Norwich City host Watford at Carrow Road for today’s 3pm kick-off in the Premier League.
Ryan Gray covers the Hornets for the Watford Observer, and spoke to canaries.co.uk about City’s opposition this afternoon.
canaries.co.uk: It’s been a mixed start to the season for Watford. Do you feel they ought to have got more than three points, or have the results been justified?
RG: They’ve more or less got what they’ve deserved. Perhaps, had they been a bit more adventurous against Tottenham, then they might have been able to get something more from that.
canaries.co.uk: On the opening day of the season they showed an ability to be clinical and put Aston Villa 3-0 down, so does that give you optimism for the season ahead?
RG: Yeah, I don’t think anyone was expecting it, to be honest. They caught a few people by surprise with that and it shows the potential that they have got.
The players they’ve brought in, particularly Emmanuel Dennis, and bringing back Cucho Hernandez - both of those look like pretty solid additions to the squad, but since then they’ve not been able to link up quite as effectively.
I think it’s a case of trying to get those players and Ismaila Sarr combining in the same way again.
canaries.co.uk: What do you make of the recruitment overall? Troy Deeney has left and Will Hughes was quite a key player as well.
RG: For Troy Deeney, it was probably about the right time for him to move on. He was at a point in his career where he wasn’t going to get many games at Watford in the Premier League, particularly with the number of players they brought in over the summer.
There are one or two situations like Will Hughes and Nathaniel Chalobah, who also left in very similar circumstances, that fans perhaps aren’t happy with because they could have done with keeping them.
But if you look at the transfer business, they’ve brought in a lot of new players so it’s the epitome of a transitional phase for Watford at the minute and the jury is still out on a lot of positions whether it is good enough or not for this season.
They did the recruitment early, to the club’s credit, and identified their targets and acted very quickly, so it’s just a case of seeing how well it works once they’re all settled in.
canaries.co.uk: They haven’t scored in the last three league games but may look to rectify that with the signing of Josh King. Do you think he can replicate the form he showed at AFC Bournemouth a few years ago?
RG: Xisco Munoz was asked this in his press conference this week and he said that he’s remaining calm about the situation. He’s not particularly worried.
If you look at the players they’ve brought in, King is obviously a very talented player but it is dependent on him rediscovering that form.
Dennis was a bit of a risk but a very good fee and Ashley Fletcher, personally I think is a bit of an odd signing as I don’t really see how he fits into the team, but I think there are goals there.
Sarr is by far the star man in that front three and it’s a case of getting him playing well with the others. He’s shown he can play well with Dennis and Cucho, so I’m not too concerned, but they need to start scoring again soon before it becomes more of a monkey on their backs.
canaries.co.uk: Today’s game feels like a big one doesn’t it, with both teams desperate for the three points?
RG: Absolutely. We’re starting to reach the point in the season where you’re looking ahead and seeing what the fixtures are at the moment. Watford have got Newcastle next weekend, which could be another huge one because then they’ve got Leeds, Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, Man United, Leicester, Chelsea and Man City, almost all in a row.
They’re at a point of the season where they need to be picking up points because you can’t go into a run of games like that without much on the board. When you do have that in the pipeline, it’s important to go into it with some momentum and belief that you can achieve something from those games.
A win today and something next weekend would put them in a great frame of mind going into that really difficult run of fixtures.
canaries.co.uk: What are the targets for Watford this season?
RG: The club have been very honest and said this season is about survival and it probably will be next season as well should they stay up. I think for now it’s about building a foundation and season by season re-evaluating the targets.