Season Preview
Jul 24, 2005
Author: Dank

Season Preview 05/06

Tuesday 21st September 2004. Watford have just travelled to Reading in the second round of the league cup and, despite being flattered by the 3-0 scoreline, fully deserved their victory. As summer finished and we approached Autumn, all seemed right with the world. Ray Lewington looked like being the only other manager apart from GT to create a successful Watford side in recent years (with due respect to Glenn Roeder’s Ramage-inspired team of the mid-nineties).

Looking back now, just ten months later, it’s incredible to think of how much things have changed. We played Reading again a few days later and, predictably, we were beaten despite having much of the game and Webber missing a sitter of Rosenthal proportions. We won just one more league game before Christmas and our matches were often characterised by us taking the lead, before going on to lose or draw the game. A fantastic cup run could not disguise the fact that we were regularly dropping points in the league. Christmas was a low point, but we picked up in February where a thrilling 2-1 away at promotion hopefuls Ipswich looked as though it could have been the catalyst for a push towards the play-off positions. It wasn’t to be and from this point on we were truly dreadful (barring the first half against Leicester). Preston at home was the kind of abject performance that loses managers their jobs and so it proved as the board took advantage of the two-week break to find a replacement.

So, in came Adrian Boothroyd, Keith Burkinshaw and Danny Cullip and out went Ray Lewington, Danny Webber and Neil Ardley. We started with Betty in much the same manner as we had finished with Lewington and the fact that we stayed up, if truth be told, owed more to Cullip and Helguson than the manager himself.

This summer has seen many more changes. As well as Danny Webber’s move to Colin W*nker’s ever-increasing collection of strikers, Heidar Helguson left Vicarage Road to re-unite with Ray Lewington at Fulham. Neither move was a surprise. BSAD’s “Gone but not forgotten” writers have also been kept busy with other players the departures of, amongst others, Neil Cox, club captain Sean Dyche, Paul Mayo, Jermaine Darlington, Jack Smith, Jason Norville, Omari Coleman and Bruce Dyer. The majority of fans probably felt that this was a necessary part of ridding the club of “dead wood,” although personally I would have kept Dyche, Dyer and possibly Smith.

It was clear that Betty had a different type of player in mind and looked to inject pace into what was a slow, if experienced, side. He spoke a lot about having “shadow squads” of players that he wanted and that he would be scouring the continent looking for new talent. Nothing much happened for a while, apart from one of Betty’s more obvious mistakes in revealing our interest in Swindon hot-shot “Super” Sammy Parkin (It remains to be seen if the players he released and not keeping Cullip were other mistakes – only time will tell) and the squad got smaller and smaller.

June saw Elton John’s concert at the Vic and the unlikely promise of proceeds being used for transfer funds. Despite Elton’s wishes, the concert was never marketed as this and it would have been irresponsible to use the money for players given that there were other outstanding obligations to be met. However, when Helguson left shortly afterwards, most fans felt that this money would therefore be used for players and the board indeed ambiguously confirmed that “a significant proportion” would go towards the playing budget.

Over the next few weeks the club made several signings. Former England under-21 winger Jordan Stewart arrived from Leicester for ₤125,000 and Martin Devaney came from Cheltenham on a free. It was interesting to note that both arrived on the same day that Nigel Gibbs was “re-structured” out of the club, shades of September 11th in that it was “a good day to bury bad news.” The timing was also suspicious in that the club waited until the Watford Observer was out before releasing the news. Other signings made are the versatile Sietes, Austalian Adam Griffiths, former Walsall and Derby man Junior and on loan Forest striker Marlon King.

The mood amongst Watford fans had been a bit more optimistic of late until it was revealed that another key player, Brynjar Gunnarsson would be joining Reading for an undisclosed fee. Again, this called into question the current policy employed by the club. Despite having the third lowest wage bill in the league last year, we have cut the playing budget significantly and have seemingly looked only at frees and loan signings (apart from Stewart). The previous period of sustained under-investment in the playing staff, under Jack Petchey, resulted in relegation to the third division in 1996. A repetition of events, despite having several talented youngsters, seems likely.

Players In

Jordan Stewart - Could prove to be something of a coup for the club at
₤125,000. I remember being impressed by him when Leicester were relegated from the Premiership. Can play anywhere down the left-hand-side.

Martin Devaney - Old-fashioned winger who arrives from Cheltenham with
a reputation for being a talented player, albeit one with
question marks over his attitude. Can play down either
wing.

Adam Griffiths - Australian centre-half signed from Belgian side KV
Oostende. Has a reputation of being more technical than the traditional English centre-half. Will he stand up to the physical demands of the Championship?

Sietes - Versatile left-sider signed from Real Murcia. Has a
wealth of La Liga experience playing for both Valencia and Racing Santander. Needs to settle quickly.

Marlon King - Pacy former Gillingham and Forest striker with a good
goal-scoring record. He has signed initially on a six-month loan deal with a view to a permanent move. He could prove to be a good signing.

Junior - Brazilian left-sided striker. Technically good and quick,
he’s had injury problems, but looked good when at Walsall.


Players Out

Heidar Helguson (Fulham, 1.3 million)
Danny Webber (Sheffield United. 500,000)
Brynjar Gunnarsson (Reading, undisclosed)
Paul Mayo (Lincoln, free)
Omari Coleman (Lincoln, free)
Jack Smith (Swindon, free)
Neil Cox (Cardiff, free)
Sean Dyche (Northampton, free)
Jermaine Darlington (Cardiff, free)
Bruce Dyer (released)


Strengths

We have a lot of pace throughout the side, something we haven’t had in recent years. Betty also seems to have a lot of new ideas that he’s put to use in the training ground. We have the advantage of being something of an unknown quantity and many of our players have something to prove. Having not spent so much this summer, it may mean that we have something left in the locker should we need to strengthen during the season.

Weaknesses

We suffer from a chronic lack of experience. Only Chamberlain, Chambers, Mahon, Devlin and King have significant experience at this level and many of our players are still teenagers or just turned 20. We also have no obvious leader in the squad. Gavin Mahon has taken the armband, but how much of a leader is he? A lack of quality is also possible. Despite many of our younger players having a good reputation at youth and reserve level, it remains to be seen if they have what it takes in the Championship.


It’s a big season for

Gavin Mahon - Newly installed as captain and the only experienced
central midfielder at the club, a lot rests on his shoulders. He needs to produce the performances of 2003/4.

Jay Demerit - Only made his league debut last season, Demerit now
finds himself flung into the role of experienced defender at the start of his, traditionally difficult, second season.

Marlon King - King is our best chance of a 20-goal striker this year. He
has scored goals wherever he has played (except Leeds) and much is expected of him.

The Kids - We have a lot of young players with huge potential.
Richard Lee, Lloyd Doyley, Junior Osbourne, Al Bangura, Toumani Diagouraga, Ashley Young, Anthony McNamee and Hameur Bouazza stand out. Now is the time for them to stand up and be counted.

Predictions

One always try’s to remain hopeful, but realistically anything outside the relegation zone would be a successful season given the amount of changes this summer and degree of inexperience. Our best bet of avoiding the drop is in hoping that three of Millwall, Cardiff, Brighton, Crewe, scum, Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley and Stoke are worse than us. Bottom four.

Ideal Starting Eleven

1. Richard Lee
2. James Chambers
3. Sietes
4. Lloyd Doyley
5. Jay Demerit
6. Gavin Mahon
7. Paul Devlin
8. Dominic Blizzard
9. Marlon King
10. Junior
11. Jordan Stewart


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