Last season, Barnsley achieved a sequence of three wins in a row against West Bromwich Albon, Ipswich Town and Doncaster Rovers in September / October; a run that was halted on the road versus Nottingham Forest. This Saturday, at Home, can Barnsley go at least one better?
On The Ponty End invited Alex Prentice of
www.wfcforums.com to discuss how he feels Watford might fare and to tell us a little bit about more the opposition that their fans affectionately call The `Orns.
Ahead of our game on Saturday, how do you rate your chances of picking up all three points at Oakwell on Saturday.
It depends how we turn up in all honesty, if we turn up as the bunch of frightened kids that have looked apparent in the past few weeks then we’ll lose without a whimper, if we fight for it like we have done so successfully on many occasions this season we could come away with a convincing victory. One things for sure we need our defence to stop making stupid errors and our strikers to get on with it and get some shots away.
About Watford FC, tell us something new, something old and something borrowed?
New – Marvin Sordell, not so much new but freshly into the team from the academy, he’s been a breath of fresh air and made up a gap we never expected to fill. In his first professional season he’s chipped in with a fair few goals and offers a good pacey battling alternative on the floor as opposed to what we already have.
Old – John Eustace, not very old but the oldest in our squad anyway, he’s what really keeps us ticking, just sitting back allowing the others to roam forwards and breaks up play with his defensive abilities and intelligence of play.
Borrowed – Jordan Mutch, at the start of the season he didn’t look too convincing but he’s come into his own under the wing of the aforementioned Eustace, he’s dynamic, strong and gets stuck in, good range of passing and isn’t afraid to have a shot.
What were your pre-season expectations for Watford and how are you fairing compared to those?
We didn’t have the best of pre-seasons so we were expecting a season of sitting just above relegation but hopefully keeping out of the bottom three and surviving the drop come May. However we started brilliantly and was right up at the top end of the playoffs, that purple patch has ended now and we’re sort of settling into what we probably are, but hopefully we can retain mid-table status for the rest of the season and build from there.
What would you say your squad’s weaknesses are?
Our youthfulness most definitely, we lack experience everywhere on the pitch, our goalkeeper doesn’t exactly exude confidence all the time despite his England honours and form, our defence leak stupid mistakes that shouldn’t be happening but then the week before can be brilliant. We also go missing too easily and frequently.
What would you say the squad’s strengths are?
When we get the ball down well and grab some momentum, we play well, if we score an early goal during this we look like we could go on and score a dozen, we do have the ability in us to destroy sides but it’s just their mental capabilities of carrying that out.
Who is Watford’s star player, squad clown and undervalued gem, in your eyes?
Our star player is Danny Graham at the moment, he’s on a bit of a barren run himself right now but he’s vital to our team, he’s our best forward by far and pretty much has it all, he’s quick, he’s strong, he can head and he can finish. Squad clown is probably Lloyd Doyley, he’s a bit of a hero at Vicarage Road but trust me this is not down to his abilities, he’s played a large amount of games for the club (you may remember the pandemonium on Sky Sports when he scored his first and only ever goal including in training, against QPR last season) but he’s a bit lacking, he can’t kick a ball straight, in nearly almost goes out for a throw in, he looks like he can’t run and it takes him forever to decide what he’s doing with the ball. Undervalued gem for me is probably McGinn, a lot of our fans are on his back already because of his lightweightness but that isn’t everything and he’s clearly got talent, he’s very good on the ball and can pick out a gem of a pass.
If you could have any one Barnsley player for your starting XI, who would it be?
Has to be Adam Hammill, he really has the ability to make something happen and will go very far in the game, I’m quite jealous of you to be frank.
What is your opinion about Barnsley FC as a club, and as a team?
One of those clubs around the country that I don’t really have a negative, nor positive opinion on. Similar to ourselves in stature, fan base and history, but no matter what we always seem to lose too (or at least never beat!). I’ve meant to come up for our game at Oakwell every season for 3 years now, but I keep buying my train/match ticket and waking up too late, every single time!
