Ashikodi makes mark as Watford sink Stockport
Watford's teenage striker Moses Ashikodi, signed from Rangers on New Year's Eve, scored their final goal on Saturday when they came from behind to secure a morale-boosting 4-1 victory against Stockport County. "I am not big-headed or anything but I can score the goals to help us stay up," he said later.
Their manager, Aidy Boothroyd, whose team are 10 points adrift of safety, aims to bring in three players this month, Fulham's Collins John among them for £3.25m. The possible departure of Ashley Young is a worry, though, after Boothroyd hinted that some clubs had been talking to the England Under-21 international without permission. "He has on occasion told me things that perhaps other players wouldn't tell their managers. He hasn't mentioned any names and I don't ask him the questions . . . There are some things that remain private for the good of the game."
David Poole gave
Boothroyd hints at Young tap-up
Adrian Boothroyd, the
In October, the Football Association of Ireland, with Jim Gannon, the
Fortunately for Boothroyd, Gannon's unexpected advantage over other managers of FA Cup underdogs lasted for only half an hour. In that opening 30 minutes, Stockport appeared capable of outwitting their Premiership opponents and took the lead with the goal of the match when David Poole slotted the ball past Ben Foster, the
Once the home team had equalised through Malky Mackay, however,
Boothroyd rewarded for putting faith in Moses
Having negotiated the potentially tricky but ultimately fragile FA Cup obstacle that was Stockport County, Aidy Boothroyd now has the less tangible transfer window to negotiate his way through with relegation, which is already probable, the consequence should he fail.
The
He said: "Now we've got a few more pounds in the coffers it's important to get more depth because in matches, even after 60 to 70 minutes, you see opposition teams bring on international players. We can't do that and we need to be able to do that. It's important to have depth up front and we've not had that and it's a nice position to be in. I just wish we had [the injured] Marlon King playing as well."
The Hornets' situation is perilous. The Premiership's bottom club are 10 points away from safety and have only won once in the League all season.
Yet Boothroyd is arguably the Premiership's most optimistic manager too, always trying to extract a positive from the bleakest of situations, which is what his club faces now.
His approach to players is interesting, too. Having brought to the club King, a player who spent time in jail, he has now signed Ashikodi, who was sacked from Millwall for brandishing a knife in training.
The 19-year-old is already with his fifth club, having also been to West Ham,
He said: "I have grown up a lot. I listen a lot. Back then [at Millwall] I was a big fish in a small pond. Maybe I am not as good as I thought I was. But I have to dig in and work harder. The manager has shown a lot of faith in me and I have to repay that."
David Poole gave the visitors a surprise lead in this encounter but two goals from Malky Mackay and one from Tommy Smith saw off Jim Gannon's side before Ashikodi's tap-in. Between here and May, that is as easy as it will get for Boothroyd. The Independent
Aidy Boothroyd's time has arrived. January is the month that will determine whether
The transfer window is wide open and
One new recruit, centre forward Moses Ashikodi, has already succeeded where many
Ashikodi added the fourth goal after a mistake by keeper James Spencer. David Poole had put