing against a team

24:08

that are clearly, you know, they're Premier

24:11

League players even if they're not their

24:13

first team from one to 11. It's

24:15

about half their first team. Yeah, certainly

24:17

the, certainly the front half, certainly feels

24:19

like, and I think they've done really

24:21

well. They've shown, they've shown good composure,

24:23

they've worked as a unit, and obviously

24:25

they haven't played with each other. They've

24:27

obviously been training with each other. I

24:29

was thinking, you know, coming up to

24:31

this, it's the inverse of the recent

24:33

games we've had in league, where we've

24:35

been, you know, the cardiffs and so

24:37

forth, where we've been expecting to be

24:39

the stronger team and we've been out

24:41

thought and out fought. And I thought,

24:43

well, this is our chance to show

24:45

we've at least learned from it, and

24:47

we're very clearly the underdog. And I

24:49

think, you know, to hold it out

24:51

for 25 minutes is a victory, given

24:53

our pons for our 10th minute. And

24:55

then to go, go down and not

24:57

panic and not see another one immediately

24:59

and actually to come back and equalise,

25:01

I think it's, other than being three

25:03

and a lot against a run of

25:05

play, it's as good as we can

25:07

hope for. Yeah, look, let's keep things

25:09

steady, let's keep it all in check.

25:11

It's been a good first half, we've

25:13

seen what is surely, surely going to

25:15

be Watford's goal of the season, potentially

25:17

the FA Cup goal of the tournament.

25:19

I think you get, if something happens

25:21

at Wembley, you're at the final I

25:23

think at least. So Rockover might have

25:25

bought him some ticket to Wembley tonight.

25:27

And if he doesn't, we'll chip in

25:29

and sort him out with something. I

25:31

mean, I think, look, what we said

25:33

before the game is we want something

25:35

to enjoy. It's off, you're off from

25:37

the league and Watford have acquitted themselves

25:39

fairly well. Let's not, let's not overstate

25:41

what's happened here. Whatford have got seven

25:43

corners, Watford have got seven-class. But there

25:45

is space in that final third for

25:47

Watford to get into and ironically the

25:49

goal came from one of our rare

25:51

forays into the full of half. Ryan

25:53

Andrews got the ball down the right

25:55

and he thought, alright go on lad,

25:57

surprised your left back with a bit

25:59

of pace, get to the barline and

26:01

then worry about it but he played

26:03

it back inside. lost the ball and

26:05

the balls in the back of the

26:07

net in the blink of an eye.

26:09

In some ways it's nice to see

26:11

a goal like that because it's going

26:13

to be about four and a half

26:15

years until Watford score one like it.

26:17

That's just that sharp, just the take

26:19

and the blink of an eye back

26:21

in the net. But there is space

26:23

there for Watford to play into. They

26:25

will be knackered. They've had to work

26:27

really hard to get in as Jordi.

26:29

The disappointing element he's... he's gone off

26:31

which is disappointed he looked like he

26:33

had a bad one then he carried

26:35

on then he got nutmeg and thought

26:37

right actually yeah that that twinges is

26:39

bearing up a little bit but look

26:41

they've done really well they've given that

26:43

four and a half thousand waffle fans

26:45

behind the gun plenty to cheer on

26:47

there is opportunity there there there's opportunity

26:49

there they just need to stick with

26:51

it what will be fascinating to see

26:53

is how if they can keep up

26:56

with the pace but great first I've

26:58

really enjoyed it. Yeah it was a

27:00

good goal for Muni it was a

27:02

good finish he was I just seen

27:04

the replay and there's about five wafford

27:06

defenders surrounding him in the box but

27:08

he just finds out your half a

27:10

yard of space great finish I think

27:12

I'm just having just thinking about it

27:14

I'm not sure whether I'm confusing goal

27:16

of the tournament getting a prize or

27:18

the ethic up or the top goal

27:20

scorer so if that's the case Rocco's

27:22

even gonna have to score five in

27:24

the second half to take us all

27:26

the way to the way to the

27:28

final let's all the way to the

27:30

final let's to the final let's to

27:32

the final let's the final let's the

27:34

final let's the final let's So I'm

27:36

joined by a very special guest. Charlie,

27:38

Charlie, how you doing? Good. So this

27:40

is Charlie's first away game in the

27:42

FA Cup. Charlie, what did you think

27:44

of the atmosphere in the away end

27:46

tonight? Very, very loud. Very loud. How

27:48

did you feel watching Watford there in

27:50

the away end? How did it make

27:52

you feel as a Watford fan following

27:54

your team away in London? Is

27:57

it difficult to explain? Yeah. So

27:59

here's a question for you then.

28:01

I'm just going to walk around

28:04

these lads here. So can you

28:06

remember in the first half when

28:08

Watford were losing one nil and

28:10

then Rocco Vata got the ball?

28:12

And what happened? Well, everyone just

28:15

went crazy because he had scored

28:17

from a very long way out.

28:19

And how did you feel when

28:21

that happened? What was your first

28:23

thought when that happened? When that

28:26

happened? I didn't really see it,

28:28

so. When did you realise it?

28:30

What had happened? I basically, I

28:32

was just like sitting down because

28:34

my legs were quite tired. Yes.

28:37

And then, and then, and then

28:39

I saw this, like, I heard

28:41

like, like, like, when, like, when,

28:43

like, when, like, when the fans

28:46

were for, before we were about

28:48

to shoot those, make this weird

28:50

noise. So was it a sense

28:52

of anticipation of anticipation almost. I

28:54

tried to stand up but then

28:57

before I could stand up I

28:59

could have after I had scored.

29:01

And if you had to, so

29:03

Mum and Holly are at home,

29:05

if you had to explain the

29:08

feeling to Mum and Holly and

29:10

the people listening, all the people

29:12

that will hear this, can you

29:14

explain what it's like to be

29:16

part of an away end when

29:19

a goal like that goes in?

29:21

It's just really chaotic and everyone

29:23

was just jumping about load of

29:25

bundles are going on. It's

29:29

fun? Yeah. You glad you came? Yeah.

29:31

Still love Watford even though we lost

29:33

four one? Yeah. Love to hear it.

29:35

Charlie, thank you so much. Bye. Right,

29:38

well, Rockefeller didn't score five in the

29:40

second half. Fulham went on to score

29:42

another three and it ended Fulham four,

29:44

Waffle One. And just after we had

29:46

that little chat a half time... We

29:48

made our way back up to the

29:51

seats and I was barely in my

29:53

seat before I saw Fulham awarded, what

29:55

look from our vantage point, a penalty

29:57

which might have been outside the box,

29:59

but I think it was on the

30:01

line from what I've heard, Tikvich bringing

30:04

down, was he bringing down a wobee

30:06

or triore, Tom cleverly talked before the

30:08

game about some players who might play

30:10

tonight, this being a bit of an

30:12

audition as to whether they can stay

30:14

with us for the second half of

30:16

the season. And if it was an

30:19

audition for a Tikvich, Mike, do you

30:21

think he's failed that one? It's just

30:23

a turning point of the game, wasn't

30:25

it? There's two points that people will

30:27

talk about in that football match. Rock-O-Vatter's

30:29

goal. And then the penalty straight after,

30:32

after half-time, clumsy, poorly timed, stonewall penalty.

30:34

It's hard to say he's cost-wot for

30:36

the game because we knew what was

30:38

going to happen in that second-half we

30:40

knew. We're going to come on strong.

30:42

We knew what if we're going to

30:45

find it difficult. But yeah, he's... That

30:47

was a massive error and a hugely

30:49

costly one and in games like that

30:51

when you're really hanging on you can't

30:53

afford to do that. Yeah look I'm

30:55

not singling him out in particular I

30:58

thought first half he was all right

31:00

actually but obviously giving away a penalty

31:02

as you say right in the opening

31:04

minutes of the first half and then

31:06

out we come in the open minutes

31:08

of the second half and it was

31:11

it was a hammer blow and then

31:13

conceding that goal the third goal you'll

31:15

watch look what looked like... a clearable

31:17

corner i would say i think it

31:19

was kenbay maybe you got under the

31:21

board didn't head it out and then

31:24

pops up to anderson who volleys it

31:26

in and three one that was it

31:28

the subs came on full and really

31:30

controlled that game well for the last

31:32

half an hour i thought particular prayer

31:34

in the middle was just popping it

31:37

around controlling it lovely and well we

31:39

didn't really have any coming apart from

31:41

kenbay's nice little volley towards the end

31:43

it was it was game over really

31:45

It was. I mean, Tom did roll

31:47

the dice, which we were having a

31:50

little conversation in the little sway of

31:52

fans around us, whether he's going to

31:54

roll the dice and whether it is

31:56

worth bringing bar and chat for tens

31:58

day on. As soon as we all

32:00

agreed that it probably wasn't sensible to

32:03

bring him on and not risk him,

32:05

he went for it, which I think

32:07

is right. You've got to ask questions

32:09

of the opposition if you can, and

32:11

in bringing those two guys on, he

32:13

said we're not lying down. I did

32:16

think Fulham had obviously gone into a

32:18

much more defensive formation by that stage,

32:20

and I did think if we could

32:22

have just nicked one back at 3-1,

32:24

then and 3-2, it would have been

32:26

a nervy last sort of 5 to

32:29

10 minutes for Fulham for Fulham, but

32:31

I think. in reality, like you say

32:33

Dave, I think you summed it up

32:35

pretty perfectly, full and controlled it. They

32:37

didn't have it all their own way

32:39

in the first half, but they kept

32:42

us at arm's length pretty comfortably, certainly

32:44

after the second goal went in. I

32:46

don't really think there's too much to

32:48

be upset about in terms of the

32:50

Watford performance, Bondi got beaten at the

32:52

near post for the fourth goal. You

32:55

could argue that all three of those

32:57

second half goals had an element of

32:59

avoidability about them. You could probably say

33:01

that about most girls. Whatford have conceded

33:03

this season. But are we too disappointed

33:05

with it? You can just see the

33:08

golfing class, aren't you? They've got better

33:10

players all over the pitch. Whatford were

33:12

having to work hard for a minute,

33:14

one, just to stay in it. They

33:16

did a good job on that in

33:18

the first half. And that, just that

33:21

penalty, just sucked the life out of

33:23

him in the second. It certainly did.

33:25

So that's RFA Cup journey. over before

33:27

it barely begun. We had a bit

33:29

of fun tonight though at least with

33:31

Rocco Vato but I'm going to give

33:34

the final word of the podcast tonight

33:36

to a man he was absolutely begging

33:38

me to get on before the game.

33:40

He's not been on for a while.

33:42

It's Michael Parkin' son, Arlo. Did you

33:44

have fun tonight at least? Yeah, it

33:47

was a good night. But it doesn't

33:49

sound like it. I'm just tired. I

33:51

want to go to bed. All right,

33:53

that'll do. Come on yours. yours! You