HaroldHornet

This wasn't what we expected.

Even the most hopeful of Watford fans would have gladly taken a season of hanging around in mid-table, not really threatening to go up but, more importantly, not in any danger of going down.

We know we have a small, largely inexperienced squad. Manager Malky Mackay worked wonders under similar financial restrictions last season but even then we had a brush with the drop.

So, this season, security was the key. Or so we thought.

A dozen games in and we are third. The tabloids are referring to as 'promotion chasers' in their match reports.

Tuesday's win over Ipswich was hard-earned. It looked as if we'd win relatively comfortably when we led 2-0 at half-time, but so far this season we've shown a fair degree of nerves in the closing stages of home games, seemingly dropping deep to protect what we have.

It happened again on Tuesday. The home fans were pleased to hear the final whistle, put it that way.

And so we're third. Nose-bleed territory.

Yet I bet I'm not the only fan who is still thinking more about getting another 29 points on board. There's something about 50 points that makes you feel you definitely won't be going down. In truth, you probably need two or three more to be totally safe, but that 50-point threshold is a big marker.

At this rate, we'll get there in January and February.

If we do that, then I might start looking up the table, rather than down it . . .