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Hello, Guinness Book Of Records? I think we have a contender for the record number of mentions of an Italian club in a preview for a match that doesn’t actually involve them. Courtesy of Preview Percy, of course...

Next up we make a short move outside London where we will be hosted at Vicarage Road by Watford. Kick-off is at the splendid hour of 3pm on Saturday. Hurrah! They opened their season with a 2-1 win at home over a lacklustre Southampton, before picking up a point on the road at Wrexham giving them four points and seventh spot in the early table.




This contrasted with their League Cup efforts where having beaten Crawley 1-0 at home they went down 5-1 to Peterborough in the second round. Not sure how much one can read into that given the reports described a “youthful” Watford line-up.

At the helm upstairs in the boardroom is one Gino Pozzo who as owner is assisted in his efforts by Chairman Scott Duxbury, whom many of you may remember being interviewed by the management of this very website way back in the day when he was chief executive at the Boleyn.

I recall the interview well – Mr Duxbury made us coffee and admitted to being slightly scared of us. He needn’t have worried – Daisy didn’t come on board for many years after that.

Over his 13 year tenure as owner, Pozzi has employed no fewer than 19 managers. It will therefore come as no surprise that a new boss took over at the start of the season. Alessio Dionisi arrived on a two-year contract in the close season along with a whole clutch of players from Pozzo’s other club Udinese.

Daisy informs me that the first arrival was German right-back Omar Traore. He arrived at Udinese on 3 July from German outfit 1FC Heldenheim. And then moved out to Watford on 16 July. I wonder if he got around to recording a tearful farewell message to the Udinese fans declaring that they had given him some of the best minutes of his career?

Striker Iker Bravo gave up being a police callsign in Gran Canaria where he spent part of last season on loan from Udinese at Las Palmas to come in on a £3.4m deal that saw him swap the golden beaches of the Canaries for Watford. One suspects that his medical must have included a psychiatric section.




Another who followed the “not playing for Udinese at all” path was Danish striker Luca Kjerrumgaard. His 30 seconds in Italy took place last season where, on arrival from Danes OB he immediately moved to Watford and this move merely ratifies his status as a full time Hornet.

Argentinian midfielder Martin Payero completed the “Udinese Four” coming in for another fee of £3.4m. He has a bit of English football experience having spent a couple of years on the books at Boro’ though the latter season of that spell was spent back home at Boca.

The incomings were complete by a couple of non-Udinese signings in the form of ‘keeper Frederico Ravaglia, who came in from Bologna, and fellow custodian Sam Baker who seems to be filling the veteran-on-the-bench role.

To their number one loan deal was completed by Jordan Zemura. The London-born left back started life out at Bournemouth before departing for Italy. He spent three years out there before arriving on loan this summer. See if you can guess which club loaned him out.

And so to the wild and wacky world of Association Football. And UEFA have moved on to the front foot in its ongoing tete-a-tete with Infantino.

Earlier in the week it was announced that they had pulled out of a potential boycott of FIFA tournaments. However if Donald’s mucker thought that this news represented a thawing of the frosty relationship between the parties then he was wrong with UEFA filing criminal proceedings in Switzerland against the follicly-challenged (alleged) fraudster.




No doubt the cheese-puff coloured chap over in Washington DC will be able to assist him with legal tips.

Also in court listings is Jamie Carragher, who is being petitioned for bankruptcy by HMRC in the high court. Not often I’m on the taxman’s side, but given he has been stealing a living all his life both as a poor player and an even worse pundit, I think I’ll join the family of that kid he spat at (how old must she be now?) in celebration.

And so to us. After seeing the line-up - and bearing in mind the tribulations of the previous match - expectations were not great for this one, something backed up by our going one down early on. However the youth-based side – a chastening thought that I am old enough to be great grandfather to the bulk of that team – acquitted themselves well.

It was only the League Cup, but the result will perk things up around the club. And it’s always good to see someone come through the youth system scoring. I remember being at Palace as a kid watching Ade Coker make his debut. The smile when he scored was as the gap between Trump’s ears and that image of pure joy has stuck with me ever since.

Injuries are Tomas Soucek and possibly Pablo, but I’d expect one or two diplomatic knocks to appear in advance of the transfer window closing early next week.

And so we move on to the thorny issue of the prediction. Well we have a decent record up there and we are due a league win. For that reason the £2.50 that was going towards the Carragher Fund For Distressed Clueless Pundits will instead go on a wager at Winstones for an away win. I’ll go for 3-1 to us then.

Enjoy the game!




When Last We Met At The Vicarage: Won 4-1 (Premier League December 2021)
The Hornets took an early lead with a fine strike from Dennis. That was the best it got for them however. Benrahma – I believe the accepted term is “rattled” the crossbar before Souceck’s fine first-time finish just before the half hour. Benrahma put us into the lead two minutes later, converting Antonio’s cross with the aid of a deflection. In the second half a defender tried to be cute and chest the ball back to his ‘keeper. However, Bowen had nipped in only to be floored by said ‘keeper. After an unnecessary VAR check noble stepped up and buried the penalty with no need for recourse to the stupid stuttering run up that seems to be in vogue at present. Others please note. Vlasic wrapped things up putting away a sitter after Bowen had torn their left side apart for fun.

Referee: Robert Madley
Appallingly incompetent referee who should have been dismissed long before his 2018 removal from the ranks which was announced by PGMOL as “due to a relocation following a change of personal circumstances.” It came as no surprise that PGMOL were lying – Madley had in fact been sacked for distributing videos mocking the disabled. Despite being one of the worst referees ever seen he was allowed back into the game 4 years later. Last seen the other night when making a pig’s ear of the Newcastle v West Brom match. When asked to explain one or two of his more bonkers decisions, his explanation was so mad all Newcastle boss could offer in response was “wow”. You may feel that the fact that he is still in employment is an insult to the game. You’d be right.

Danger Man: Marc Bola
Ok he’s a defender albeit one who has scored this season. But, come on I’m hardly going let that name go without comment, after all being born in 1977 he iw a 20th Century Boy.

Percy & Daisy’s Watford Fact Of The Week Type Thing
In 2007 I was playing for a West Ham Supporters’ XI up at Watford when out of nowhere my Achilles tendon decided to split in two. It hurt.


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