Although Watford have a rock star superfan, it’s a song by legendary American singer-songwriter Paul Simon that could be rewritten and perfectly sum up on-field matters.

A slight twist on his 1975 hit and you have ’50 ways to win a football match’, and although the new season is only four games old the Hornets have won each of them in a different manner.

There was lead/pegged back/late winner at Millwall, then total dominance over MK Dons in the cup, followed by sweeping Stoke away in the second half.

On Saturday, the home fans were treated to going behind early but then securing a deserved victory.

Derby were the first team to score first at Vicarage Road since Tom Cleverley took over at the helm, and his side quickly answered the question as to what would happen when that occurred.

It was a sluggish start and a timely reminder about being switched on from the off with the visitors totally undoing Watford from a basic throw-in as they slipped in behind the defence too easily and then goalscorer Ebou Adams had time and space to execute what was still a very good finish.

As Tom Cleverley noted after the game, the reaction from the home fans was to increase the volume levels and drive the Watford players on.

The head coach attributed part of the win to the supporters for their patience and backing, and given the home form of last season that couldn’t be guaranteed as, understandably, repeatedly watching your team being outplayed on their own turf does eat away at confidence levels.

There’s no doubt Derby gave Watford a helping hand with a level of negativity seldom seen, even from the most defensive-minded visiting sides.

It was quickly apparent the Rams were very happy to get 11 players behind the ball, often inside their own half, and see if they could survive 88 minutes plus stoppage time with their 1-0 lead intact.

Even when the Hornets drew level there was barely any sign that Derby wanted to try and win the game, and it was only when Watford went ahead in the second half that Paul Warne’s side clocked they would be going home empty-handed - suddenly their approach switched from how slowly they could restart the game every time the ball went out to chasing the it off the pitch to get it back into play.

Warne, to his credit, did praise the quality of both Watford’s goals after the game, but Derby fans who follow their team on the road could be in for a long season of attrition if trying not to lose is the general tactic for away games.

If the early goal was a setback it certainly didn’t show on the pitch or in the dug-out.

Watford took a breath and settled into the job at hand. As Cleverley said after the game, one thing among many he learned from Sir Alex Ferguson was that conceding a goal does not mean you suddenly change your style.

The Rams gave Watford a taste of what may be to come this season, as they tried to snuff out the threat posed by both Giorgi Chakvetadze and Edo Kayembe.

Obviously scouts see what we, the fans, see and so upcoming opposition managers are bound to be alerted of the threat that duo pose and will act accordingly.

Neither Chakvetadze or Kayembe had a bad game, they were just less able to exert the sort of influence they had a week earlier against Stoke.

Naturally, though, if opponents are focussed on those two then they are going to leave gaps and opportunities for other Watford players.

As Paul Simon wrote in his hit, ‘You just slip out the back, Jack, Make a new plan, Stan’, and so the Hornets turned to others in the team to prise Derby open.

In his first start, Yasser Larouci showed an exciting and fearless attacking streak.

At times, it was like someone had moved Chakvetadze out to left wing-back as Larouci got on the ball and just ran directly at the visitors, who then had the decision to make: back off or bring him down.

The on-loan Algerian did exactly what Cleverley would have hoped in such a situation by moving into the space created by defenders and midfielders who were set on stopping Watford’s two No.10s.

When the equaliser came, it was created by a defender who many associate more with winning duels in the air or on the deck than with cultured passes.

Mattie Pollock offers a lot more than just brawn though, and his ball for Watford’s leveller served to underline the progression he has made in the last season or two.

With the various replays from multiple angles that we can see these days, it’s clear Pollock wasn’t just putting the ball into a danger area – he had seen Vakoun Bayo move and played the ball accordingly.

Nonetheless, even the pass was surpassed by the finish as Bayo executed one of those goals we all tried as youngsters when we were playing ‘headers and volleys’ down the park with our mates.

The striker could not have pulled off the bicycle kick any better, and the ball was past County keeper Zetterstrom before he had time to dive.

Bayo has worked hard this season, and while he may not be the long-term answer as first-choice No.9, he’s definitely a trier.

His pressing and running is admirable and he nearly earned himself a second when he charged down a Zetterstrom clearance in first-half stoppage time but fired the loose ball wide.

There have been suggestions it was a bad miss, but from my vantage point at the back of the Elton John Stand, nearer the Vicarage Road end, the angle was rapidly narrowing and Bayo had very little goal to aim at. He had to lift the ball too or else he’d have hit the diving Derby keeper.

There was no real change in pattern after half-time, with Derby having decided the point they had was worth hanging onto and consequently they again were content to sit deep and challenge Watford to break them down.

Tom Dele-Bashiru once more showed that combination of drive and calmness in the middle of the park. His confidence is such that I often finding myself air-kicking under the desk as he turns, rides a tackle and pushes forward in very tight areas inside his own half.

Former skipper Troy Deeney said before the season started that if Dele-Bashiru stayed injury free and kicked on then he could become a player that stands out so much, people will wonder why he’s still at Watford.

Again on Saturday, Dele-Bashiru illustrated he can be a force in the Championship and with Derby continuing to focus on negating Watford’s No.10s, he provided another way of taking the game to the visitors, who were more than willing to back off.

However, it was his midfield partner who stole the headlines.

Moussa Sissoko looks every part an excellent player, and that starts when he arrives at the ground. He cuts the figure of the ‘French international and former Premier League midfielder’ as he is so often described.

Cleverley said – and clearly speaks from experience – that when the two teams line up before a game, opponents will go down the line shaking hands, get to Sissoko, and realise they are up against a top professional.

When the captain rejoined in the summer, there were some who pointed to his previous season, his quick departure after it and his age, and thought his return was sheer folly.

That’s not hard to understand, though personally I thought Sissoko was among the best performers in an otherwise largely grim set of players that previous season.

He’s been outstanding since he returned: his head coach and teammates speak warmly and enthusiastically about his influence and leadership, both on and off the pitch.

I noticed on Saturday, after the two teams had shaken hands, that Sissoko waited at the end of the line and then shook the hand of every one of his Watford colleagues with a quick word for each.

Only a small thing, but the sort of touch that separates the ‘been there, done that’ from the ‘never quite made it’.

His winning goal on Saturday would be easy to underestimate given that, on first glance, it looked like he was merely putting the ball into a half-empty net.

But as Warne explained afterwards, it was the finish of a great player. The ball came at him quickly, there was a defender and a goalkeeper diving his way and when Chakvetadze’s shot was blocked he reacted far quicker than Derby defender Ozoh who was a yard in front of him.

Sissoko didn’t try to break the net either, it was almost like a stun shot as he merely jabbed the ball into the ever-decreasing gap in front of him.

Credit too for the part Kwadwo Baah played in the goal, as it was his burst to the by-line and drag back which created the goal.

In attacking the box, Baah took two defenders with him and, because of that, when the ball ran to Sissoko they were both still off the pitch which generated more space for the goal.

Baah is turning out to be a good example of how the Pozzo recruitment model can work positively, as before this season he hadn’t kicked a ball for the first team and may well have been forgotten about by Watford fans.

While he’s still a bit of a rough diamond, he is also one that probably wouldn’t have been unearthed had someone at the club not spotted him as a teenager at Rochdale three years ago.

The second Watford goal suddenly saw ten Derby outfield players change from reverse to drive, and they did have a chance late on when Bradley sent a diving header straight at Dan Bachmann.

However, there’s not just attacking verve and positivity under Cleverley, there is also steely determination and backbone – and there were two moments which underscored that on Saturday afternoon.

Just after Watford had gone ahead, Ozoh broke forward for Derby, only to be chased down by Sissoko who, having made up the ground to get level with the Derby player, then simply leant on him, stepped across and took the ball.

And, while it was still 1-1, Yates found space down the Derby right and seemed set to race away from Francisco Sierralta.

The big Chilean – something of unsung hero so far this season – isn’t noted for his pace but appeared to find another gear and accelerated past the Derby striker to take the ball off him.

Two instances where players could easily have jogged back and left it to someone else, but chose to get their head down and take one for the team.

It was a deserved Watford victory, completed the hard way but one which slathered another layer of confidence and belief on top of those applied by the three previous wins since the season started.

And paraphrasing that 70s hit song, it showed Watford may well have 50 ways to win a football match.

Given the turbulent and torrid times of the last two seasons, Cleverley may also be building the title of another classic penned by Paul Simon: a bridge over troubled water.