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Whilst awaiting the arrival of manager Adrian Boothroyd at Watford FC’s press conference on Thursday morning, those attending had time to peruse the motivational scribblings that remained on the blackboard from the squad’s earlier team talk. In truth, the famous quotations, taken from sources as varied as Commodus and the rock band Queen, meant little when taken out of context. Far more coherent however was the inspired, ultra-confident attitude that lay beneath the young Watford manager’s comments upon his arrival at the club’s training facility in London Colney. Indeed, the genuine belief that was apparent in Boothroyd as he approaches his first Premiership campaign was reminiscent of Jose Mourinho when put in a similar situation two seasons ago. But whilst the Chelsea manager’s confidence was to a large extent reluctantly empathized with by the British press, Boothroyd does not have this luxury. The Watford manager is un-fazed by the doubt cast on his side’s prospects for the coming season however. “I don’t mind the press writing us off, as it’s just conventional wisdom – in fact I quite like it,” the coach told press. “We punched above what people considered to be our weight last season, and we will continue to do that this season”. | "In five years time, I’d like us to be an established Premiership club, and pushing for Europe" | | Adrian Boothroyd |
When asked whether he hoped to emulate the achievements of ‘underdogs’ from recent seasons past, such as West Ham and Wigan, Boothroyd was similarly self-assured: “I think we’ve got to aim beyond the West Hams and the Wigans. Those teams will be looking to move forwards and so will we”. How far do the young manager’s aspirations stretch then? “If I told you my biggest goal, people would say I had absolutely no chance of doing it, so I’ll keep that to myself” said Boothroyd. With a bit of persuasion however, he was at least willing to reveal his goals for the next five years: “In five years time, I’d like us to be an established Premiership club, and pushing for Europe. We want to create something that’s bigger than ourselves. We want to go from good to great.” Five years is a long time however, and Boothroyd has not lost sight of the fact that a trip to Goodison Park on Saturday is a more immediate challenge. “Everton will be favourites to beat us this weekend, but then I’ll probably be saying that every week,” Boothroyd admitted. “It will be a tough game, in a tough environment, and against a very good manager. But we will try to stop their strengths and exploit their weaknesses. Every team has weaknesses, and Everton are no different”.
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Watford have been handed a major boost in the build-up to this game with the news that Ben Foster will return on loan for a second season. “It’s a massive boost for us”, said Boothroyd of the Manchester United goalkeeper. “We kept calm and patient and thankfully it has happened for us”. Boothroyd went on to describe the young stopper, who only last week was rewarded with his first England call-up, as having the potential “to be the best ’keeper in the world. He has everything that the best players have and a little bit more. He has personality, presence, hunger, he’s not fazed by anything and he is eager to learn. The only thing he is missing is experience, and he’ll get that here”. Despite the good news of Foster’s return, Boothroyd still hopes to bring in two more faces before the transfer window closes at the end of the month. “We are trying to bring a couple in”, the manager explained. “Everyone wants to keep hold of their players at this stage but hopefully that will change as the deadline gets nearer”. Whilst typically coy about where his squad still needs strengthening, Boothroyd admitted that he would “ideally have two players contesting for each position on the pitch”. Should this be achieved, it would be hard not to be inspired by the manager’s vision for the future. But do the players share his vision? “If they didn’t,” Boothroyd stresses, “they wouldn’t be here.” |
