Daily Mirror Match Report - Scathing & funny!

[BoothenenderGaz]

Last paragraph is the best!



Stoke 0-0 Watford
Lee the only saving grace in bore draw Stoke 0 Watford 0
By Mike Walters 10/12/2007

Saviours are often associated with this time of year, and goalkeeper Richard Lee's reflexes handed Watford their first clean sheet since October.

But this dreary stalemate at the Britannia Stadium was more forgettable than amnesia itself as Aidy Boothroyd's men tiptoed two points clear of West Brom at the Championship summit.

Despite Lee's three crucial second-half saves, thrill-seekers in the Potteries who expected fine art to rival a Wedgwood dinner service were short-changed by a game with all the charm and subtlety of a breeze-block.

And when a manager as committed to playing on the front foot as Boothroyd is left extolling the virtues of an impasse, you know it was a real stinker.

In fairness, Stoke - fit, functional and utterly one-dimensional - probably deserved to win, if only because Lee produced excellent saves when creativity threatened to gatecrash the tedium. Seven minutes after the break, he threw himself to block Ricardo Fuller's shot from Mamady Sidibe's cut-back and Lee excelled again when he clawed Richard Cresswell's deflected shot two-handed around the post.

But Lee saved his best for last, spreading himself bravely to beat out Fuller's effort at point-blank range when the Jamaica international was clean through and looked certain to poach the winner with just two minutes left.

Fuller has now gone nine games without scoring, but Stoke boss Tony Pulis refused to blame his misfiring striker and said: "Every centre-forward has these spells. Ricardo is going through a poor run.

"But on another day he might have had a hat-trick and he's still special - we're just disappointed because we had the chances to win it and, from the last one especially, you would expect him to score.

"Watford are a powerful side and they are good at what they do, but we've just played two of the sides who came down from the Premier League and kept a clean sheet against them both. There are a lot of clubs in the top 12 who could go up, but ultimately I think it will come down to which of them adds that little bit of quality when the transfer window opens."

Watford were hit by the withdrawal of central defender Danny Shittu with a knee injury - but in the land of the giants, they coped well against Stoke's high-altitude front line of Fuller, Sidibe, Cresswell and substitute Jon Parkin.

For all their territorial advantage, the Hornets lacked a cutting edge once leading scorer Marlon King had dragged their best chance wide from 10 yards.

Their £5million twin signings, Jobi McAnuff and Nathan Ellington, have yet to score a goal between them and McAnuff wasted an abundance of possession because he could not cross a ballot paper or shoot the breeze.

Boothroyd said: "The game never got going. We knew it would be a tough place to come, because Stoke are such a threat at set-pieces, but we were resolute and stood up to them well.

"I was delighted with the clean sheet because we haven't kept one for a while and the keeper made a couple of important saves when we needed him."

And Watford skipper Jay DeMerit admitted: "Those Stoke forwards are big lads, and you know you are going to be tested physically when you come to Stoke, so we are satisfied with a point."

Defensive virtues aside, however, entertainment value was negligible.

Youngsters admitted under Stoke's kids-for-a-quid offer were last night rumoured to have sent NSPCC hotlines into meltdown.

[RAF]

Spot On!

H

[y_oh_y_delilah]

That's the Sun for me from now on - I only want to read about how great we are!

;D

[terrorofturfmoor]

Sigh, life outside the glamorous 0-0's of the Premiership eh!!!

[Davef]

Nice user name mate

[bayernoatcake]

Well I fucking enjoyed the match. And I hate long bollocks football.

[Parkerson]

The most entertaining bit of the whole day was the free kicks at half time. Hate to admit it but the report is quite accurate

[terrorofturfmoor]

Cheers Dave, I want an Avatar of Frankie Brown, but I don't know how to put it on straght from my PC, if you can that is!!! ???

[MrMagic]

The Telegraph report is not too dissimilar. Strange how the press generally think our games resemble poor fare, Must be a conspiracy I guess.

Perish the thought, but either of these teams - surely not both? - could be in the Premiership next season. A turgid goalless encounter at the Britannia Stadium summed up a Championship in which standards are mediocre at best.

Goalkeeper Richard Lee, deputising for the injured Mart Poom, emerged as his side's saviour yesterday with a splendid second-half performance. He almost single-handedly denied Stoke, who finished the stronger with home striker Ricardo Fuller twice seeing attempts cannon back off the legs of the Watford stand-in.

Aidy Boothroyd, the Watford manager, declared himself satisfied to have taken a point from a difficult venue: "The game never got going, but it was important for us to keep a clean sheet."

Lee endorsed his manager's view. "Stoke have been on fire recently," he said. "To come here and get a point is a good result and we're pleased."

Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, expressed disappointment at his team's failure to take their chances. "You expect Ric [Fuller] to score in those situations. He's been on a poor run in front of goal recently, but he's special for us. He'll have another run and score lots of goals."

Pulis, whose side had won their three previous games - most recently against Sheffield United - added: "It's good to have taken four points from two teams just out of the Premiership."

He nominated West Brom as the best team Stoke had faced this season and said: "Promotion will go to the clubs who can get that bit more quality in [when the transfer window opens] and we haven't got the strength in depth 10 or 11 clubs in this division have."

A catalogue of self-induced errors, with neither side capable of stringing together even two or three passes, reduced the first half to a messy affair with genuine quality sadly lacking.

While endeavour was never in question there was an abundance of raw aggression in a game that was not for the purist. Two sides so high in the Championship should be capable of better than this.

Watford's bright opening was answered by Stoke going close on 19 minutes when Richard Cresswell volleyed across goal. Stoke might have been awarded a penalty when Jobi McAnuff upended Liam Lawrence, but there was no response from the referee.

First-half chances were rare and only a Cresswell angled shot from the left saw either goalkeeper in action.

The second half was only slightly more entertaining though it was not until the 82nd minute that Stoke genuinely threatened. Cresswell looped in a shot from the left, it deflected off a defender and Lee saved well.

A minute later Fuller, who had earlier shot straight at Lee, beat the Watford goalkeeper only for Jay DeMerit to scoop the ball clear, two yards from the line.

Two minutes from the end Fuller was again denied by Lee as the home side took the second-half honours.

[spitthedog]

unfortunately the assessment is true
i feel sorry for those who thought it was an entertaining game.
if there was a meter for skill factor it would surely be in the minus.

at least the people who got in free have the comfort of not having had to part with any cash for it.

yes, a point a against Watford is good, but for 'football' fans it was lacking

if that match was a dog it would be put down.

[c00kie]

How can Pulis claim a lack of strength in depth? Stoke were clearly hit by injuries and suspensions, but even so the bench comprised three outfield players to whom Pulis decided to give extended contracts (one being a future Welsh International; another having played for Juventus), while the other he made a prime target at the beginning of the Summer.
Is he questioning his own judgment in signing up these players?

[Olgrligm]

bayernoatcake said:

Well I fucking enjoyed the match. And I hate long bollocks football.

Exactly.

[mattface]

Sounds to me like a couple of journos pissed off at having to go to Stoke on a Sunday as opposed to the comfy luxury of a prem game.

[TheWiseMaster]

The aptly named cookie still can't resist a dig

Did Pulis have a chance of signing the likes of Ellington and Francis....er no, so he signs those he can afford

Hopefully now that he has a few more pennies we will see better quality signings such as Diao

[Rebelliousjukebox]

"Their £5million twin signings, Jobi McAnuff and Nathan Ellington, have yet to score a goal between them and McAnuff wasted an abundance of possession because he could not cross a ballot paper or shoot the breeze."

Hornets fans I was watching the match with in Bath (the city, not a large container full of warm water) call him Jobi NotGoodAnuff.

[MrMagic]

TWM - Sorry but you don't know who Pulis had the chance of signing, and why does he have more "pennies" now than he had in the Summer? Things are going well at present, but your arguement that he signs those he can afford is frankly as daft as any of the "anti" stuff floating about.

[c00kie]

> The aptly named cookie still can't resist a dig

Ho, ho! The man takes a swipe at a moniker, having chosen for himself the most laughably inappropriate nom de plume possible.
Talk about folie de grandeur...

[terrorofturfmoor]

Heeeeeey!!! nice one Dave, I take it either you or Smudge have put it on for me???

WHAT YOU DOING MESSING WITH MY PROFILE???


;D

[Pretty Little Boother]

;D