Roy Hodgson
How much of a sucker punch do you feel Jarrod Bowen’s goal was?
I don’t think it was a sucker punch, I think it was unfortunate for us in the sense that up until that moment of time we’d been dealing with their attacks very well and to concede a goal from such a large deflection is always a tough one. But I don’t feel it was particularly a sucker punch, as such, I think the game was evenly poised. Of course, when they got that one in, their confidence and their composure grew. But I still think we were asking questions and if we’d been lucky we might have even got ourselves an equaliser.
The defence has improved but is creativity a problem?
Well it was pretty much level with West Ham’s creativity today, and they’re fourth in the league I think. So we weren’t miles behind in terms of that. I would think the number of goal chances in the game were pretty even. And in fact, we had the ball in and around their penalty area probably as much as they had it around ours. But of course, when you don’t score a goal. The question is always gonna be, are you creative enough? And are your front players doing enough to score a goal? That question will always come, and the only way you can avoid getting that question is by your team scoring goals.
What do you think about David Moyes’ choice to play Kurt Zouma?
I never concern myself with those things, to be frank, it’s not my business. That will be the business for the club or any other areas of responsibility for them to make decisions on that. So I didn’t expect him not to play because I know he is one of their star players and if something has happened in his private life which has now caused some sort of controversy, that will be for him, and the club to deal with. But I don’t have a strong opinion about it because, to be frank, I haven’t followed the story to any great extent of yet. I have been preparing for the match, I’ve been preparing football, so I’m afraid I can’t really help you with a comment that will in some way resonate with your thinking on the subject.
Are you happy with the improvements Watford are making?
Well, I don’t know that it’s for me to talk about improvements in the team, that should hopefully come from outside. If people are actually seeing an improvement, I’d be happy if they are. All I can say is, we’ve been working for two weeks, and we’ve worked after as pattern if you like and we’ve worked hard to try and improve areas of the team play. And I would lie if I said I wasn’t more than satisfied with what I’ve seen particularly with what the players are trying to give me – trying to give Ray Lewington and I. I think they are really doing everything in their power to try and show that we will try and play in a certain way, and we will work very very hard on the field of play, so no stone will at least be left unturned when it comes to giving ourselves a chance. But of course, when you are at the bottom, confidence is never at its highest and that manifests itself, in particular, in situations where you might even play some good football, and good movements to get yourself into sort of crossing or goalscoring positions and that’s where the final ball lets you down. And the difference is that confidence that Bowen has at the moment to take that shot on – albeit it’s quite fortunate, it’s got a big deflection – but it’s his confidence to take the shot on, which at the moment we’ve got to work towards. But no I’m not unhappy with what I’m seeing. I feel sorry for the payers tonight because I feel their effort might have just deserved a little bit more.
How excited are you to have Ismaila Sarr back?
Well, he’s a quality player, isn’t he? He’s been a star player for the club during a period of years now, and he’s just come back from helping his national team win the Africa Cup of Nations, so one’s got to hope he’s coming back in good form, in good spirits, going to be confident, and we get again, a player, who we think has got the wherewithal to help us be more of an attacking threat than we would be certainly without him.
Will Sarr play in the midfield or up front?
I don’t know is the answer to that question. Don’t forget I haven’t worked with Ismaila Sarr. I know him and I know his qualities, but where we will get the best out of him, in terms of his qualities, that remains to be seen. We are fairly open about it, so it’s gonna be a question, when he comes back, working with him and deciding amongst ourselves where he’s gonna serve the team best and where he’s gonna give us the best chance of winning a match.
Are you concerned about Newcastle United winning their game?
It’s nothing to do with me, is it? I can’t decide Newcastle’s results. It was a good result for them, if that result means it’s a major revival, we’ll have to wait and see. There’s another 16 or 17 matches still to play. So we’ll see how good and how long the revival lasts. All I can do is congratulate them on a very good result which has certainly ameliorated their position in the league just as this defeat worsens ours. But, at the moment, all my concentration and effort is gonna be on Watford and the matches we have coming up and attempts to get points. And concerning myself too much in what over teams around us are doing is not gonna help at all in terms of the results we need.
Did you see enough to think Watford will stay up?
Tonight I saw, again, after the previous performance, a team that showed a lot of spirit, a lot of heart. They worked very hard to put in place some of the principles we’ve been working on and that’s a positive factor. But whether or not that’s going to be good enough in a longer term to keep us up, will depend on one thing and one thing only: how many football matches we can win and how many points we can get on the board. It’s gonna be a bit foolish if every time I do a press conference I say: ‘Yes I’m confident we’re gonna stay up’, or, ‘I’m not confident we’re gonna stay up’. I’m prepared to keep working and see where the work brings us.
