SCORELESS START FOR HODGSON

Burnley 0 Watford 0

THE only sirens Roy Hodgson can hear now are the alarm bells ringing as Watford fight for Premier League survival.

This clash between the bottom two clubs at the start of the day at a wet and wild Turf Moor was a game Watford and Burnley badly needed to win but could ill afford to lose. So no one here should be too surprised it ended in a goalless draw.

Incredibly, Hodgson’s first game in charge after returning at the age of 74 to become the Premier League’s oldest-ever boss, and the Pozzo family’s 15th permanent appointment since June 2012, brought Watford’s first clean sheet in the league in two years under six different managers.

However, after failing to beat fellow-strugglers Newcastle and Norwich in their last two games — results that finally cost Claudio Ranieri his job — this could be seen as another opportunity missed.

‘Like a siren call from a mermaid as the sailor passes by on his ship,’ was how Hodgson described his return after taking the job earlier this week. He certainly had the look of an old sea captain being battered by a squall as he stood on the touchline in the howling wind and rain continually wiping his glasses so he could see what was going on.

Burnley’s situation remains just as precarious at the foot of the table but at least they have two games in hand on Watford and Newcastle.

‘Both teams tried to play in these conditions and this is probably as bad as I’ve seen it,’ said manager Sean Dyche.