'I think they...' - Controversial Watford forward Kwadwo Baah reopens fall-out with Portsmouth faithful
Kwadwo Baah has been speaking about the ‘Take the L’ dance he did following Pompey’s defeat at Watford on Boxing Day
Watford forward Kwadwo Baah has reopened his fall-out with Pompey fans.
The 22-year-old winger - who incensed the away end following his celebration at the end of the Blues’ defeat at Vicarage Road last season - has admitted he’s looking forward to a reunion with the Fratton faithful when the Hornets travel to PO4 for a midweek Championship game on Wednesday, October 1.
Baah said he would not be intimidated by the boos that will inevitably come his way that evening, instead insisting that the reception he’ll receive and the words said to him won’t make him panic.
The German-born winger, who missed Watford’s Easter Monday trip to the south south, reopened the wounds in an interview with The Watford Observer.
There, he insisted that the ‘Take the L’ dance he performed from the computer game Fortnite was ‘just a joke’ and ‘not that deep’.
He also branded rules which prevent players from responding to fans’ match-day chants in such a way as ‘stupid’.
Kwadwo Baah’s comments on the incident
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Baah, who was sent off by referee Geoff Eltringham following the incident at full-time, told The Watford Observer: ‘For me, it seems fans are allowed to say whatever they want to you when you're on the field, but as a player I'm not allowed to do anything back, which I think is stupid.
‘I'm not going to say the craziest things ever, but if you're giving me banter you have to be able to take it. I still see things to this day, I get tagged in articles about Portsmouth.
‘I like to see the funny side of things and it was just a joke. It's not that deep.
‘I think they (the Pompey fans) think I'm going to get the shock of my life when we play there, but all they can do is boo. It's only words, I don't panic in those situations.’
What exactly happened at the end of Pompey’s defeat at Vicarage Road?
Baah grabbed the headlines when he deliberately celebrated in front of the travelling Fratton faithful at Vicarage Road on Boxing Day.
After Watford secured a late winner deep into added-time through Rocco Vata, the former Rochdale and Burton player headed straight over to the away end, where he proceeded to do the famous ‘Take the L’ dance.
That celebration sparked plenty of anger, not just from the 2,250 Blues fans who made the trip, but also John Mousinho and players - including Terry Devlin and Zak Swanson.
Indeed, the Pompey head coach slammed Baah’s actions and insisted if any of his men had done the same then they would never play for the club again.
What John Mousinho said in the immediate aftermath of the incident
Speaking to The News, the furious Blues boss said: ‘We will never, ever do that, that’s all I will say.
‘If one of my players does that they would be in serious danger of never playing for the football club again.
‘You win with humility. I saw what everyone else saw and if one of my players did that they would be in serious danger of never playing for Portsmouth again.
‘I don’t think I can be any clearer. If one of my players did that, they would be in serious danger of never playing for the football club again.
‘I have no idea why he did it, you would have to ask him.’
Baah had earlier won a controversial 57th-minute penalty which allowed the hosts to cancel out Swanson’s 10th-minute opener.
He had been fouled by Freddie Potts, although replays showed it occurred outside the box and shot not have been a spot-kick.
The forward posted on X later that day: ‘Oops apologies’.