#PLStories- Ray Lewington on Roy Hodgson’s absence, relegation hope, Sean Dyche and Burnley #WATFORDFC
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Roy Hodgson
How is Roy Hodgson, is he okay?
He’s unwell, he was unwell last night in the hotel. Very unusual for him, we came in together and he told me, ‘I’m feeling quite bad. At the moment.’ So the doctor saw him. And I think really, he just needed a rest. You know, I’m absolutely sure he’ll be there tomorrow. But he just needed a rest. They don’t quite know what’s wrong with him. But he’s seeing a couple of people this afternoon. But, you know, I don’t think it’s anything serious, but you know, he just felt genuinely unwell.
That you say, he needed a bit of a rest, does that give everyone an indication of just how much he’s put into this job?
Well, I mean, anyone who knows Roy knows that he puts everything into everything he does. I mean, I must admit, I think this is just a one-off illness and nothing in reflection on what’s happening here. I mean, he’s totally engrossed in whatever he does, when it involves football. So I think this is just an unhappy coincidence that it’s actually happened a couple of days before, you know, a big match. So as I say, I’m sure he’ll be there tomorrow.
Can you remember him ever going home ill before?
First time. First time.
With five games to go, Watford are nine points off. How do you see it?
Well, with every game that we lose, obviously it makes it harder. The only comfort Roy and I have got is that we did experience something very similar at Fulham. And as hopeless as the situation sometimes look, there is a way out sometimes. And you don’t know why. I remember the game that turned turn the situation around Fulham. for them. We went to Man City, we were 2-0 down at half time and actually was relegated with that scoreline 2-0. I don’t think we’d entered the opposition’s half, it could have been seven or eight. We don’t know how we were hanging on for 2-0. Second half, it was very similar. And yeah, unbelievably, we broke away to score three goals. And that was the beginning of the turnaround. Now, we would like to say that at half time, there was Churchillian speeches or there was a masterstroke of substitutions. But actually, nothing happened. What happened was we scored three breakaway goals. I don’t know why, don’t know how. But we drew a little bit of strength from that. Having been beaten for so long for a large part of that season, it looked like we were down, and as I say we were physically down at half time with that 2-0 scoreline. So to turn it around, you don’t know, why we still don’t know why to this day, but it did change around. Now we need something along the lines of that. To be quite honest, I couldn’t care less if we were absolutely hopeless here tomorrow. And we scratch a 1-0 win, you know. That’s what we need. These boys need to win and need to win at home I think. Just for just a little bit of a kick. And so the answer to your question, it’s never a hopeless case, until the actual points total you can’t get. And we’ll just keep carrying on because football turns up situations like this. And as I say we’ve experienced one of them.
If you can’t beat Burnley, are survival hopes over?
Well, it makes it more difficult. I mean, you know, people were telling us this when we lost to Leeds and then we lost to Brentford that that was over and yet, the other teams are losing. That’s what makes the difference. Of course, if they had won, it would have been all over by now. But the other teams are not guaranteed that they will win. But we do need a win. Obviously, you can’t go with the length of time that we have, without winning a home game, to feel comfortable. You know, we’ve got to scratch for every single thing. And you know, tomorrow will be a tough game anyway, because Burnley make it a tough game, a physically hard game. But as I say, we’ve got to get out there. And hopefully this is a game where we get a little bit of confidence.
How do you think things have changed at Burnley after Sean Dyche was sacked?
I would say that 80 per cent is Sean Dyche’s team. But what I will say is that they probably have one more pass in the build-ups. Maybe just one more pass where they’re prepared to play a ball inside sometimes when perhaps they wouldn’t have done that under Sean. Listen, I had Sean here with me at Watford and I think he’s one of the best managers in the game. And I couldn’t believe that what happened to him. And he’s a fantastic manager. But maybe, I thought it was the end of Burnley then. But again, it’s another example where football comes up with so many surprises that, you know, they’re going well. And probably in the last three games they’re the form team in the Premier League. So it’s going to be a tough game.
You’ve been by Hodgson’s side for many years. If Watford go down, should that be the final chapter of his career?
If it’s Roy’s choice, he’ll get another job. He’s in love with football. I can’t tell you how much he’s in love with football. He knows every result. If I come in, and I’m not particularly like that, he’ll come in and tell me what Danish clubs have won the night before, etc. He loves his football, we watched football. He talks about football most of the time. So it’s his choice. If it went wrong here, then I think he’d want another job. Because that’s the way he’s built. I don’t think he knows anything else.
What has this week looked like in training, in terms of having confidence after the Manchester City loss?
Well, first of all, Man City are probably the best side – and I’ve got to say Liverpool not that far [behind], but even if they are behind them, it’s so close – since I began playing. I think the these two sides particularly Man City, are the best teams I’ve ever seen. So to go and get demolished, if you like, by a team like Man City, sometimes you’re going to have to expect that. If they play really well, now, a couple of goals were our own fault, but they were bits of exceptional play. Well, that’s what happens when you come up against the top sides. Now, tomorrow, we’re clearly not playing against a Man City or Liverpool, we’re playing against a really good Premier League side. But haven’t got that extra special quality that Man City have. And as you know, when you play these, these top sides, I suppose there’s a little bit of fear anyway going into it because if they’re on song, and you’re slightly off, then it can be embarrassing. So I think last week was a one-off game. We’ve gone through the things that went wrong as you always do. But this is a completely different type of game. And so we’ve really got to put that to the back of our minds as we always do. It’s all you can do after a defeat, is go over why, what went wrong, and where we could do better. But really, you’ve got to spend most of your time during the week looking forward, because we’ve got to think about the opposition that we’re playing Saturday, and so it’ll be a completely different game.
On reflection, does it feel like it was the right choice for Burnley to fire Dyche?
I don’t know. I mean, I can’t answer that. But you know, it just goes to prove how unpredictable football is. How you can’t actually say, ‘Well, this is going to happen. So it’s a foregone conclusion.’ Nothing is like that in football and things can change. A lot of people thought that that would be the end of Burnley, as you rightly said, but it just goes to show you know, in fact, it’s gone the other way. We are in no doubt they’re a good side. They’re always a good side, Burnley, even if results are going against them. You know, there’s never an easy game against Burnley. And at the moment currently they must be playing with confidence because of the last three games. But we’ve got to put that to the back of our mind and just get out there and do our game, try and stop them when we can, and hope that’s enough.
What’s the team looking like?
Well, I mean, we’ve delayed naming it. We have got a virtual fully-fit squad. We were always going to leave it until today, because there’s been players that haven’t trained this week, but have trained in the last couple [of days]. See how they go. So Roy and I will sit down tomorrow. And we will discuss what we’re going to do.
Have you spoken about your experiences with Fulham, for instance, with the players to motivate them?
No, no. Players don’t like like hearing what what you’ve done at previous clubs. We’d would be wrong to be saying, ‘Oh, we did this. And we did that.’ No, this is about them. They’re playing for their pride, they’re playing in the Premier League against the best opposition probably in the world, as the Premier League is so strong nowadays. That’s what’s at stake. And, you know, that should be motivation enough. We do all the technical stuff from our side. But as soon as they cross that white line, they’ve got to get out there and play with their hearts as well as their heads. And really just roll the sleeves up and have a go just really have a go. The crowd have been really good. I don’t know how they keep going. Because it must be very hard for them. But the crowd has been fantastic. And even when we’ve we’ve not been particularly good, they’ve never really turned against us. And you know, with the amount of games we’ve lost at home, you might think that they would do that. But to be fair, they’ve stuck with us. We’ll need them more than ever tomorrow. And I’m sure that they will come through as well. But we know, we have to give them something to shout about. You know, they want to see the intent there. And that’s what we got show tomorrow.
Will you only give up when it’s mathematically impossible to stay up?
Yeah, I mean, there’s no way, I mean that you do [admit it’s over]. Because we truly [believe], as I say we’ve gone through that experience. We actually were thinking, that year at Fulham, that we were down. And then it turned for the in the most unlikely place. And that’s the beauty of football. Until the points say that we can’t actually stay up, we will keep going. Because there’s always a chance.
What needs to be done to keep Watford successful?
Football is a fine line. And you know, maybe a player or two, strengthening positions. I don’t know. I mean, that’s for the chairman and his board or directors to work out. They’ve got a genuine bunch of lads here who will have a go. And that’s a really good starting place. Probably is a couple of positions they need strengthening. As I say, that’s for them to decide at the end of the season. But for now we’re just worried about this year. We’ll think about next year when the season finishes.
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