Everybody knows that owner Gino Pozzo has an itchy trigger finger at the best of times, and he will have seen nothing today that would have scratched it.

The 1-0 defeat at Millwall was so lifeless, so limp, so lacking in any idea that it was genuinely painful to watch.

Watford barely forced a save, barely created a chance, rarely showed any spark and looked beaten some time before the final whistle sounded.

Having played so badly last week, and in the midst of a dismal run, a trip to The Den to face a Millwall side suddenly revitalised by the return of Neil Harris had all the portents of another bad afternoon.

You’d think, though, it would make common sense to at least try and keep it tight early on, give nothing away, don’t help the home side and their fans.

Watford did exactly the opposite. They were naive.

Edo Kayembe was booked for a foul after 39 seconds, a minute later they conceded a free-kick 25 yards out for another needless foul, and from that Millwall scored what turned out to be the winner.

Ben Hamer will probably think he could have done better, given the distance of the free-kick and the speed it entered the net at, but there was also a hefty deflection along the way.

Two minutes in, a goal down, the home fans in full voice – and that was pretty much it.

There was nothing in the remaining 88 minutes and stoppage time that ever suggested Watford were going to recover.

The ball retention and possession style is fine when you’re beating teams but, when you’re a goal down to a side fighting relegation, watching your team stroke the ball sideways either side of the halfway line and then back to the keeper saps every drop of enthusiasm and hope.

Admittedly Millwall never looked like scoring a second, but they didn’t need to – given their recent run they’ll gladly take a string of 1-0 wins.

It’s now one win in 10 in all competitions for the Hornets, six defeats in seven games and all of a sudden the relegation zone is only six points away.

The Hornets are still 12th and have a nine-team buffer between them and trap door, but with two home games next it would be folly to think that if they don’t take four or six points in the next week then that Pozzo trigger finger won’t be almost unbearably itchy.

There’s an international break coming up too – and we all know what the owner likes to do during those…

Watford made three changes to their starting line-up, with Jeremy Ngakia playing his first game since early November as he replaced Tom Dele-Bashiru.

Francisco Sierralta came in for Mattie Pollock with Vakoun Bayo also starting at the expense of Ismael Kone.

For the sixth game in a row Ryan Andrews was on the bench.

In a poor run of form, lacking confidence and away at a daunting venue like The Den, Watford needed a solid start. They served up just the opposite.

Edo Kayembe was booked and conceded a free kick in 39 seconds and from their second set play, after two minutes, Millwall went ahead.

Flemming's 25-yard effort took a nick off a head but Ben Hamer will know he could have done better as the ball squeezed between him and post.

That turned the volume up from the home crowd even more and Watford’s confidence took another knock as they struggled to offer anything for the first 20 minutes.

They could be grateful Millwall didn’t do more to press home their obvious advantage at that early stage, and the Hornets managed to regroup somewhat.

In the 26th minute Bayo did really well to hold the ball up, and then released Emmanuel Dennis on the right. He got to the box and rolled the ball square to Yaser Asprilla, but his shot from 20 yards was blocked.

A minute later there was nearly humiliation as a terrible mix-up between Hamer and Ngakia allowed Watmore to steal a harmless through ball. He steered a path wide but then saw Sierralta block on the line.

Asprilla forced Sarkic to save a low drive at the base of the post and Wes Hoedt curled a free kick over the bar but Watford’s attacking efforts were tame, and so often their decent passing and moving of the ball floundered once they got into the final third.

The second half followed the same, depressing pattern of the first – Millwall had the goal, and they didn’t need to go searching for more.

They were quite happy to let Watford have the ball either side of the halfway line, and watched the Hornets move it about from side to side.

When they did try to go forward, they were bereft of ideas.

The only realty sniff of goal they had came 11 minutes after the restart as Bayo slid in to turn a low cross from Lewis wide of the near post.

Kone fired over from just outside the box and Livermore sent one straight down the throat of Sarkic from similar distance.

As the clock ticked down, Millwall and their fans looked nervous, but that was more to do with their need for the points than anything Watford did to provoke any unease.

The home side comfortably saw the afternoon out, and recorded their first home league win of 2024.

Watford: Hamer; Ngakia (Andrews 65), Sierralta, Hoedt, Lewis; Livermore (Martins 85), Kayembe (Dele-Bashiru ht), Asprilla; Dennis, Bayo (Rajovic 78), Sema (Kone 65). Subs: Bachmann, Porteous, Ince, Pollock