Cardiff 1 Watford 3 Player Ratings
Aug 13, 2005
Author: lennybaby

The first game I have watched this season - and my thoughts/player ratings out of 5

Foster - 3/5 Generally OK, no real howlers but he looked questionable for their goal. Clearly, he's not as good as Richard Lee

Chambers - 3/5 Solid if unspectacular. Didn't do much going forward but then Devlin isn't the type of player who encourages overlapping.

Carlisle - 3/5 Generally good but messed up for the goal. Concerns have been expressed about a back line with no experience of playing together looking to play offside, and the problem was cruelly exposed. Good otherwise though - it's nice to have physically imposing centre backs again.

DeMerit - 4/5 At his commanding, aggressive best. Never looked threatened on the ground or in the air, his positioning looks better and his decision making was excellent.

Stewart - 3/5 Basically what I expected - Fast, looks to attack and generally comfortable on the ball but a bit suspect when put in a challenging situation defensively. Did well to chase back when Jerome was put through but should have done more with his tackle.

Devlin - 4/5 If he plays like that for 30 games this season, it's like signing a new player. Reminded why he was so impressive after first signing last season, and why he had a good reputation when he did sign. A consistent menace, an excellent delivery for the goal, an excellent cross just before that, the only time he looked indecisive was when presented with shooting chances. Also kept his bitching down to a minimum which is important, given his new-found position of authority within the squad.

Mahon - 3.5/5 Just about did all we should need him to do, the only reason I mark him down from 4 is that he isn't fulfilling the role he is currently expected to - that of midfield general, and that's not his fault - it's because we haven't got enough good midfielders. Still, he looked composed, worked hard, used the ball well and didn't mess about.

Blizzard - 2/5 The only weak link for me. I haven't seen Bangura play yet, but surely we have a better option than this man? I know that sometimes you don't notice the job that defensive midfielders do, but I think with Blizzard it's just cackness. Can't apparently run, tackle, pass, shoot, head or dribble to any great effect. Mahon should be playing this role because he plays it well, and alongside him should be another physical midfielder, but one who can have some influence on the game's tempo. This is the only aspect of AB's tactics/player selection that I would disagree with, hopefully it'll be sorted soon. Johnny Jackson playing as he did against Wigan would be most handy.

Young - 3/5 Nothing special but a solid performance and most importantly, he never drifted out of the match. Nothing jumps out at me but he was good on the ball, looked to get involved, covered alot of ground and put some good balls in.

Henderson - 4/5 Wasn't always in the thick of things but looks like a real threat, a good target man and a massive physical presence. Did great for his goal, was involved in both of King's and gave Darren Purse SHIT all game!

King - 4.5/5 My MOTM. An excellent striker's performance. His first goal was pure class, his second was well taken and I thought his target man and hold up play were excellent. He's strong, quick, good in the air, good on the ball and intelligent. He may not be the rampaging old-school hero that Tommy Mooney was, all the do-it-all all-action superhero that HH was, but as far as I can tell he has all the tools to be the most effective forward at the Vic, bar those two, since I started watching in 1998.


All in all, a very impressive and encouraging performance. I've a few concerns - Foster isn't as good as Lee, the defence needs more time to gel, Stewart needs to get stuck in, and Blizzard is poo. The disappointing departure of Junior means we need a decent goalscorer as cover, as well as a midfielder who can get his foot on the ball, as a priority. All of our problems, particularly the defence gelling, are surmountable, as long as we can get a few more players in. The only one that really troubles me is Richard Lee. I write this without having checked the latest news and/or forum chatter, but I'd really like to know what's going on because I can't see what this Foster bloke has got, other than a hooj kick, with Richie Rich hasn't.

In other news, Macca came on and did alright, plus his high voice was funny, our kits our proper bo, and all the talking - most audible on Sky - sounded good and our team spirit and mindset's impressing me. We need experienced players to take the lead, we need inexperienced players to do well and improve, we need a couple more players and we need to not be decimated by injury. If most of those things happen, I think we we'll do well with this attacking mindset, as long as recover well from inevitable bad results against the best teams - but we appear to be OK in that regard at this early stage. It's a season of caveats, but I certainly feel more positive than I did for a long time before Ray went. This is good.


Oh yeah, Ardley's a waste of space! Just imagine him in this current team, and you can't. Regardless of your thoughts on how the recent major upheaveals have been handed, a player like him - who I insist was a turgid, washed up waste of space for about 85 minutes of most of his appearances for Watford, is a good barometer of the improvement I feel we've made. He wouldn't be getting a sniff of the first team now