Watford: more Ready, Steady, Cook than Masterchef
Old habits die hard. New Year. A new season. A new head coach (surprise, surprise, I know). But the same owners at Watford.
This is not and will not become a cry for a change of ownership. As we enter what will become the 10th year of Pozzo control at Vicarage Road, we have a lot to be thankful for. The fact I can sit here and vent my frustration is a testament to the fact we have consistently achieved in the near-decade since the family saved us from a grim reality under Laurence Bassini.
But with Watford embroiled in a relegation battle for the second time in as many Premier League seasons, spitting out head coaches for fun while it’s abundantly clear there are deeper, more systemic issues, there is dissent. And rightly so.
The role of head coach in modern football, and certainly at Watford, is far removed from the old-school manager. Recruitment, youth development, medicine, nutrition and more is all handled by others. Claudio Ranieri’s job is to take the ingredients provided and turn them into something palatable. The only problem is he, like others before him, has been handed a bag with an assortment of ingredients and expected to produce something — more Ready, Steady, Cook than Masterchef.
In the current jumble of red and green peppers, we’ve got defenders who weren’t good enough to keep Watford in the Premier League two years ago. Now with more miles on the clock, even greater susceptibility to injury and the same lack of suitability for top-flight survival. William Troost-Ekong has been the lightning rod for fan dissent thanks, chiefly, to his howler at Leicester City. Personally, I find it far more egregious we’re trying to establish ourselves as a Premier League team with Kiko Femenía, Craig Cathcart, Christian Kabasele and Adam Masina once more. None of them are better players than two years ago. At least Troost-Ekong was an unknown quantity at this level who deserved a chance to prove himself.
The midfield is equally jumbled, albeit we have stumbled across a couple of tasty morsels in there. Moussa Sissoko is still a nice cut of steak, even if he is no longer than prime fillet he once was, while Imran Louza, who had been the forgotten tin at the back of the cupboard used only in emergencies, is threatening to become the ingredient which binds it all together. A couple of items going out of date at once — Nathaniel Chalobah and Will Hughes — forced a considerably higher turnover in the middle than anyone might have expected. Quite what Dan Gosling is doing here in 2022 is anyone’s guess. Tins of Spam haven’t been in fashion for years.
So with such a random assortment of items, it’s little wonder Ranieri has only served up a couple of delectable dishes. The rest has been rather harder to stomach — including the abomination against West Ham United after Christmas. Of course, this post-Christmas no-man’s land always lacks organisation, clarity and cohesion and you tend to throw out a few cheeses and cold meats when entertaining. But Watford were even less inspiring than the Christmas leftovers, even when you factor in the Covid-induced chaos.
Ranieri’s job as head coach is the make the best of what he’s working with. Like Newcastle United, waiting for January to solve everything is not the answer. This is expected to be the hardest January transfer window for some time with clubs reluctant to let fringe players go in case they are needed to make up the numbers — good news, then, for Gosling and Ashley Fletcher.
Even if Watford are able to sign the centre-back and left-back they so desperately need, there is no guarantee they’ll arrive soon, be match sharp or ready to go. January is always a gamble — only the desperate do business and the players moving are usually out of favour at their existing club and so arrive short of match fitness. Watford will, as ever, be shopping in Lidl or Aldi, not Fortnum and Mason.
But do we really have confidence in the decision-makers to get it right? In his interview with From the Rookery End last summer, Scott Duxbury promised a change in direction; young, hungry players would be signed: the so-called best of the rest. It’s hard to see how that has borne out in the business conducted. So when reports from the Daily Mail’s Sami Mokel and Adrian Kajumba emerge claiming Ranieri is coming under pressure.
Sportsmail has learned that there is emerging disquiet from inside the Hornets first-team camp over the Italian’s methods just three months into his tenure following his appointment in October.
The Mail is usually pretty good with its Watford news. We all know Pozzo and co. are not backwards about coming forwards. But it would be crass mismanagement to lose a head coach of Ranieri’s calibre and experience without having given him a fair crack of the whip. Watford fans usually defend the owners’ decisions with head coaches — but removing Ranieri would not fly.
Two wins from 10 is a poor return and the defence hardly looks any better than under Xisco Muñoz. But even Pep Guardiola or Julian Nagelsmann would struggle to whip this lot into shape. There is only so much you can do with some limp cabbage, a couple of brittle crackers and a handful of rice. The end result is never going to get you salivating.
But another change of chef simply isn’t going to cut the mustard. Not until issues higher up the chain are addressed. The recruitment has been hit and miss — at best — for a while now.
Watford simply have to start providing the right ingredients and that lies with the men at the very top.