RESULTS - The /r/Watford_FC 2019/20 end of season opinion survey

A little later than I had originally suggested (yes, I saw the report you cheeky bastard...) but these are the results of the annual end-of-season subreddit survey for your enjoyment.

We had 136 people take part this year, not far off double the 76 who completed last year's survey, which can be found here if you want to see what the subreddit's thinking was at the end of last season.

And without further ado, here is what you had to say about a rather strange - and ultimately disappointing - season.

DEMOGRAPHICS

What is your gender?

Starting off with a simple one, no surprise r/Watford_FC is still a massive sausage fest. Down from 93.2% male to 91.2% because of a rise in the number of prefer not to says.

How old are you?

You might be shocked to hear but everyone's now a little over a year older than last time this question was asked. No real change in the ages from last year with most people either being teenagers or in their 20s.

Where do you live?

The subreddit is still heavily-dominated by Brits although the percentage has fallen from 83.6% to 69.4%, mostly due to an increase in the percentage of Americans from 4.1% to 14.9%. Unfortunately seems as though we lost our Turkmenistan resident over the last year. Although pleased to welcome those from Guyana, Cambodia and Nigeria.

When did you last attend a Watford game?

A big fall (from 77% to 49%) in the number of people who watched Watford play in person this season. This correlates with the increase in overseas subscribers and is probably not helped by the number of games played without fans.

SEASON REVIEW

Who is your Watford player of the season?

Quite a difficult question to answer unlike previous years this one and some people were clearly reluctant (or unwilling) to name anyone, unsurprisingly. However, a choice has been made... And it's a draw...

Sarr and Hughesy both received 33 votes followed closely by third-placed Ben Foster with 32. The trio pretty much wiped the board, picking up more than three-quarters of the nominations.

Ismaila and Will take over the crown as top dog from last year's stand-out Etienne Capoue.

Who is your most disappointing Watford player of the season?

Another difficult-to-answer question for a completely different reason given the plethora of options available. The dubious honour of this prize goes to Roberto Pereyra who wins for a second year in a row, beating Troy Deeney who finished in second with Andre Gray a distant third. Understandably plenty of people gave multiple names, or all of them in some cases.

Who is your Watford manager of the season?

A new question for this year given the manager merry-go-round and it's won unsurprisingly by the man who actually gave us a chance of not being relegated, Big Nige.

Who is your most disappointing Watford manager of the season?

Not too any renditions of the classic QSF chant that I can remember from the games he was in charge which symbolises the disappointment of his return. Particularly memorable for me are the embarassment walking out of the Etihad after getting thumped 8-0 and the utter disappointment at the away game at Southampton.

Who do you blame most for relegation?

Despite the previous question, the managers aren't getting much blame for being relegated from r/Watford_FC subscribers. Just under 60% of you believe the fault lies with the board and ownership but the players don't get off lightly either.

What is your Watford goal of the season?

Moving back onto a more positive topic with goal of the season. For a rubbish season we surprisingly had a few worthy shouts for this prize. But ultimately Welbeck is edge out by Sarr's lovely little dink against Liverpool.

Which was better?

And to carry on that theme I thought I'd add an extra option onto a question from last year's survey. Although it was an unforgettable day, the Liverpool win is still third. However, the Leicester play-off semi-final win has rightfully (not bias or anything) taken the crown from last year's FA Cup semi-final.

FUTURE

Which positions do we need to strengthen this summer?

I narrowed things down to general areas of the team because of the wide variety in the form of answer given. Needless to say the area of weakness if pretty clear with almost everyone saying defence. Quite a few votes for "all of them" too, unsurprisingly.

Which Watford players do you think will leave this summer?

Three clear winners in this with most people expecting Abdoulaye Doucoure, Gerard Deulofeu and Ismaila Sarr to be snapped up. A decent number of people think we've seen the last of Bobby P and Troy and then there's a smattering of votes for almost everyone else.

Which of our loan players do you think will join the Watford squad next season?

Ben Wilmot is the most common pick here which makes sense given he's just spent the season playing in the Championship and by all accounts gave a good account of himself. Other frequent choices Cucho Hernandez, Luis Suarez and Pontus Dahlberg. All but one person sleeping on Juergen Elitim and Kwasi Sibo.

Where will Watford finish in the league next season?

We didn't do very well with this last year with the average position chosen being 10.01... As I did with this one last year, I have chosen the middle point of anyone who gave a range. Again the subreddit is optimistic about the coming season with most people at least expecting us to be in the race for promotion or the play-offs. The most pessimistic answer was one place outside the relegation zone.

The average prediction was 5.7th.

Who will be Watford's top goalscorer next season?

We have another tie. Experienced Danny Welbeck and the young gun Joao Pedro both backed by 20 people. Perhaps a new lethal Championship strike partnership on the cards? Shout out to whoever said Kiko...

Who will be Watford's surprise stand-out player next season?

A clear winner here with everyone bigging up the Brazilian wonderkid again. Strong showings from Ben Wilmot, Domingos Quina, Andre Gray and Ignacia Pussetto too.

Where do you see Watford in five years?

A poorly-worded question on my part but most people took it in the sense it was meant to be taken. I have split it into leagues and the majority of people think we will be back in the Premier League in five years' time. Two very pessimistic people said National League.

And finally...

Which club do you hate the most?

I suspect the impending reunion with a certain club just at the road has prompted a big shift in answers to this question when compared to last year. Luton won the most votes last year but that 37.8% has increased to 48.3% now. Palace come in a distant second with 15.3%. Not a single vote for last year's third place Wolves this time around. And to the solitary hater of Zenit it would be great to hear the backstory to that one.

Thanks to everyone who took part and for mostly answering sensibly. It takes hours to put this together so I will hear no complaints about anything. It's been great to see continued growth in the subreddit, which is shown by the number of you who took part this year. Hopefully to the newer ones you'll find the Championship as - or even more interesting - than the Premier League has been.