Watford Premier League season preview 2015/16
Saturday 8 August 2015 10:29, UK
All the transfer news, statistics, pundit views and odds ahead of Watford's 2015/16 season.
Position last season: 2nd (Championship)
Sky Bet title odds: 5000/1
Ins: Giedrius Arlauskis (Steaua Bucharest), Valon Behrami (Hamburg), Steven Berghuis (AZ Alkmaar), Miguel Britos (Napoli), Etienne Capoue (Tottenham Hotspur), Jose Holebas (AS Roma), Jose Manuel Jurado (Spartak Moscow), Allan Nyom (Granada), Sebastian Prodl (Werder Bremen), Matej Vydra (Udinese), Sebastian Prodl (Werder Bremen).
Outs: Jonathan Bond (Reading), Lewis McGugan (Sheffield Wednesday), Diego Fabbrini (Middlesbrough), Juanfran (Deportivo, loan), Uche Ikpeazu (Port Vale, loan).
Overview
Free-scoring Watford emerged from the pack to earn automatic promotion last season but Slavisa Jokanovic – already their fourth coach of the 2014/15 season – still departed this summer. It’s the fifth man inside 12 months, Quique Sanchez Flores, who will try to keep them in the Premier League.
History is not on their side – Watford’s two previous Premier League seasons saw them finish bottom of the table. That hasn’t stopped Flores insisting he’s out to create “something special” at Vicarage Road and he’s added top-flight experience in Etienne Capoue and Valon Behrami.
However, it’s how the players who fired Watford to the Premier League adapt that will surely be the biggest factor in the team’s chances of staying there. Troy Deeney, Odion Ighalo or Matej Vydra will also have to come close to replicating their Championship goalscoring exploits if they are to survive.
Stuart Pearce's view: "To get up last year was a fantastic achievement. I think they’ve got some quality players and they will be one of the surprise packages. They’re one of the favourites to go down but I don’t see that. I can’t see them being relegated. I think they’ll do better than people think."
Stuart Pearce's one to watch: "Troy Deeney. He has been so important for Watford and they will be hoping for more of the same in the Premier League."
Opta stats
- Last season, Watford were one of just two sides in the top four tiers in England to have two players with 20 league goals, in Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo (Blackburn, the other).
- Watford captain Troy Deeney scored (21) more goals and provided more assists (9) in 2014/15 than any other Hornets player.
- No player in the top four tiers of English football scored more league goals in 2015 than Odion Ighalo (16).
