For all the raw emotion generated at Vicarage Road, where a moving half-time demonstration by both sets of supporters on behalf of Alhassan Bangura, the midfield player who is threatened with deportation back to Sierra Leone, dominated proceedings, Adrian Boothroyd, the Watford manager, struggled to keep events in context.
Bangura fears for his life in his homeland, but has had his application for permanent asylum in the United Kingdom rejected by the immigration authorities. It is, without doubt, a serious issue for player and manager.
On the other hand, Boothroyd was bitterly disappointed that his team had been knocked off the top of the Coca-Cola Championship for the first time in nearly four months when a last-minute goal by David Norris, the impressive Plymouth Argyle midfield player, sentenced his side to their fourth defeat in five home matches. Would Boothroyd be philosophical about the loss given the serious issues facing Bangura?
What made it desperately difficult to put things into perspective was the sheer weight of feeling for Bangura, whose case has been taken up by Claire Ward, Watford’s Labour MP, who will present a petition signed by more than 4,000 people this week to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, in support of his appeal.
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The tears were flowing as the 19-year-old, who has not played since August because of an ankle injury, was taken on a lap of the pitch in front of thousands of supporters holding up huge placards demanding “Save Bangura” and posters bearing his face and the words “He’s family”.
So how did Boothroyd, who has also had to cope with the departure of Keith Burkinshaw, his assistant, because of “serious family issues”, separate his personal feelings for a player whose life may be at stake from the frustration that Watford, who were nine points clear in October, have won only one of their past seven matches?
“It’s best to start by saying how humbled we are by the response from our fans and the Plymouth fans for Al Bangura,” he said. “He’s obviously overwhelmed and we’re all trying to support him. The appeal has gone in and we’re just waiting to hear. We’re trying to raise as much awareness as we can and, hopefully, it will reach the ears it needs to reach and we will get some sensible decisions.”
But did it make him realise that football is not the be-all and end-all? “Probably not, no,” he said. “That’s just how I am. I think it does put things in perspective, but when you’re in the position that we are in, I expect the team to win and we haven’t done, so it’s a strange sort of concoction. I’ll probably go home tonight and have a quiet moment and think I probably shouldn’t have said that, but we work as hard as we can and hope that justice will prevail with Al . . . and, at the same time, I hope that justice prevails and we start to get some points at home.”
Unfortunately for Boothroyd the hard-nosed football manager, as opposed to the compassionate guardian of his players, the reality on Saturday was that Bangura had a far better case for staying in this country than Watford had for winning. Tommy Smith hit the post with a left-foot shot on the turn five minutes into the second half and Damien Francis forced Romain Larrieu into a fine, diving save soon afterwards, but, apart from those fleeting chances, Watford rarely looked like breaking down a strong and well-organised Plymouth side.
Norris was outstanding and it was appropriate that he should provide the winning goal. Barry Hayles, who worked tirelessly as a lone striker, crossed from the right and Norris timed his run perfectly to score emphatically at the far post.
“It would be a great opportunity for me to blame the Al Bangura situation, to blame flu, to blame injuries, but that’s all part of the season,” Boothroyd said. “Our situation is rare, of course, but we’re professionals and we have to get on with it. We’ve had a terrific start to the season. We’re not panicking but we’re concerned because we don’t want to win every away game and end up not winning home games. That’s something we’ve got to put right.”
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For all the raw emotion generated at Vicarage Road, where a moving half-time demonstration by both sets of supporters on behalf of Alhassan Bangura, the midfield player who is threatened with deportation back to Sierra Leone, dominated proceedings, Adrian Boothroyd, the Watford manager, struggled to keep events in context.
