George Burley suffered a nightmare start to his Southampton career after
third-placed Watford destroyed his new side with an emphatic victory.
Saints unveiled Burley, who had been out of work since October 22 when he left
Hearts, last Friday as their new head coach.
And the scale of the task facing him was graphically illustrated by a Watford
side who claimed their first win in six matches.
First-half goals from Darius Henderson and Clarke Carlisle put the Hornets in
command before Tomasz Hajto's own-goal shortly after the restart compounded
Saints' misery.
Burley, who will work alongside England's World Cup-winning rugby union coach
Sir Clive Woodward - appointed as the club's director of football - made a total
of seven, largely enforced changes from Southampton's last outing.
However, Saints initially overcame the absence of key players such as
goalkeeper Antti Niemi and defender Danny Higginbotham to make a vibrant start.
After two minutes, rising star Theo Walcott collected the ball on the left
flank before delivering a dangerous cross into the near post, where Brett
Ormerod was lurking.
The former Blackpool striker looked odds-on to score but on-loan Manchester
United keeper Ben Foster produced a fine save with his feet.
Ten minutes later, Watford came close when Paul Devlin sent over a cross which
Henderson arrived to meet with a firm header, but Saints keeper Paul Smith made
a comfortable save.
After 21 minutes, Watford again came close when Marlon King lashed in a
20-yard shot that warmed Smith's hands.
But, seven minutes later, the Hornets went ahead when Devlin produced a fine
cross from the right flank and Henderson arrived to power a header past Smith.
Southampton went close to an equaliser after 38 minutes when Nigel Quashie
drilled in a fierce 30-yard effort which required Gavin Mahon to make a telling
block to avert the danger.
But Watford made it 2-0 five minutes before the break when defender Carlisle
was left unmarked to bundle home Devlin's header from just six yards out.
It marked a disastrous start to Burley's tenure but events took another turn
for the worse two minutes after the restart, when half-time substitute Hajto
inadvertently swept the ball past his own keeper from six yards.
The goal all but secured the points for Watford, but Southampton, to their
credit, did not surrender.
They almost pulled a goal back shortly before the hour mark when Ormerod's
12-yard strike was parried strongly by Foster.
Seconds later, Saints striker Nathan Dyer produced an acrobatic overhead kick
which rebounded off the bar.
The visitors continued to battle but they were left vulnerable on the
counter-attack as Anthony McNamee curled a left-foot shot over the bar after 63
minutes.
Joel Grant should have nodded the Hornets further ahead five minutes later but
could only send an errant header wide.
The hard-working Ormerod remained a threat and he again forced Foster into
action with a 70th-minute snap-shot before defender Matthew Mills hit a shot
narrowly wide five minutes from time.
But Watford remained largely comfortable as Burley was left to reflect on a
bad start to his tenure at Southampton.
Teams:
Watford Foster, Doyley, Mackay, Carlisle, Chambers,
Devlin (Grant 60), Mahon, Spring, McNamee, King,
Henderson (Bangura 61).
Subs Not Used: Chamberlain, Stewart, DeMerit.
Goals: Henderson 28, Carlisle 40, Hajto 47 og.
Southampton Smith, Baird, Mills, Delap, Cranie, Dyer, Quashie,
Oakley (Hajto 45), Prutton, Walcott, Ormerod (Fuller 72).
Subs Not Used: Niemi, McCann, Belmadi.
Att: 16,972
Ref: R Beeby (Northamptonshire).
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