Boothroyd sees the writing on the bucket as gravity of Watford's plight is exposed
Rotherham is not an obvious place to dig for salvation in the Premiership. They are bottom of League One. But last month's recruits, Will Hoskins and Lee Williamson, did not look out of place in Watford's colours. It said as much about their new club as the normally voluble Aidy Boothroyd could manage afterwards.
"I'm miserable and moody," he said. "It was a bad game and we contributed to that enormously. We didn't turn up. Thankfully it doesn't happen often but it was an opportunity to get points. I'm going home to kick a few buckets." Dented or otherwise, they may be the next resort for bailing out Watford. Asked why he was getting the players in yesterday but not seeing them until tomorrow, he said: "I don't need to warm down; I need to calm down." He almost snapped.
Bolton were no better. Sometimes, when a mismatch degenerates into a mishmash, Martians are enlisted speculatively to guess who is the giant and who the minnow. Here humans might have wondered if they were watching some peculiar extra-terrestrial exercise on Mars in which the object was to launch the ball as high and far as possible. Only Newton's influence kept the game in the parish of Vicarage Road. With the window closed and doors locked by two strong defences, the chimney seemed the preferred way in.
Watford are simply struggling to stay at the table. Jay DeMerit headed over their only clear chance, from a free-kick. And now they have no Ashley Young, just a lot of money and eight green newcomers. In their next four league games they meet all three of their fellow strugglers. Their fate could be sealed by early March.
Their defence is ruggedly secure and Foster, though at fault here, was spared last week's chastening visit to Old Trafford by being on loan from Manchester United. But since the loss of Marlon King after eight league games it has been hard to see where a goal is coming from.
Boothroyd thinks Watford can be a top-10 club in five years. On Saturday he reminded fans: "A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." This one may start with a step or two down to somewhere like Rotherham. The Guardian
Another nail in dire Watford's coffin
If this wasn't the worst advert for the Premiership so far this season, one dreads to imagine what was. The match ball was sponsored by a firm of funeral directors and, after a performance like this, Watford are surely dead and buried.
This was, after all, a fixture they genuinely felt they could win given Bolton's patchy form of late and a terrible record here - no league wins before yesterday. But Nicolas Anelka, back after injury, had other ideas with a lightning second-half strike that earned his side their first Premiership success of 2007.
Anelka's contribution was the only redeeming factor in a crashing bore of a spectacle that was void of quality or entertainment.
The Frenchman was the only player who caught the eye on a ghastly pitch that is getting worse by the week because of constant use by both Watford and Saracens rugby club.
For once it is not just the fans and the media who believe Watford are falling too deep into the mire to survive. Adrian Boothroyd is the one figure who has always tried to put a positive spin on the season but even he is beginning to have doubts.
"It was bad and there's no point in hiding from it," said an uncharacteristically tetchy Boothroyd. "We contributed to that after going on a little run, even it was only for two games. We had an opportunity to get something today but we never turned up. It simply wasn't good enough and if we play like that then we'll go down, simple as that. We can't play like that and expect to get out of trouble." Daily Telegraph
Boothroyd's nightmare becomes all too real
Was this the game that finally broke Watford's spirit? Throughout the season, while everyone else has been mentioning the dreaded "r" word, Adrian Boothroyd has steadfastly stuck to his belief that there are three worse teams than his in the Premiership. Some might call it kidology yet for the first time, in public at least, even the manager is now beginning to have serious doubts.
A cursory "yes" was a tetchy Boothroyd's response when asked if his pride was hurt following this latest setback. Watford may receive two years' worth of parachute payments when, rather than if, they go down but that is scant consolation to the Premiership's youngest manager.
"All I'm thinking about is now," said Boothroyd, whose team's next two games are against West Ham United and Wigan. The strain is beginning to show. "Our ability to defend and our ability to attack, which are quite important," was Boothroyd's sarcastic take on where Watford are going wrong before he checked himself to add: "I'm sorry, I'm miserable and moody."
With failure - and Boothroyd himself would call it that - almost inevitable, it was easy to sympathise with his lot. Sam Allardyce, conversely, is dreaming of sneaking into a Champions League spot after Nicolas Anelka's second-half strike secured a first Premiership win of 2007 following a rocky patch to keep Bolton in fifth. The Independent
Wembley lure for Allardyce
One touch of quality settles dire spectacle.
Sam Allardyce has many qualities, most notably a no nonsense approach to all things football. Mess with Big Sam at your peril. Yet a sentimental streak lurks beneath the tough exterior and he has a dream that sends a shiver through his substantial frame. Bolton Wanderers may lie only two points from a place in the Champions League next season, but it is the prospect of playing in the first FA Cup Final at the new Wembley Stadium that has their manager all weak-kneed and dewy-eyed.
“Qualifying for the Champions League would be like winning the Premiership with 120 points,” Allardyce said. “For a club with our squad, resources and spending power, that's how big it would be.
“But to win the FA Cup this year would be a greater achievement. Absolutely. It would be unbelievable. Our club was the first to play there in 1923 [the “White Horse” final] and to be the first to play at the new Wembley would be a dream come true for all the Bolton fans and players. And for me, personally.”
Watford wore the look of condemned men. The theme tune of Mission Impossible accompanied the players on to the pitch and the choice of the match ball sponsor — MK Ginder & Sons, funeral directors — was entirely appropriate.
“Raise the roof,” the PA announcer implored the home supporters at the start of the second half, but if the fans did their vocal best, the players failed to respond. Even Adrian Boothroyd, the Watford manager and master motivator, was unable to raise the living dead. “We never turned up,” he said, barely able to contain his anger. “If we play like that again, we'll go down.”
With three of Watford's next four league matches against West Ham United, Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic, all is not lost. As Boothroyd stewed at home yesterday, his players trained. “It's not a punishment, it's part of our recovery,” he said. “I'm not in because I don't need to warm down. I just need to calm down.” The Times
