Paul Watson by all accounts will take up his position within the Swansea.Com stadium next week and will be instrumental in every bit of business the Swans undertake this summer. He doesn’t have to convince anyone of his ability to find and encourage players as he has already displayed that at Luton Town.
Luton have gatecrashed the premier league and Paul considered his work completed when they won the championship play off final. Carlton Morris is a success story and one of the very few players who commanded a fee when he signed from Barnsley last July. And it was minimal. His twenty goals and seven assists throughout Luton Town’s promotion season were pivotal to their success. At twenty seven and in his prime he will want a crack at the premier league, and who can blame him he was readying himself for a league one campaign when Luton came in for him a year ago.
Left footed Luke Freeman was another who Watson saw as key to the Hatters season last time around. Signed on a free from Sheffield United last summer he scored a couple of goals but for the twenty six games he played he was industrious and displayed a touch on the ball which many championship clubs were missing. His engine ensured he was excellent as a deep lying midfielder but also as a playmaker. This confirmed Watson’s ability to see a good fit for Luton in a player who is now in his thirties.
If people think Watson is all about finding cheap and reliable good fits for the club he works for then maybe mention of eighteen year old Axel Piesold should be made. He is already being talked up as a having a promising career in professional football. Watson prides himself on local knowledge and Piesold signed on a free for the Luton U21 side this year from Dunstable Town.
Cauley Woodrow was the result of another raid on league one Barnsley, again signed for a nominal fee he was utilised as a player to come on from the bench at Luton last season. The midfielder added strength to Luton’s game when in the final twenty minutes or so of games and his flexibility ensured the opposition had to be aware of his additional qualities. He scored a few goals last season, and for the older reader he is the son of Martin Patching who featured for Wolves in the seventies.
Anyone who watched Luton Town last season will have been impressed with Alfie Doughty. The twenty three year old signed for a nominal fee from Stoke City last summer and signifies the ingredients required to be a key figure in a side looking up not down. The defensive minded left footed player has been utilised as a wing back at Luton flexibly switching roles throughout the left side of the pitch.
Noting the Hatters need for quality replacements in goal Watson signed Jack Walton, Matt Macey and on loan Ethan Horvath ( Forest ) for their most recent campaign. Horvath featured throughout the season and was one of the most competent keepers in the championship during Luton’s promotion season. The Hatters see him as a necessity for their premier league campaign and will most certainly be in for him to make a return permanently this summer.
Watson encouraged Corey Drameh to join on loan from Leeds in January of this year and the impactive right sided Marvellous Nakamba from Villa. Both prompted the Hatters to move in to the play off places and were most certainly the driving forces behind a very successful campaign. For Watson to get these two players to be the final pieces in Luton’s promotion jigsaw reflects how much he is admired for his ability to bring in players in to key positions.
It’s clear the reasons why Swansea moved for Paul Watson when he became available. He basically assembled a side throughout one season in the championship that is now in the premier league. He did it for minimal expense bringing in low risk signings who he knew could impact on the playing style of the club. And that happened.
What we need now is Paul Watson operating in his role at the Swans and visible to all. Hopefully he will be forging forward a new future in west Wales. His pedigree is faultless to date, and his ambition is unquestionable when it comes to displaying how a chief operating officer should perform at championship level.
Or indeed whatever title awaits him when he is officially announced.