Watford: Opinion – Javi Gracia departure signals arrival of opportunity

Javi Gracia walking away from Watford means the Hornets squad has just got bigger. Not only with the late January signings but also with the players the Spaniard didn’t pick in both his team and his squad.

Gracia will have his reasons for not wanting to pick them – contributions in games, training ground performances and attitude will, no doubt, have been a big part of that.

But for the likes of Formose Mendy, Jeremy Petris and Pierre Dwomoh – who couldn’t get near the squad – and Nestory Irankunda, Kwadwoo Baah and Papy Mendy – who were unlikely to start – all of them now have a chance under Charlie Daniels and his fellow coaches Dan Gosling and Adrian Mariappa.

And we saw that in their first match in charge on Tuesday when Mendy started and others out in the cold were on the bench.

Watford were the better team against third-placed Hull and what was also impressive was the manner of the performance in the 0-0 draw at the MGM Stadium.

Perhaps, with a point to prove, the players played with a calm sense of freedom, a contrast to Gracia’s last match in charge where they were chaotic and eventually lost control.

Gracia felt let down by the club. He wanted experienced players in to complement the youngsters but he didn’t get that and grew increasingly irritated. He then also had to deal with those disillusioned players he didn’t trust. It had been boiling for a while.

Watford’s best bit of business in January could be the loan signing of Pierre Ekwah who ironically arrived just after Gracia left. The midfielder did well at Sunderland and fits the profile of midfielder that Gracia was after.

Centre-back Saba Goglichidze was another late addition on loan from Udinese.

The most interesting one looks to be the Manchester City 17-year-old Stephen Mfuni, who had a cracking debut at Hull. The other new recruit Edoardo Bove is still a few weeks away from being involved following his cardiac arrest just over a year ago.

On paper this is a decent Championship squad post transfer window. Some experience in attack and defence would have helped.

But whether Watford can push towards the play-offs and promotion contention could depend, as ever, on the attitude shown by this group when the going gets tough.