Watford heavy handed with Bulls?

Hereford boss, Graham Turner, has hinted that the Hornets ultimately left the Division 2 promotion chasers with "no real option but to accept the circumstances and do the deal with Watford" for wing trickster Lionel Ainsworth after threatening to pull Theo Robinson and Toumani Diagouraga out of their loan spells at Edgar Street.

In his weekly column in the Hereford Times, Turner said "I had to sit down and look at the equation following their [Watford] guarded threats about Toumani Diagouraga and Theo Robinson returning to Watford in January. It came down to Toumani, Theo and money on one side against Lionel [Ainsworth]l on the other."

And it was the importance of the Hornets on-loan stars to Hereford`s push for promotion that was the clincher in securing the services of highly rated Ainsworth, with Turner adding "the big advantage of the deal is that we have secured the services of Toumani and Theo for the remainder of the season". Leggy midfielder, Diagouraga has started all 17 league games this season whilst pacy young hitman Robinson have notched up 6 goals for the Bulls in their rise to 4th in the league.

If Ainsworth proves his worth and the Hornets do well, then the Bulls are set to receive a fee that will smash their transfer record - the £440,000 they picked up as a result of strangly haired Darren Peacock signing for QPR in 1990 (+ 10% sell on clause, when Kevin Keegan splashed out £2.4 million to sign the centre back for Newcastle.)

But Turner insists "…if it had been a straightforward deal involving Lionel, the answer would have been an emphatic no. We do not need to sell at the present time".

Hmmm, here at VitalWatford, we`ll let you make up your minds if the Hornets flexed their muscles just a little too much on this one.