Former Watford head coach reflects on his time at the club

The 55-year-old was in charge for just 63 days and his 11 games delivered only three victories and 12 points.

He knew when he came that the Hornets were already in the Play-Off last-chance saloon, and it felt as if they spent the majority of his spell punch-drunk from the manner in which they lost his opening game at QPR.

After that, there were very fleeting glimpses of hope but often only in parts of a game, rarely for a full 90 minutes.

A quick look at the league table shows that the 12 points the Hornets dropped from winning positions under Wilder were the difference between their final finishing position of 11th, and being fifth in the table and facing Middlesbrough over two legs.

To be fair to Wilder though, he inherited a squad that failed to deliver regularly for either Rob Edwards or Slaven Bilic - or indeed for three previous managers the season before.

Many of the traits seen under Wilder had been evident on many occasions in the previous 35 games since August.

It was quite simply a second-successive season where three managers of different character, style and experience could not get a tune out of the Hornets orchestra.

Back home in Yorkshire, Wilder looked back on the previous nine weeks.

“I won’t lie, it was hard work and it felt longer than 11 games,” he said.

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“Given it was a condensed period, it was probably the toughest spell I’ve had as a manager.

“The Premier League with Sheffield United in the second season was tough, but this has been right up there with it.

“I came in with my eyes wide open. I knew there would probably be some petulance at times, I knew there would probably be some indiscipline at times.

“I understood the job and what I was coming into, and I knew there would need to be a very quick turnaround.

“Having said that, there were some bits that I found quite surprising in terms of where the players were at, and I should imagine that would have been the same for the two previous managers this season as well.”

At what point did the size of the task begin to look even greater than he imagined?

“I think about 10 minutes into the first game at QPR!” he laughed.

“I didn’t realise probably, when I got here, how disconnected the supporters were from the players, I’ve got to admit that. But I really felt it that afternoon at QPR.

“When QPR scored I felt the reaction from our fans and I remember thinking ‘This goes a bit deeper here than maybe I expected’.

“I don’t think I’m naïve. I know when things don’t go well you get moans and groans, but that was a bit more vocal at QPR.

“I wanted to hit the ground running and we didn’t have a lot of time before QPR, but we knew we were set for a big week because we had three games.”

The only upside after a dismal start at Loftus Road was a home game with Birmingham the next Tuesday.

“I was delighted with the win over Birmingham that midweek, because I felt we got our points over to the players and got the result,” said Wilder.

Imran Louza opens the scoring against Birmingham. (Image: Action Images)

“I really wanted to go into the international break on a high, so not beating Wigan was really disappointing – particularly the manner of the performance in the second half.

“I knew, after those first three games, that it was really game on – but then we played Luton and that was when I came out with few home truths about attitude, togetherness, fragility and individuality in the group.”

Wilder’s post-match evisceration of the performance against the Hatters was as brutal, painful and accurate as it was honest, unexpected and delivered with calm reasoning.

It wasn’t the last time the Watford boss laid bare what he felt, but that afternoon in a bar under the stand at Kenilworth Road the assembled media had their voice recorders and notepads filled with ease.

“When you know it’s such an important derby, and the media know it, and the fans know it, the messages you’re giving to the players are clear, and you know you need a result to have half a chance of reaching the play-offs – plus the involvement of Rob and the 4-0 at home – to then see the game and the performance, you are really double disappointed,” Wilder recalled, before adding: “Well I was anyway.

“It was just so limp. We pretty much went out the back door that day.

“When people look at various managers and their personalities, people would expect me to be experienced and know what it takes to win a local derby.

“That performance did not reflect my character at all. It was a really difficult afternoon.”

One criticism levelled at Wilder, by Watford fans and supporters of other clubs, is that he tended to turn the spotlight on the failings of his players rather than himself.

Having seen the manner of the defeats at QPR and Luton, and watched his team hand a point to bottom side Wigan who hadn’t paid their players in the week leading up to the 1-1 at Vicarage Road, did Wilder think he could and should have done more to prevent the car-crashes at home to Huddersfield and Cardiff?

“As the manager, you have to own the performances. I own those performances,” he admitted.

“I’ve looked back at those games. I look back at the shape of the team and maybe I needed to do something a bit different.

“Fundamentally, we were playing two teams fighting for their lives. They were prepared to give the ball up and wanted to counter-attack, and we should have been able to deal with that.

“From my point of view as a manager, you put your game plan down to recognise the strengths and threats of the opposition.

“All our analysis showed that Huddersfield were happy to give the ball up and they would look to use set plays and counters. We knew if they did get in front then they would make it very difficult to get through them. That was the characteristic we were most aware of, same with Cardiff.

“The boys knew all of this, going into both games, and we set off on the right path and played on the front foot. We got ahead in both games. Then we didn’t stick to the game plan and then you find yourself chasing games and having to do whatever you can to get back into it.

“But we might also have made mistakes in terms of team shape, when I look back at it.”

The other common gripe, particularly over the last two or three games, was that Wilder said he would give some of the club’s young players a crack, but ended up only playing Jack Grieves and Adrian Blake for the closing few minutes of the final game with Stoke.

“We wanted to win games, even when we couldn’t reach the play-offs,” said Wilder.

“I thought the whole Sunderland away situation, with a sell-out crowd and them needing the points, was a difficult one to put young boys into.

“Did I know as much about those young players as I could have done? Possibly not.

“But also there were circumstances I had to consider. Putting youngsters into a team that is struggling is never ideal. I didn’t want to put young players on the pitch in a game where things could go wrong and the atmosphere turns toxic. You can’t be sure what that will do to them in the future.

“I wanted to win the last game against Stoke, and I’ll be honest that it was a little bit selfish from my point of view. I didn’t want to gamble too early.

“Blake, Grieves and Morris were always coming on. Morris has had more experience but I wanted to give the other two a taste of it. I wanted to make sure the game was done though.

“I had the fragility of the team in my mind. If we had a stronger team mentally, then putting two young lads on at 2-0 up with 15 minutes to go is ok.

“But looking at the history of the team, anything can happen when we’re 2-0 up. I didn’t want to risk those two young lads being caught up in that.

“If, on that last day, things did go wrong, then I felt that the players out there getting the grief needed to be the ones that deserved it.

“There couldn’t be any hiding places for them. If we’d gone 2-0 down in the first half, I wouldn’t have brought any of the kids on at all. I’d have left everyone on and let them hear and see what the fans thought, and let them deal with it.”

What comes next for a man who was celebrating promotion to the Premier League with Sheffield United just four years ago?

Happier days as Wilder celebrates Sheffield United's 2019 promotion to the Premier League. (Image: Action Images)

“I’m having a week off now, and although this has been a challenging last 12 months it’s been one that I can massively reflect upon first and foremost,” he said.

“Then I’ll go again. My hunger, desire and work ethic hasn’t changed. It was there all the time I was at Watford. I slept at night knowing I put every ounce I had into it.

“Whatever has happened in this last year will stand me in good stead, and I still want to manage at the top end of English football. My passion for that is still there.

“If you’re so bruised and battered that you lose your appetite, and instead of getting into work at 7.30 you’re getting in at 9, and you find yourself taking shortcuts – if I ever get to that stage then I’ll know that’ll be time to come out of it.

“If I got to that stage then I wouldn’t be doing justice to myself or the club I was working for.

“But I don’t have any of those feelings at all. I’m ready and raring to go back in. I know the type of club I need to work with and be aligned to, and this experience has given me a good insight into a lot of things.

“I never look back at any experience and see it as a bad experience. I just see things I can learn from so I can try to be better.”

And Wilder had words of thanks for the support he received from the Watford fans.

“All a manager can ask when they go to a football club is to be given a fair crack of the whip, and I think the Watford fans definitely gave me that.

“They are a knowledgeable group of fans who have seen the good, and the not so good.

“I feel for them, because they’ve had it difficult for the last couple of seasons. I understand their pain, I really do.

“Watford being where it is, people could go and watch Premier League football at Tottenham and Arsenal, it’s easy to get into London. They could just say ‘that ain’t my club anymore’. But they don’t, because it is their club.

“The fans own the club, and everyone else is just a custodian of the football club.

“There’s a reason why Watford is in the situation it is, and I hope they come out the other side for the sake of the supporters.

“They travel in numbers and while home games weren’t always the greatest place to be, the fans came in hope and they gave me a real fair crack of the whip.

“Even on the last day of the season, some nice things were said to me and I appreciate that. I take those kind words with me, and accept them with thanks.”