Leeds United v Watford (League Cup 2nd Round, Elland Road, 7.45pm)
Neither Leeds nor Watford fans need reminding of the last time these two teams played each other in a competitive fixture, and not simply because the event took place only three years ago.
The 2006 Play-off final saw heavily fancied Leeds attempt to reclaim their place in the Premier League following a two year wilderness period, whilst Watford were expected to put up a good fight and enjoy the day.
Watford did indeed enjoy their day as they trounced Leeds by a 3-0 score-line which really did not do the Hornets justice – to say Leeds didn’t turn up would be unfair on the Hertfordshire club who coped far too easily with Kevin Blackwell’s attempted 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 formation and looked deadly when given a chance in front of goal.
The demise of Leeds is well chronicled, but Watford have hardly enjoyed the often bumpy journey since then as much as many believed they would.
It is a journey which sees just two players left in the Watford squad from that May Day in 2006, and another recruited as their permanent manager – Watford’s third in nine months.
The man at the helm, Malky Mackay, was originally caretaker manager following Adie Boothroyd’s departure from the club in November last year but was only offered the role of manager this June after Brendan Rodgers left the club to take over at Reading after just over six months in charge.
If that seems a little perplexing, it merely peels back the skin of the chaotic mess Watford have struggled to emerge from over the past two years.
Their Premier League campaign lasted 38 games with the club finishing bottom and relegation to the Championship was confirmed long before their full quota of league games had been completed in 2006-7 season.
Not so surprising there then, the problems reared their head a year later though, where despite being supported by one of music’s wealthiest artists in Elton John, the Hornets were paying out huge sums of money which even he may have bulked at.
Most players were on Premier League wages and the club needed to regain their status to support their income, but the 07-08 season fizzled out with Hull beating Watford in the Play-Off semi-finals 6-1 on aggregate.
Such a scenario was almost unthinkable in early November, with Watford rightly justifying their tag as favourites for promotion by leading the league, however, the fact that they slipped to only just scraping into the play-offs on the final day of the season spoke volumes about the problems the club had in the final six months of the campaign.
Resigned to another season of non-Premier League football, Watford had to sell to survive and the results continued their downward trajectory from the previous season as Watford flirted with relegation.
Although they stayed up with something to spare last season, the man brought into save them – ex-Chelsea reserve coach Brendan Rodgers – was off to Reading, a club who had persuaded him to return after Steve Coppell’s resignation. Faced with a manager who angled for a return to Berkshire and the pay-off due to come their way to ease their financial troubles, Watford had little choice but to accept.
While the choice of Mackay was thought of as the cheap option for a club about to fight relegation, Watford have so far started well with a win (at Nottingham Forest), a couple of draws and a defeat to promotion favourites Sheffield United, leaving them in mid-table.
The finances still haunt Watford though, with striker Tommy Smith expected to miss tonight’s game in order to agree personal terms for a move to Portsmouth, with Watford having little choice but to accept the Premier League club’s offer.
Prediction – While Watford are still uncertain of how far they could fall and will want to hope they can scrape through this to line up a money-spinning tie next round, there is a confidence around Leeds which suggests their own downturn has levelled and things are looking up. Leeds to win 2-0 with Snodgrass grabbing both. Leeds 2-0 Watford.
