Watford manager, Roy Hodgson spoke to the media after seeing his home side slide to a record ninth straight home defeat and rooted in the Premier League relegation zone.
After the game, Hodgson struck a frustrated figure once more:
Frustration
"It's frustrating. We wanted it so badly. The second goal was a real killer blow in a period when I thought we were doing fairly well. And it's the last thing you want, really, when you are in a situation like the one we find ourselves in, where you really want things going for you. For them to go so badly against you in those situations, it's the last thing as a player or as a coach you want to see.
But it happened. And there's nothing I can say here that's going to change that. What we will have to do is to try and find a way of putting this game and this result, which I thought was a very harsh result, behind us, and to make certain we don't allow it to affect [us] too deeply for the seven games to come."
Low confidence and low morale
"I've never used the word confident. I don't want to set myself up for the headlines or statements which I can't identify with. I mean, we have no reason to be confident. We do have reason to believe, we do have reason to have faith, we do have reason to think that we aren't that bad, and that results are still a distinct possibility for us. And that's well we'll keep doing, that's for sure.
But to suggest that by saying that I am now saying, I am confident. I don't think anyone, Norwich or Burnley will be saying that. I don't even think Everton will be saying that: 'We are confident'. But of course what Everton have got today and what Leeds have now got in the last four games, they've got results and they've given themselves a very, very strong margin, which makes their position so much better than ours.
I don't know that the mood amongst the players is that bad. But of course the mood amongst the fans I guess is pretty bad. Because they keep coming here expecting to see their team win and it doesn't win. So I can't speak for them.
But the mood amongst the players in actual fact isn't as bad for all that. I've got to think that any fair-minded person who watched the game today, wouldn't put our defeat down to any lack of belief or effort or desire or, or feeling that we can't do this."
Defensive errors continue
"What we put it down to the fact that they score with their only strike of the first half, and then they kill the game – after we've had an excellent chance to equalise – with an unfortunate mix up in our defence which puts the game to bed with 2-0.
But how did you get confidence? I mean, confidence comes from winning football matches, and we don't win matches. So how'd you get that? There are no words that are going to change that. There's not even training sessions that are necessarily going to change that. All training sessions are going to do is to help prepare the team to play as you'd like to see the team play.
But if you want confidence you got to win. And at the moment it will be almost crazy to say that the confidence in teams like ourselves, Norwich and Burnley is sky-high, because we're not winning.
I'd have felt let down by the defending if they'd [Leeds] been creating chance after chance. You're referring to an unfortunate mix-up. And that's part and parcel of football. That wasn't something which I saw on a regular basis throughout the 90 minutes. But of course, it was a mix-up, which put us out of the game. But I don't feel let down by it because I thought the players up to that point had been defending very solid, in keeping a dangerous Leeds team very much at bay."
'Here we go again'
"Once again, if I look at the performance and look at the way the team has played, I don't have an answer to it. We could, I suppose, be accused that after the second goal went in, with about 15 minutes left to play and we'd missed a good chance to equalise, there was a slight lack of confidence – or a slight feeling of: 'Oh, dear, here we go again'.
But I don't think that was the case in the first 70 minutes of the game, not at all. So why is it we don't win at home? I don't know. I'm conscious of the situation and you ask questions, which I understand the question. If I was in your position, I'd probably be asking the question, but I don't know there are any real words to answer it.
Because everything depends upon the fact of how well the team plays when the referee blows his whistle. And how good your performance is between that time and the final whistle. And I thought today for 70 minutes, our performance wasn't that bad. I thought we find ourselves a little bit unlucky to be two goals to nil down. But we were and as a result, the run of misfortune at home continues. "
'Misfortune' seems to carry a lot of weight these days at Vicarage Road. However, without a home win since Manchester United in November and nine consecutive home defeats, results seem to be less a consequence of misfortune than lack of quality and structure.
Not for the first time this Premier League season, Watford were architects of their own downfall and with no sign of performances or results improving, their downfall seems destined for relegation to the Sky Bet Championship, with or without Roy Hodgson.