Takes it all for happy Rowett
DERBY manager Gary Rowett was delighted with three points but insists his side should have been “out of sight” in the first half.
The win moved Rowett’s side temporarily into an automatic promotion spot and extended their unbeaten run to six games.
Sam Winnall’s second goal put Derby two-up early in the second half with the home side replying through Joe Garner in the 65th minute.
“It’s a difficult place to come and they put you under a lot of pressure with the way that they play,” said Rowett.
“They have a real energetic side and I felt first half we blew them away with some really good attacking play.
“Our front four were unplayable at times and in my opinion we really should have been out of sight.
“But when you come in having played that well, having missed those opportunities and you are only 1-0 up you know what Ipswich are like under Mick McCarthy – they won’t give up in any way, shape or form.”
Derby hit the front in the 13th minute when Winnall’s glancing header from former Town loanee Tom Lawrence’s corner beat Ipswich keeper Bartosz Bialkowksi.
Three minutes into the second half Derby extended their lead when Winnall produced a stunning 30-yard shot into the top right-hand corner of Bialkowski’s goal.
Three corners on the trot provided success for Ipswich when Garner rose to head home inside the six-yard box to reduce the deficit.
But Town could not force an equaliser as they slid down a place to 11th, five points off a play-off spot.
“We were beaten by a better team, a considerably better team on the day,” said McCarthy.
“They have been very expensively assembled prior to Gary getting there and he is now getting the best out of them.
“He is a good manager as he proved at Birmingham and they were too much for us in the first half and they could have been out of sight.
“But to my team’s credit they’ve had them on the back foot and made it exiting and we had a real go.”
MAYBE Carlos Carvalhal will be the man who can save Swansea from the drop
Whatever you think about the Portuguese boss, he has certainly arrived at the Liberty Stadium with a lucky tag around his neck.
Sacked by Championship Sheffield Wednesday on Christmas Eve, he walked into his new job in the Premier League on Boxing Day.
The Owls’ fans nicknamed him Clueless Carlos yet he ended his first 90 minutes in charge at Swansea with a win after two goals in the last four minutes.
And both goals – after Watford had led from the 10th minute – were down to the impact of two of his second-half subs.
Jordan Ayew struck in the 86th minute, poking second-half sub Oli McBurnie’s knockdown past Heurelho Gomes and then, four minutes later another second-half arrival, Luciano Narsingh, got the winner, smashing home after Gomes had saved from the third of his replacements, Nathan Dyer.
It was such a dramatic end to a game that had always looked as if it would be beyond the Swans, who trailed for so long.
Carvalhal said: “We deserved a win, luck is part of the game.
“There are always moments that are part of the game that you can say is lucky.
“We are still not in a good position but the confidence and belief is higher.
“I believe that the confidence will be higher and we can achieve more. We believe we can stay up but it will be very, very tough. “Before the game if you asked 100 people, 100 would say Swansea will be relegated. Right now, I think of the 100, 98 will say it.
“We finished the game with everything – two attackers and two wingers. We tried everything to try to win.
“The commitment was very strong and I think we will be better in the future because we will have had time in training. “We will be better. It will be very hard, I know that. It will be difficult on Tuesday against Tottenham as we have a very short time to prepare.
“When we get on the bus we will start to prepare for the game against Tottenham. Me and my assistants will analyse thembecause at the moment I know nothing about them. I know everything about the Championship but only about Watford in the Premier League.”
And the new Swans boss could have got off to a dream start too – and it might have been a lot less heart-stopping – had Ayew’s blistering 30-yard strike been just a couple of inches lower. His shot having beaten Gomes’ hand before thudding against the bar.
They were a goal down after barely 10 minutes of Carvalhal’s first game since taking over from the sacked Paul Clement.
Stefano Okaka held off Federico Fernandez to thread his pass inside Kyle Naughton and flying winger Richarlison got in behind their defence to fire off a shot that Lukasz Fabianski could only parry on to the head of Andre Carrillo who made no mistake from close range.
Carvalhal promised that he would not be making any rash judgments and at half-time must have been wondering what he had let himself in for by agreeing a deal to take charge for the rest of the season.
And the one thing he will have learnt is that there is still plenty of spirit in this bunch of players even though it needed his three changes to spark the fightback.
Clement had taken only five points from his last 36.
The new man now has three out of three and suddenly the league table looks a lot different.
They will go into the home game against Spurs believing they just might be able to beat the drop.
The Hornets were left shell-shocked after five minutes of mayhem and Carvalhal now has the Welsh fans very much on his side after a stunning introduction to the top flight.
Watford manager Marco Silva (left) was left to rue his side’s missed opportunities.
He said: “In the first minute Ayew hit the bar and that was the only chance they had until they scored.
“We created enough chances to kill the match. When you have one, two or three chances to score and you don’t, it can happen like this.
“Normally if the score is 2-0 our team is more confident, like most teams in the Premier League.”