Resident columnist Bill Hawkins shares his thoughts after the final game of the season, and ponders what’s to come
What do you do when the season ends? Especially when it ends in such a despairing manner.
Losing 4-1 at home on the final day of the season is a damning indictment of the current mentality of the squad. Whether the rumours concerning training ground rows and mutinous players are to be believed, there is still no excuse for the performance that Vicarage Road had to experience on the final Saturday of an already tumultuous season.
Rather than looking back at that game – of which the highlights, if they can be called that, I have no intention of watching – I would prefer to look ahead to what should be an interesting summer.
There is still no definite answer on whether Beppe Sannino will still be around come the first day of pre-season, with the supposed management row drawing into question his control of the squad. And as the football dies down, fans are left to fill the void with rumours of a certain Bohemian coach being appointed.
Zdenek Zeman would be a fantastic appointment. Whether the former Roma coach would be willing to step down to the Championship is another matter – although he has spent a career alternating between the top two divisions in Italy, as well as spending time in the less respected leagues of Serbia and Turkey.
The other positive to take from these early days of a World Cup filled summer is the apparent near-completion of a permanent deal for Daniel Tozser. The Hungarian impressed in his early appearances for the Hornets, although tiredness – and an utter lack of match fitness – came to impose themselves upon a run of questionable form as the season closed. Although, saying such things does not prevent the fact that he was the one of few highlights in the losses that rounded off the season.
One hopes that more business can be completed before the tournament in Brazil hits full swing. Completing your squad in the early summer means preparations for next season begin early.
There is hope that next season will be an improvement upon this despairing year. Expectations were remarkably high last August, and over-confidence abounded through Vicarage Road.
That this season has been full of collapsed hopes and a grounding sense of reality should cause a humbling in the playing squad.
And who knows, maybe the Hornets can be the surprise package of another Championship season.
