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Is Aidy Boothroyd running out of ideas?

January 17th 2008 03:43

As a Watford fan, I was one of many who was not happy when we appointed the little known Aidy Boothroyd as our manager in 2005.

I quickly grew to like and accept him when he managed to keep us in the championship in his first few games, and then get us promotion to the Premier League in his first full season. Unfortunately, that's where it went wrong. We hardly won a game in the premier league, and Boothroyd refused to change our hit and hope tactics.

On relegation, our attempt to bounce back is being made in the same one dimensional way. Many Watford fans refer to the manager as Aidy Hoofroyd. The big punt forward is supplemented by free kicks, corners and long throws. It is not easy on the eye, and it is not the way football should be played.

We started the season well, but are now falling away alarmingly. Once again, there has been no change of tactics, and it is becoming increasingly obvious that Boothroyd has no other way of playing in his armoury.

Route one can be a successful tactic if it is used sparingly. Using it all the time is totally ineffective against the better teams. Boothroyd needs to change things quickly, or the unthinkable might happen and the Watford fans could start to turn against him.

Aidy Boothroyd

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Posted By: Graham Fisher - Category: Watford

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Crouch scores sensational hat-trick for Liverpool

April 2nd 2007 05:58

Sat, Mar 31:

Liverpool 4 - 1 Arsenal
Bolton 1 - 0 Sheff Utd
Charlton 1 - 0 Wigan
Fulham 1 - 1 Portsmouth
Man Utd 4 - 1 Blackburn
Newcastle 0 - 1 Man City
West Ham 2 - 0 Middlesbrough
Watford 0 - 1 Chelsea

Sun, Apr 1:

Tottenham 1 - 0 Reading

SUMMARY:

No England supporter would ever have imagined themselves saying this, but boy did England miss out on the goal-scoring 'prowess' of Liverpool striker Peter Crouch.

The England striker signalled his come-back from surgery to a broken nose with a sensational hat-trick against Arsenal at Anfield.

The Bean-pole striker's first goal came as early as the 4th minute when Jermaine Pennant and Alvaro Arbeloa exchanged exquisite back-heels to setup the first goal.

Half an hour later, Crouch doubled his side's lead from a set-piece after being fouled by Kolo Toure. Xabi Alonso delivered a pin-point free-kick into the box for Crouch to power home the header. 2 - 0 Liverpool.

Rather than sit back and defend their lead, the Reds came out for the second-half in search for more blood and Daniel Agger delivered the third goal with a glancing header in the 60th minute.

Soon after, Arsenal bundled in a consolation goal through former Chelsea defender William Gallas - why do centre-backs always seem to have a knack for scoring against Liverpool (think Rio Ferdinand earlier this season).

Peter Crouch, high on confidence after two great goals in the first half, completed his brilliant hat-trick in the 81st minute when he danced around in the box before firing a left-foot shot pass the helpless Lehmann.

A fantastic result for the Reds that could go a long way in determining who ends up with the coveted third spot in the league as well as revenging the cup losses to the Gunners earlier this season.

And what about the main man Peter Crouch? I have never sung his praises, but he deserves a huge pat on the back for such a tremendous performance. Hat-tricks don't get any better than this and some would describe this particular one as 'perfect' - one with the right foot, one with the left, and a header.

Amazing.

Elsewhere, Manchester United came from behind to record a 4 - 1 win over Blackburn at Old Trafford.

After falling behind to a Matt Derbyshire goal in the 29th minute, the Red Devils had to wait until the second half before finding the net and the floodgates opened thereafter.

Paul Scholes opened the scoring with a shot into the bottom corner and Michael Carrick (73), Ji-Sung Park (83) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (90) chipped in to send United 9-points clear at the table momentarily.

Chelsea only just managed to stay in touch with the league leaders courtesy of substitute Salomon Kalou's injury time goal to keep Chelsea's Barclays Premiership hopes alive.

Elsewhere, wins were recorded for Bolton, Manchester City, Charlton, West Ham and Tottenham.

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Posted By: charles - Category: EPL results, English football news, Arsenal, Bolton, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Tottenham, West Ham United, Wigan, Charlton, Reading, Sheffield United, Watford

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Ronaldo and Rooney double-act

March 19th 2007 03:57

RESULTS:

Sat, Mar 17:

Man Utd 4 - 1 Bolton
Chelsea 3 - 0 Sheff Utd
Middlesbrough 0 - 2 Man City
Reading 0 - 0 Portsmouth
Tottenham 3 - 1 Watford
Wigan 0 - 0 Fulham
Blackburn 1 - 2 West Ham

Sun, Mar 18:

Charlton 2 - 0 Newcastle
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Liverpool
Everton 1 - 0 Arsenal

SUMMARY:

Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung and Wayne Rooney both scored a brace in their team's 4-1 victory over Bolton at Old Trafford.

However, the chief tormentor for Bolton was none other than in-form Portugal international Cristiano Ronaldo who played a part in three of the four goals, including a stunning 80 yard run from the edge of his own box to setup Wayne Rooney for a chipped goal.

A serious-looking ankle injury to skipper Gary Neville in the 10th minute was the only sour-note of a dominant Red Devils performance and with six senior players already on the treatment table, the latest injury blow will truly test the depth of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad.

Chelsea are still in hot pursuit of the league leaders with a comfortable 3-0 demolition job on struggling Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.

Goals from Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and substitute Michael Ballack were more than enough to settle a game in which the home side were rarely in trouble.

Arsenal and Liverpool, however, were unable to keep up with the top two sides with a loss and draw respectively.

The Gunners lost to an injury time winner from Everton's Andy Johnson which came from Mikel Arteta's corner. Arsenal chose the worst time to lose concentration and failed to clear the ball allowing the striker to drill home with a left-foot shot.

Meanwhile, Liverpool dominated possession at Villa Park but was unable to find a way past a resilient Aston Villa defence, reinforcing the need for a world-class striker in the off-season.

The man known as "God" to Liverpool fans, Robbie Fowler, replaced Gerrard with six minutes left and almost won the game for Liverpool when his header was turned around the post by Sorensen.

Oh what might have been had Fowler been brought on earlier when it was clear that a goal-poacher of his quality would not go amiss.

In other games, wins were recorded for Manchester City - a huge relief for under-fire manager Stuart Pearce - Tottenham, West Ham and Charlton.

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