The day started, I'd like to say well, but I'm just not sure
The news was that after a roller coaster of a week, we find out that Grabban's agent has played an absolute blinder
He'd touted his boy all over the championship and earned a lovely commission by moving him absolutely bloody nowhere
You've got to say it's genius - I just hope the extra money and general shenanigans (thank you Mr O) wasn't going to be a dressing room disruption
Heaven knows the Liverpool game might be messing with their minds they really didn't need any more of a circus
With the coin tossing expertise of England cricket captain Cook, the boys were turned around to boos from all stands
The opening 10 minutes were an even affair as the slightly more "robust" Watford looked to nullify the AFCB passing game
The first chances came in rapid succession just after the opening exchange when first Arter had a thunderous shot blocked but straight from the clearance Watford absolutely flew up the other end and despite Ritchie trying to bring the move to an *ahem abrupt end the ball still got to Deeney and a collective sigh of relief came as his shot went wide
Ritchie was booked for his efforts
I did however very much enjoy Ireney's throw the toys out of the pram, slam the floor, petulant tantrum as he believed himself to be fouled
Good to see the best of Italy come from the dressing room and on to pitch
We then had a 15 minute of stats-breaking passage of play, which to be fair was repeated through out the game
The records now show that in those 15 minutes, AFCB made 19,345 completed passes, moving the ball a mind boggling 3,759,276 yards, of which 4 yards were forward.
Not since a wet evening in Crawley under the master tactician Groves have we seen such a lack of penetration
Just like Bolton and Birmingham, one up front where the midfield don't support that lonely, sad striker against 2 banks of 4 just doesn't work
Hundreds of passes almost always ends in either an attempted ball through the eye of a needle that fails or, for that 1 in 10 that actually works, a shooting opportunity presents itself annnnd we pass it to someone else - usually the opposition
This isn't an indictment on the players. For me they are all (mostly) playing out of their skins and punching way above their weight. It's about the tactics. I think they are spot on for away games but at home we need to be the ones taking the initiative
We can't break down teams that sit back with 1 up front and for some reason we are scared witless to shoot from range
Maybe this fear was the reason that when Pugh was actually played through on 35 minutes, he blazed so badly over - there was, after all, no one to pass to, to take that responsibility
Then, as was written in the stars, a Watford free kick in first half injury time was met emphatically by Angella and his towering header crashed into the top right of the goal, giving Camp no chance
Most of the possession, most of the "opportunities" yet half time came and Bournemouth were 0-1 down
The second half started with a Ritchie snap shot going just wide but Watford came right back into the game with a mixture of fast breaks when they had the ball and award winning falls and pretend injuries when they didn't have the ball
It was during Battocchio's Olivier Award winning performance (he must have been tweezing pubes to get those tears) that AFCB broke forward and Daniels had a pile driver of a shot blocked at the last second on 57 minutes
A minute later and it was all square
This time it was Grabban that burst through and under challenge, over he went.
The ref gave a goal kick but the lino was either having a fit or he'd seen something
Being behind the north stand goal I'll have to admit that his view was better than mine, but nevertheless I smiled when not only was a penalty given, but Angella was given a straight red
Without Pitman on the pitch to take EVERYTHING it was down to Grabban and as Almunia dived to the left, he coolly slotted the ball to the right, low and into the corner: 1-1
From then it was all Bournemouth, pinning Watford back and allowing them only the occasional, still very dangerous, counter attack
On 70 minutes all of that pressure seemed to bear fruit
A defence splitting pass sent Pugh through and instead of smashing the ball into the gaping net he decided to round the keeper
Again, I'm a long way away from the action, but , it looked like as Pugh went past, he left a trailing leg out and hit the deck like the yellow smoke bomb, that was to follow, had struck him on the back of the head like it had been fired from a cannon
The ref had a decision to make - book Pugh for diving or send Almunia off for a last man foul tackle
He came up with a compromise of still giving a penalty, but just giving the keeper a yellow
This was to prove key as Almunia stepped up to not only save Grabban's weedy keeper height friendly shot but then miraculously save two further follow up shots that left the away fans exultant and the home fans holding their heads in disbelief
It didn't end there though as Watford just couldn't get out of their own half. Rantie and Pitman had come on for Surman and Pugh and this had greatly improved our mobility (through Rantie) and greed (through Pitman)
With just a minute of normal time left Grabban sprinted through on the left and cut the ball back
In rushed Ritchie and absolutely smashed the ball at the goal and hit the only man on the line squad in the face. Anywhere else and it was a goal - so unlucky
In injury time both Elphick and Camp almost f###ed it all up with 2 of the most hideous arrogant passes you will ever see but as Watford were sat so far back, the rest of the defence was able to cover up
Final Score 1-1
Summary : Every player is trying his absolute best. Fact . But another fact is that we failed to win, at home, against a 10 man team having been given 2 penalties
We lack a cutting edge, we have always lacked a cutting edge and at home against 2 banks of 4, we are playing the wrong formation - or possibly the right formation, but with the wrong players
Midfield need to be up with the striker in attack, and helping the defenders when under pressure. We are doing the latter, but are not doing the former anywhere near often enough
This is especially evident when Grabban collects the ball wide and looks to crops the ball to...to...to...bugger, an empty box
Star Man - O'Kane again is running the show. Arter must be wondering what this guy has for breakfast
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