Promotion, or the carriage clock goes back - Interview Wednesday, 18th Nov 2020 13:31 by Clive Whittingham It's been a while since QPR and Watford faced off, bar the occasional cup final, so we bid a warm welcome back to Richard 'Tricky' Segal for his assessment of how the Hornets are doing in their attempt to get back to the Premier League at the first attempt. Why did it go wrong for Watford last year? Where to start. The easy answer is obviously three managers in the year. The huge mistake was the reappointment of Sanchez Flores, the four points from ten games was a total that unfortunately we never recovered from. There were a lot of stories doing the rounds about the dressing room, especially after the West Ham match near the end of the season. I think certain people on the board and players seemed to have too much say in team matters. How have Watford started the season? Well in terms of results I would say good and in terms of performances I would say average, I believe much better performances will be coming up now that the gaffer has apart from one player a fully fit squad to be calling on. Watford league results so far… Opinion of the new manager so far? Stay much longer he gets a carriage clock right? The manager has been good so far, ideally he would like to playing 4-3-3 but as we only have one left back at the club that he wants to play there (Adam Masina) we are playing 3-5-2 and will be into the new year. Results first, style of play second? Or am I being unfair? I am still trying to work out the style he is looking to implement, you look at our first five games and we kept four clean sheets, but then we only scored two goals. Take the next six games and no clean sheets but 11 goals scored, if we go back to being solid at the back we will be very hard to beat as no one in this league has the attacking options we have.
Assessment of your transfer window activity? More about who stayed than who arrived I guess… Happy with the transfer activity, as I mentioned on the season preview there was no way Doucoure, Deulofeu and Pereyra would be plying their trade in the Championship. The club had to make a guess on the situation in regards to Gray and Deeney leaving and that is why Glenn Murray and a couple of other strikers were brought in, with the Brummie duo both back fit I don’t see those others playing much football. Ins >>> Stipe Perica, 25, CF, Udinese, Undisclosed >>> Francisco Sierralta, 23, CB, Udinese, Undisclosed >>> William Troost-Ekong, 27, CB, Udinese, Undisclosed >>> Jeremy Ngakia, 19, RB, West Ham, Free >>> Glenn Murray, 36, CF, Brighton, Loan >>> James Garner, 19, CM, Man Utd, Loan Outs >>> Abdoulaye Decoure, 27, CM, Everton, £19.8m >>> Pervis Estupinan, 22, LB, Villarreal, £14.76m >>> Luis Suarez, 22, CF, Granada, £6m >>> Dimitri Foulquier, 27, RB, Granada, £1.8m >>> Roberto Pereyra, 29, RW, Udinese, Undisclosed >>> Jose Holebas, 36, LB, Olympiacos, Free >>> Danny Welbeck, 29, CF, Brighton, Free >>> Adrian Mariappa, 33, CB, Bristol City, Free >>> Pontus Dahlberg, 21, GK, Hacken (Sweden), Loan >>> Kwasi Sibo, 22, CM, Ibiza, Loan >>> Cucho Hernandez, 21, CF, Getafe, Loan >>> Adalberto Penaranda, 23, CF< CSKA Sofia, Loan >>> Jerome Sinclair, 24, CF, CSKA Sofia, Loan >>> Gerard Deulofeo, 26, LW, Udinese, Loan >>> Ignacio Pussetto, 24, RW, Udinese, Loan >>> Jorge Segura, 23, CB, Nacional (Colombia), Loan >>> Craig Dawson, 30, CB, West Ham, Loan >>> Heurelho Gomes, 39, GK, Retired >>> Daryl Janmaat 31, RB, Released Where is the team strong and where is it weak? It looks like we a bit vulnerable at the back, goals conceded against Stoke and Coventry from a hoof up from the back and us not being able to deal with the second ball. But as mentioned if we can get the defence tight again (a trait that Ivic's previous teams were known for) then I expect lots of wins to follow. If I can also mention and give special praise to Ken Sema who has been our best player this season, a player who when we last played 19 months ago was very much on the periphery of the team, now one of the first names on the team sheet.
With the talent in the squad presumably the expectation is promotion straight back? Totally, no promotion would mean him losing his job and the carriage clock going back, I dont think he would have any issue with that as if you compare this squad to the one that get promoted 5 years ago it is far far stronger, Chalobah, Cleverley, Hughes, Capoue, Garner, Quina, Sema, Deeney, Gray, Pedro and Sarr is an abundance of quality which will all be required in this schedule of 9 games in 27 days and everything that will follow during the winter. Lets hope by warmer times that they and the manager have fulfilled that promise Links >>> Watford Official Website >>> WFC Forums — Message Board >>> Watford Observer — Local Press The Twitter/Instagram @loftforwords Pictures — Action Images Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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