Watford fans turn on their players
Watford supporters had begun this match chanting, “We’ll sack who we want”, and, amid confrontations with some of their own players, ended it by repeatedly declaring, “We’re f----ing s---”.
As honeymoons go, it is hard to think how it could have been much worse for their new manager, Javi Gracia. Yes, current frustrations are not especially aimed at Gracia but, when a club have just appointed their 11th manager in seven years, you can hardly expect much excitement about another new face in the dugout.
The general sense of malaise was compounded here by conceding inside four minutes and, while there was mostly sarcasm in the fans’ appraisal of a team who have now lost nine out of their past 13 matches, the scenes on the final whistle were angry.
The usual post-match applause between players and fans had been largely reciprocal but a group of fans then took issue with Jose Holebas and Christian Kabasele. Gracia said that he was unaware of the incident and acknowledged that only results and an uplift in performance would improve the mood.
“It was not a good match – we need to improve many things,” said Gracia. “I don’t understand what the supporters sing. At the end, many players went to say thank you. The only thing I am worried about is to get a good result.”
Gracia has the mitigation of a long injury list but, having picked his strongest available team, this still amounted to a reality check for any expectation that he has inherited a squad ready to effortlessly consolidate themselves in the middle of the Premier League.
Southampton have been on a similarly poor run and Mauricio Pellegrino also went with just about his best starting XI to seal a first win against topflight opposition since November.
His team made the perfect start, with Ryan Bertrand’s free-kick not cleared and Shane Long forcing a save out of Orestis Karnezis that bounced invitingly for Jack Stephens to mark his 24th birthday with a rare goal.
Watford did recover from 2-0 down against Southampton this month in the Premier League but their lack of creativity was summed up by their fans who, even as Kabasele missed an excellent late chance, ended the match by mocking Southampton for only beating their team by a single goal.