Stu Montagu asking the questions...
After the events of Turf Moor there will be no need to be telling anyone's mother to get champagne on ice, but one trip to Cardiff is still well on the cards.
We thought we could steamroller them in the first leg but like their rug-wearing chairman Watford are still standing. We thought that it was time to have a word with these bloody southerners and find out a thing or two.
We decided to ask Mike Peter, from widely acclaimed fanzine "Blind Stupid and Desperate", what was the lowdown on his team, his fans and his love of bald Italians. To find out how he responded to the probing then just read on.
So, how do you see the second leg of the tie going then?
Well, being the eternal optimist that I am I see no reason why Watford can't win it. I felt we shaded it in the first leg and it's at our place this time around so that gives us a bit of an advantage. Of course Liverpool are a far better team and you could just as easily trounce us. Who knows – the magic of the cup eh?
Were you surprised at quite how useless Liverpool were in the first leg, or was it a case of you stopping us playing?
Credit must go to Watford – especially our midfield pairing of Gavin Mahon and Brynjar Gunnarsson – for shutting down a team who, even on a very bad day, could have easily put several past us. A few Liverpool players had stinkers but I didn't think you played terribly.
I'd disagree. Who should we be keeping an eye out for as your star turn?
Well Heidar Helguson's the key man. He runs himself ragged every single game, possesses a decent touch and I haven't seen a player yet who can jump half as high as he can. A real aerial threat.
Okay, duly noted. And who are the weak links that we should be picking on?
The whole team played like heroes at Anfield so this is difficult. If I had to choose… Neil Cox isn't the fastest player in the world, Baros could take advantage of that.
Who are the Liverpool players that you think will trouble you most?
Gerrard and Baros were the only ones to come out particularly well from the first leg, and for my mind they're the best players in your squad. Of course this Morientes fella might be a bit difficult…
And which of our players don't you rate at all?
I didn't see much in Pongolle or Mellor. Of course, this is based on one game - they might be incredible. Oh, and I heard you don't like Josemi, so I'll say him as well, even if I've never seen him play.
It's a sound bandwagon to jump on though. What are your ambitions for the rest of the season?
Well to win the League Cup would be rather nice! Of course avoiding relegation is the first target for a club like us, but the League is so incredibly tight that the play-offs aren't impossible, if not hugely likely.
How are you doing financially are you still struggling from when Vialli was there?
We're slowly getting there. There's still a rather large hole in the club's finances and we're one of the least well off clubs in the Division. But we got our ground back in the summer (an Elton John concert in the summer will hopefully cover the loan), signed our first player with club money since October 2002 in James Chambers and have an excellent Supporters Trust.
What went wrong with Luca Vialli, he seemed to be a great appointment when he came?
The appointment of such a successful manager was always going to be hugely exciting. Especially for the board, who gave him a blank cheque-book and destroyed our finances. It would have been alright if he had signed decent players, but he bought talentless mercenaries with no desire to play for Watford. Most of them dropped out of the team after a few months and took ten grand from our pockets every week for the privilege. He had no concept of how to mange a small-town club, he blamed fans for losses and kept the diligent people at the Watford Observer waiting for hours. Perhaps the worst point was when, following a surprising run of form, he changed the team before League-Cup quarter final because we "weren't playing attractive football." We lost 4-0.
Sounds like fun. Who are the fans that you have most disliked this season and why?
Oooh, another toughie. To be honest I haven't really disliked anyone this season – although in the niceness stakes Southampton impressed us with their self-deprecating humour in the face of a 5-2 drubbing.
Any supporters in particular impress you with their wit, enthusiasm and clever songs?
Well who else but my colleagues at
www.bsad.org who write wonderful football articles on a remarkably regular basis! Their songs aren't much cop though.
Shameless plug, control yourself man! Have you got any decent chants that will impress us when you come to Anfield?
Not really, our chant selection is hugely monotonous.
As a neutral looking in from outside, what is your view of the ongoing "Gerrard to Chelsea" story?
In my opinion the only time he would have moved to Chelsea was last summer, I can't see that move happening anymore. Whether Gerrard is going to be at Liverpool for the long term – harder to say. Benitez has a good pedigree and his signings so far have impressed me. A few more acquisitions could see Liverpool challenging for the top and that would presumably convince Gerrard to stay. If that didn't happen, Real Madrid have an ongoing defensive midfield problem which I doubt Thomas Gravesen will solve.
We have the might of Jamie Carragher, do you have a club legend that all the fans love for their attitude?
Helguson again. His work rate is simply incredible.
Do you have any parasites on the books that need to be gotten off them?
Oh no, we got rid of them a while back. We can't really afford wasters and thus our squad is lovely and efficient (and rather small).
Do you think the gap between the Premiership and the "Coca-Cola Elite Super Challenge Championship" is insurmountable or can good management overcome it?
I don't think it’s impossible for a team to be promoted and stay up, although it'll take a couple of yo-yos, good management and the ability to ignore foreign mercenaries. In the last five years or so teams like Charlton and Middlesborough have done that and established themselves as top half Premiership clubs. But the days of Watford coming up and finishing second in our first season, as we did in 82/83, are unfortunately long gone. I think it's a great shame that only fans of four or five clubs know that their team has any chance of ever winning the Premiership.
As do I. Small clubs complain about re-distribution and elitism but if Watford were promoted this season and were offered the opportunity to reduce relegation places and re-distribution for the next season they would wouldn't they? Self-interest is the football culture of the moment isn't it?
I'd like to think we wouldn't. Seeing as we'd be a back in Division Two (for that is it's real name) at the end of the season it wouldn’t make much sense. Besides, I'd like to credit our chairman with a modicum of sense; it's the people behind the really big clubs who have no idea about grass-roots football who support these sorts of moves. Ellis, Dein and Kenyon make my skin crawl.
The Kenyon fan club grow by the day. Now Norwich are in the premiership why have you bothered with an away kit this year?
Ah, but we have black shorts, you see! Players might get confused if they judge prospective pass receivers in a mere leg capacity. Anyway, to justify the existence of this year's kit the club have decided to wear it virtually every time we play away, which is a terrible decision. We were going to wear it at Anfield, which was horrendous – one of the biggest games in the club's history and they weren't going to wear yellow!
Do you have any youngsters that might make it big in the future?
I wouldn't say we have any players that will challenge on the international scene. However Lloyd Doyley and Hamuer Bouazza both look like very decent players for their age, and probably could play at a higher level in the future.
Was giving us John Barnes a clever ruse so we would trust you and take David James a few years on?
All I can say is that James looked like a decent young keeper when he played for us!
Yes, our record with goalkeepers isn't exemplary. There are wristbands being made to support and publicise the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, do you think there would be much support from the wider football world for them?
Possibly. It's more young people who wear these wristbands, and there's an opportunity to educate a whole new generation there. But I can't really see the average bloke-down-the-pub donning one.
Mourinho; Needs a slap or needs his own TV show?
A slap. I can't stand the dour, arrogant man or the team he represents. Any manager can buy the title.
And finally, who's going to be open-topped-bus-ing it with what at the end of the season?
Chelsea – League (but not Champions League, that's Barcelona's), United – FA Cup and, of course, us with the Carling Cup! Well I can't predict my own team's loss can I?
Thanks Mike.
If you are interested in a website focusing on quality rather than quantity I would recommend taking a few minutes to look at the BSAD website, it's well worth it.
