Watford v Preston North End 21/01/25
It was to be Preston’s night on the pitch. In the stands, however, vocal support for Watford’s beleaguered manager dominated the soundtrack of Tuesday night’s encounter at Vicarage Road.
Four points garnered from the Hornet’s previous two away games had momentarily cooled the fevered speculation over Tom Cleverley’s future.
Nonetheless fans were still determined to make their voices heard. As the players emerged from the tunnel a gigantic tifo bearing the coach’s image was unfurled and held aloft in the Rookery End.
A brace from ‘bitey’ Osmajic was enough to seal victory for the Lillywhites. In a drab, toothless display Watford fell to their third home defeat on the spin. Fortress is now a forgotten word around these parts.
A dismal first half display left the Hornets chasing the game, and despite a late rocket from the effervescent Rocco Vata, they were unable to recover the deficit.
The Hornets took a further battering as the grim reaper’s favourite barber took his thinning scissors to Watford’s already depleted squad.
Kwadwo Baah was an early casualty, later seen hobbling around on crutches. Festy Ebosele then collapsed in a heap with damaged ankle ligaments. Both he and Kwadwo will likely be out of action for a couple of months.
Meanwhile Imran Louza, the hub of most of Watford’s creativity, limped off in the closing minutes.
All of which leaves Cleverley sifting through the ruins of his squad while trying to assemble a team capable of pushing for the playoffs.
The lack of reinforcements brought in during this transfer window are a key ingredient in a toxic stew of rumour and conjecture that just keeps simmering away.
When Angel Garcia told his eighty five thousand followers on X that Cleverley’s replacement had already been hired, the pot pretty much boiled over.
The incendiary post on Elon Musk’s platform of truth and fair mindedness claimed that Jose Rojo Martin had agreed terms with Watford..
Local journalist Andrew French made enquiries and when the club responded with “no comment”, the rumour mill went into hyperdrive. Emergency podcasts were hatched, #backtom hashtags re-upped, and if the club was taking the pulse of fan reaction…well, it was bad.
A poll for the Watford Observer showed levels of support for Cleverley that would make a dictator blush. Just who were the 3% of respondents who wanted him sacked?
The club issued a further statement the following day insisting that questions over the manager’s position were pure speculation, while confirming that he would be in charge for the club’s next fixture at Coventry City. Which begged the question – but then what?
A mere three hours before the X-storm exploded, Tom Cleverley had been addressing questions about the terrace songs offering him support at the expense of the club’s owner.
“I can’t put words into peoples mouths or control what they sing” he said, before thanking fans for their backing and making a plea for unity.
Despite a poor run of form the bond between manager and fans remains strong. As for unity in the boardroom, well that’s another matter entirely. All we can really be sure of is that the circus will just keep rolling on.
©Kickerbeat
