How Josh Sargent misled me about City’s Watford record.

This week, I’ll reveal the creative process behind your weekly Thursday fan column.

Ian Clarke and I are not only columnists, but we also work in the same newsroom and sit only a few desks apart five days a week.

As anyone who knows us personally will tell, we like a good chin wag, and when the conversation moves away from topics like family, one-liners, and the daily game of ‘guess how old this celebrity is today,’ we occasionally discuss what goes into our column.

Last week, one of these chats created the groundwork for this article.

When discussing his column intentions for last week, Clarkie stated that City’s recent record versus Saturday’s opponents had been less than favorable.

This startled me at first since I had assumed City had the upper hand over their fellow yellows. And then I looked at the statistics.

According to Ian’s piece, Watford has won eight out of the past ten games between the two sides.

So, why did I think we had a better record?

I know who’s to blame: Josh Sargent.

It’s weird how a football fan’s memory works, but the golden moments are almost always at the heart of it.

Josh Sargent’s maiden season with the club was highlighted by a 3-0 win away at Vicarage Road, which included a scorpion kick.

To this day, I believe that his second goal was the best of the two and was a true reflection of the’real’ Josh Sargent.

The way he timed his run precisely and delivered such force and precision on his header was every bit the Josh Sargent we’ve grown to know and like.

However, the scorpion kick was clearly enjoyable and will be repeated for years to come.

So when I think about Watford fixtures, that’s usually the first one that comes to mind, and it was clearly a good one.

This certainly generates a split-second link with beating Watford, so when I thought of them, I figured we had a good record.

Another lingering recollection I have of a Watford game is another positive – but useless – outcome.

It was May 2016, and we were in a three-way relegation battle with Newcastle and Sunderland – oddly, I was on a training session in the North East.

It was a midweek game, and Sunderland were also playing, certain that a win would defeat both Norwich and their arch rivals Newcastle.

I recall watching both games concurrently with a few of my classmates, some of whom were Newcastle supporters.

On that occasion, City won 4-2, but were still relegated.

Inevitably, the night finished with my dear Geordie buddies and I drowning our various sorrows in what turned out to be a very enjoyable evening, despite relegation.

However, it was another victory against Watford that cemented in my mind the illusion that we dodge the Hornets’ sting.

However, when we look at the overall record, we have the better record – 44 victories, 35 losses, and 29 ties.

However, recent history clearly favours Watford.

As an interesting side note, it has been 13 years and 15 encounters since the last draw, which was a 2-2 tie at Vicarage Road with goals from Sam Vokes and Simeon Jackson as Paul Lambert’s team moved closer to promotion.

I’m not a big believer in hoodoos or bogey teams, but Watford’s eight victories in the previous ten put them in contention for the championship.

However, the precise 11 players who go out at 12.30pm will never have faced the exact 11 players who will be wearing the Watford shirt.

Certain hoodoos and bogey teams don’t take much consideration.

It’s been 30 years since we last beat Chelsea and Liverpool, for example, but I believe Stuart Webber’s old bazooka comparison applies here.

Other terrible records are less visible, with Watford being one among them.

But, as I have stated, this particular Norwich club has never faced this exact Watford team, therefore everything is on the line on Saturday.

Welcome back, genuine football.

I can’t tolerate international breaks, therefore despite the disappointing result, I was overjoyed to have domestic football back after the early season hiatus.

While City’s 1-0 loss in Wales was not the best way to return to proper football, there were many reminders of how amazing the EFL is.

If you haven’t seen any of these clips yet, I strongly encourage that you do so.

The first of them occurred in the final seconds of Saturday’s 1-1 draw between Sheffield Wednesday and QPR and, in my opinion, is a goal of the season candidate.

And no, I am not referring to Barry Bannan’s volley, which was, admittedly, visually appealing.

I’m talking about Alfie David Lloyd’s equalizer, which ought to be hung in the Louvre.

Coming off a corner, it was pure Sunday League pandemonium – the type of goalmouth scramble that is all too rare in today’s game.

Seeing so many individuals feverishly hacking away to get a clearing or a shot in was breathtaking.

I’ve seen it at least 100 times and will most likely watch it again.

Then there was former Canary Ebou Adams’ miss in Derby against Cardiff.

In a must-see moment, the midfielder charged through on the break with jet-heeled pace, made a heroic leap to beat Cardiff’s keeper to the ball, and was clean through on goal, but his effort went wide.

Finally, the Bolton-Huddersfield game was a prime illustration of “playing out from the back” gone awry.

Bolton, already losing by three goals, believed it was the best time to try and play one-twos in their own penalty area, only to be punished instantly.

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