Wily Roy’s Den of thieves!
HODGSON PICKS GERRARD’S POCKET
ROY HODGSON played it cool after matchwinner Emmanuel Dennis prompted Steven Gerrard to issue a Villa Park wake-up call.
The former England chief was calmness personified as he reflected on his first victory as the Hornets boss, thanks to the Nigerian’s late header.
It was a classic Hodgson display. Hard-working and disciplined, with a dollop of devilment up front that made a crucial difference.
It drove Villa to distraction but despite the jubilation in the visitors’ enclosure, the veteran boss said plenty more needed to be done to crank up the pressure on those above them.
He said: “We’re happy, of course. I thought it was a good performance – I’ve been expecting that.
“The balance between attack and defence was better, but we have been expecting that, too – the players do have that capability.
“They key to the victory was the three midfielders. They did well with and without the ball. I thought, probably, going forward we could have done more – but maybe I’m being a bit critical. As for pressure on the teams above us, I don’t think things are close at the bottom.
“We were getting divorced from those teams above us.”
There was a different message coming from the home dugout.
Gerrard pinpointed exactly where the problems lay.
He said: “I’ve had a really honest conversation with the lads – we need to wake up and wake up fast.
“Our recent form and performances are way short of what is needed to move us up the table.
“We got into a lot of good areas and saw a lot of the ball. We knew that it would be on us to force the breakthrough but we lacked quality in the final third.
“We’ve only had one shot on target from 19 that we had. For me, that’s a quality issue – and the answer to that’s got to come from the dressing room.
“We have real quality players. We have to stand up and be counted.
“I’ll take the heat, the responsibility and the pressure – but it’s got to come from inside the dressing room as well.”
It was difficult to remember Ben Foster making anything approaching a save, so well was he defended by the yellow-shirted wall in front of him.
Villa did have a second-minute penalty appeal waved away. Gerrard said that nine times out of 10 it would be given if the incident was outside the penalty area – and he had a point.
But the reality is that was about as good as it got. It was a different story at the other end.
Home keeper Emi Martinez kept out an effort from Dennis in the highlight of a largely dull opening half, and after the break it was more of the same – Villa with the ball, Watford happy to counter.
Moussa Sissoko should have set up Dennis before the forward’s killer strike, but chose to shoot instead after another rapier-like thrust.
It was a warning that went unheeded. Twelve minutes from time Imran Louza picked out Ismaila Sarr on the right. Kiko Femenia has to be commended for a lung-busting run on the overlap that distracted Villa’s defence and Dennis barged his way past sub Ashley Young to nod the winner.
Tom Cleverley was stopped by Villa’s keeper from enjoying a goalscoring return to a club where he spent an unhappy loan period. Josh King set up Sarr with six minutes to go but Martinez again stood in the way.
By the final whistle, the spoils had deservedly gone to the Hornets. As for Villa, that’s one win in seven – and any honeymoon period for Gerrard is definitely over.