How Josh Sargent had me fooled over City's Watford record

Not only are Ian Clarke and I column buddies, but we also share a newsroom and five days a week sit just a few desks away from each other.

As anybody who knows us personally will attest, we like a good chin wag and when the conversation drifts away from matters such as family, one-liners and the daily games of 'guess how old this celebrity is today' we sometimes discuss what goes into this column.

Last week, it was one of these conversations that laid the foundations for this piece.

When sharing his plans for last week's column, Clarkie mentioned that City's record against Saturday's opponents had been less than favourable in recent seasons.

This initially surprised me, as in my head City have had the better of their fellow yellows. And then I looked at the stats.

As Ian pointed out in his column, the last 10 meetings between the two sides have seen eight Watford wins.

So why did I somehow have it in my head that we had the more favourable record? 

I know exactly who is to blame: Josh Sargent.

(Image: Focus Images Limited)

It's funny how the memory of a football fan works, but chances are its cornerstones always lie with the magic moments.

The one real highlight of Josh Sargent's debut season at the club was the 3-0 win away at Vicarage Road - with that scorpion kick.

I'll maintain to this day that his second goal was actually the better goal of the two and was definitely more of a sign of the 'real' Josh Sargent.

The way he timed his run perfectly and got such immense power and precision on his header was every bit the Josh Sargent we've come to know and love.

But the scorpion kick was obviously great fun and will be replayed for years to come. 

So when my brain goes to fixtures with Watford, that's generally the first one I think of, which was obviously a favourable one. 

This clearly then creates a split-second association with beating Watford, therefore when I thought of them, I naturally assumed our record was good.

The other lasting memory I have of a Watford fixture is another favourable - albeit pointless - result.

It was in May 2016 and we were locked in a three-way relegation scrap with Newcastle and Sunderland - and ironically enough I was on a training course in the North East at the time.

It was a midweek game and at the same time Sunderland were playing - safe in the knowledge that victory would put both Norwich and their arch rivals Newcastle down.

I remember watching both matches simultaneously with a handful of my coursemates, some of whom happened to be Newcastle fans.

On that occasion, City also came out on top, 4-2 winners - but were relegated anyway.

Inevitably, the night ended with my beloved Geordie mates and I drowning our respective sorrows, in what turned out to be a massively fun evening, despite relegation.

But again, that was another occasion with victory over Watford that stamped my memory with the misconception that we tend to avoid the Hornets' sting.

When we consider all time though, we actually have the more favourable record - 44 wins, 35 defeats and 29 draws.

But recent history is obviously on Watford's side.

As an interesting side note, it has been 13 years and 15 meetings since the last draw - a 2-2 at Vicarage Road with goals from Sam Vokes and Simeon Jackson as Paul Lambert's side edged closer to promotion.

I'm not the biggest believer in hoodoos and bogey teams - but eight wins in the last 10 puts Watford in contention for that title.

But equally, the exact 11 players who step out at 12.30pm won't have ever played the exact 11 players who will be wearing the Watford shirt.

Certain hoodoos and bogey teams don't really require a second thought.

It has been 30 years since we last beat Chelsea and Liverpool for example - but I suspect Stuart Webber's old analogy about bazookas comes into play there.

Other poor records seem far less obvious, Watford being one of these.

But as I say, as far as I'm concerned, this exact Norwich team have never played this exact Watford team, so it's all the play for on Saturday.

Welcome back proper football

I can't stand international breaks, so a disappointing defeat aside, I was delighted to have domestic football back after early season recess.

While City's 1-0 loss in Wales wasn't an ideal way of welcoming back what I can proper football, there were plenty of reminders elsewhere of how great the EFL is.

I strongly recommend you seek out all of these clips if you have yet to see them.

The first of these came in the dying moments of Sheffield Wednesday and QPR's 1-1 draw on Saturday and, in my books, is a goal of the season contender.

And no, I don't mean Barry Bannan's volley, which was easy on the eyes, I'll admit.

I'm taking about the equaliser from Alfie David Lloyd - which deserves to be hung in the Louvre.

Coming from a corner, it was sheer and utter Sunday League chaos - the kind of goalmouth scramble that is just far too absent from the modern game.

Seeing so many people desperately hacking away to try and get either a clearance or a shot in was a thing of utter beauty. 

I must have watched it about 100 times and will likely watch it 100 times more.

Then there was former Canary Ebou Adams' miss for Derby against Cardiff.

Another must-see moment, the midfielder did absolutely everything right to charge through on the break with jet-heeled pace, made a brave leap to beat Cardiff's keeper to the ball and put himself clean through on goal, only to drag his shot agonisingly wide.

Finally there was an excellent example of "playing out from the back" gone wrong in the Bolton-Huddersfield game. 

Already trailing by three goals, Bolton decided it would be the perfect time to try and play one-twos in their own penalty area - only to get immediately punished.

Welcome back, proper football.