Watford today - only 24 mile journey but I wish I hadn't bothered!

The weather was freezing of course and the leaden skies promised the snow which arrived shortly after the end of the game. My journey back to Princes Risborough was a bit tricky when I got to the hills around Great Missenden and even worse shortly after when I went out to do a job in my rear wheel drive BMW and got stuck in a serious dip along a country lane. What should have taken an hour there and back stretched to three but I am now home safely.

The match - not much to say really. I have just read the main site report and find myself wondering if I really was at the game at all. Maybe it was just a bad dream and I didn't go near Watford today. I'm pretty sure that I did though and I am afraid there was nothing on show of any merit at all. Maybe both sides did work hard and cancelled each other out but, until Eustace got a lucky break for the first goal, the match had 0-0 written all over it. Unfortunately we didn't really look like overhauling even a one-goal lead and when the second one went in it was definitely game over.

I don't quite understand this though. As we have seen often enough, a two goal lead in OUR favour is never enough - the opposition just come at us like a pack of wild dogs and they usually get a goal or two (Leeds excepted, obviously ). In our case though, a two-goal deficit seems just too much and even when we got one back I still didn't see us getting a point. There was plenty of time - 11 minutes as it turned out - yet we never really looked like getting a second.

I can't praise a single player - sorry, but I just can't. I will probably annoy some on here now by making a controversial statement but here goes. David Perkins - what exactly does he do? I am not saying he is a bad player but I must have missed all his outstanding performances. Whenever I have seen him he buzzes around and makes himself available but, as far as I can see, his passing is not that good, his tackling not that good either and he doesn't shoot enough for a midfielder. A good squad player at best but certainly no more. Maybe someone can enlighten me but I haven't seen what people rave about. I'm not singling him out today though - the team as a whole didn't perform.

Inconsistency is going to be our downfall this season. I think we will be comfortably mid or lower-mid table but definitely no more than that. However, lose a few more like this and Doncaster, and Millwall and the alarm bells will start ringing. I hope they don't because I love my club and make sure that everybody I meet knows that I follow Barnsley. I wish I could tell people how much I enjoyed my visit to Vicarage Road but I can't because I didn't. The whole afternoon was just rubbish!

 

You must have missed an entire half of season if you're asking what does Perkins do? Oh and alarm bells? We need two more wins to stay up the bottom three are that ****.

 

Hallelujah at last someone else that sees the same player as me!!
Possibly the fittest player I have ever seen, runs around for every single minute, but just not good at anything very average player. Obviously all this is just my opinion and others see him totally differently.
The bottom 3 or 4 this season are very poor and we will stay up easily.

 

I think Perkins is a player who isn't the best passer, the best shooter, the best tackler etc, but he's a player who will always be available to be available for a pass and hold onto the ball, he will always look to play short (if that's what he's been asked to do) and will run his blood to water. The type of player you need, but I understand you aren't slating him here - just wondering why people are raving about him.

Personally, I think he's been outstanding this season.

 

Perkins is doing an immense job.. We have lost Butterfield and Drinkwater and he is trying to hold the midfield together... Nuff said!!

 

Perkins - not the most talented footballer player in the world but probably the best work ethic I have seen from any one of our lads. Positionally he is very good too. A key player for us imho.

 

think your initial statement is very true however I think positional sense is an area he definitely needs to work on. Due to his non stop action style he can leave his responsibilities and gets caught the wrong side of the ball. This season I have mainly sat in the Ponty End and you can't really see from there the gaps he leaves. I then went upstairs to the East stand upper for a few games and there it became evident.

In that position especially it isnt just about having a great work ethic but keeping the team shape and being part of a unit. Aginst the better teams he can get picked off as he goes searching for the ball on his own in the oppositions half. Blackpool did this very successfully indeed.

 

Perkins yesterday was way ahead of the midfielders alongside him, Tonge and Smith, who had very little impact on the game. Hence Tonge being substituted shortly after half-time. I'm sure both Tonge and Smith will come good with more games under their belt, getting used to our system of play, but to single out Perkins on yesterday's showing is wrong. He was streets ahead of the other two in his involvement.

 

Right , that is where things differ then. from the East stand he looks out of position time and time again and I could not understand how people thought he was so good, but having read your post I can see how it might look differently.
I am not saying he is crap, but just I dont see how he is as good as made out to be. He is bloody full of energy though.