Emphasis on defence, experience of fighting for possession. Roy Hodgson could be the man Watford need. Can he save the Hornets?

Losing to Norwich this year just doesn’t pay. Rafa Benítez has already convinced himself of that and Claudio Ranieri in the very next round. For Watford, this is the second sacking of a manager this season. Roy Hodgson was almost immediately announced as the replacement. A strange choice on the face of it, however Hodgson could be a great short-term solution for Watford.

After his departure from Crystal Palace, it looked like we wouldn’t see Roy Hodgson as manager again, but the opposite is true. A veteran with a huge amount of experience has answered Watford’s call and will try to keep the ailing side in the Premier League.

Although not everything has gone well in Hodgson’s career (think of his troubles at Liverpool or with the England national team), he has shown on several occasions that working with outsiders suits him.

This is no surprise given how he started his managerial career – in 1976 he took charge of Halmstad of Sweden, who had only been saved by goal difference the previous season. Hodgson, however, won the league in his very first season.

If we move forward in time a little, we can recall Hodgson’s great work at Fulham. He took over in December 2007. The Cottagers were in 18th place at the time and two points short of salvation.

Mainly thanks to a great end of the season (4 wins in 5 games) Hodgson managed to keep Fulham in the league. In the following season, the club under his management reached the 7th place, which meant the Europa League and there was even a sensational participation in the final.

In February 2011, he took over West Brom, who had lost 13 of their previous 18 games and held on to 17th position. Under Hodgson’s management, the team again showed a great end of the season – 5 wins and 5 draws in the last 12 matches. In the end, it was a solid 11th place.

After a failed engagement with the England national team, Hodgson took over Crystal Palace, which was in a desperate state after Frank de Boer’s short tenure. After 4 games the team had no points or goals scored.

Despite losing the opening 3 games Roy managed to turn the situation around and the Eagles finished the season in 11th place. In addition, they became the first team not to be relegated despite losing their opening 7 games.

It is no wonder that the management of Watford, who now occupy the 19th place with 14 points, chose Hodgson as a replacement after Ranieri. Hodgson has plenty of experience of fighting for retention, yet he will still have his work cut out to save the Hornets.

One of his most important tasks will be to sort out the troubled defence. Watford have received 40 goals in 20 games and are the only team in the top 4 English leagues without a clean sheet.

“He is definitely capable of putting the defence in order,” one of Hodgson’s former charges confirmed to The Athletic. “He makes you do the same things over and over again in training until you do them instinctively in games. It’s boring at times, but you can hardly complain when you see it working.”

Defensive duties Hodgson doesn’t demand only from defenders, as Andros Townsend can testify again: ” In one of the first training sessions he put me at fullback and when I complained he said he would make me a good defender no matter what. He never let me forget my defensive duties.”

“When he came to Palace, we were in disarray. He gave the team a clear structure and everyone knew immediately what he wanted from us and what we had to do.”

That is exactly what Watford need now. While performances under Ranieri have not been bad, results have been lacking, the team has been brought down by defensive errors and in the last game against Norwich the players simply fell apart after the goal they received.

Watford believe that Hodgson will be the one to handle the unpleasant situation at the club. And even Hodgson himself remains optimistic, at least in an interview with the club’s website: “It’s a big challenge, but it’s a challenge I’m prepared to take on.”

“I’m very much looking forward to it, I know the players are great at the club so I believe together we can keep the club in the Premier League.”

Whether Hodgson will be successful in the next big challenge his prolific career has brought him will be suggested by the next game Watford face. For next Saturday the Hornets take on Burnley, currently the last team in the league, at Turf Moor.

Source: The Athletic, Watford