The first internal appointment of the Pozzo era, at 34 the second-youngest head coach in the entire top four English divisions and just nine games as manager on his CV.

Once the appointment of a new head coach at Watford had finished attracting the usual barbed comments and jokes about revolving doors and ‘gone before October’, the media started to look at Tom Cleverley as perhaps something of a sitting duck.

A very young, inexperienced coach who could be seen as extremely grateful for the chance, and therefore potentially be very malleable.

“I can understand people thinking that, and I’m not naïve enough to think there won’t be some who have that in their minds,” Cleverley replied.

“It was definitely a feeling when I was given the job on an interim basis: I was in the building, he’s a free option and he knows the club.

“It could have been seen as the club putting a plaster over the bleeding.

“But I believe that getting the job permanently means it carries a bit more weight and the title has a bit more substance.

“They’ve seen me working on a daily basis, they’ve seen the areas of improvement, they’ve seen the respect I’ve got from the players.

“I’m now the permanent head coach, not just the easy option for an interim period.”

While admitting he will need help and support in a lot of areas away from the pitch, is Cleverley confident he’ll be left to look after matters ‘on the grass’ himself without external influence?

“I absolutely own those areas,” he stated.

“There has been no other message than this is the way we operate.

“I’ve been pleased that my ideas and opinions on training strategies are similar to those of the board, and that certainly helps.

“And that’s also where it helps that I’ve been in this environment for several years, and I know what does and doesn’t work.

“When it comes to the real technical aspects, that’s for me and my staff.”

There are targets, but not set by the board.

“No, I’ve been the one to set those,” said Cleverley.

“They will be kept behind closed doors and they are very clearly defined targets.

“We have five very clear targets, and maybe at Christmas I’ll share them with you!

“We’ll review each of those targets on a six-weekly basis and they’ll be delivered to the players.

“I think everyone knows what my target and dream for this club is, and I’ll be working non-stop to deliver that.”