Watford’s restored pride and belief under Cleverley.
Pride in the badge is something fans cling on to even when everything they see, hear and read makes it hard to – and that’s certainly been the case at Watford for a few seasons now.
Similarly, lack of pride has often been at the root of some of the worst performances seen on the pitch, the visibly poor attitude of players and the ultimate failure of many head coaches at Vicarage Road.
Since Tom Cleverley took over, that pride has quickly been restored.
At Ipswich on Wednesday, there were gritted teeth, clenched fists and sweat-stained shirts all over the pitch as the players gave a performance that showed they had the same pride in the badge as the 1,500 or so fans who had made the trip to Portman Road.
Unlike tactics, playing style, game plans or anything else that can worked upon on the training pitch, pride is something not so easily passed from coach to player.
Cleverley himself was a player who gave everything for Watford and it was obvious he did so with immense pride.
“It was one of the things I looked at when I came in,” he said.
“You could perhaps see a team that was winding down, lacking motivation: no real fear of going down, no chance of going up.
“So firstly I look at personal pride in each player, and alongside that the work that me and my staff has done has always been positive.
“I think it helps that I was a good teammate to 90% of these lads and I was always respectful.
“I always tried to do my best for the team and I think that plays a part because you can see the lads are working for me, and I am very appreciative of that.
