A run of 8 wins in the Golden Boys last 10 games has seen Watford climb up to third in the table and continue to defy all peoples expectations of them this season. 
At the beginning of the season, no one would have even given the club more than a second’s thought when it came to talking about likely promotion contenders for the 20005/06 season. What all these people did not know though was that a young, English, up and coming manager was about to start and transform the club and all its fortunes completely.
Take centre stage, Aidy Boothroyd, the one time failed professional who seems to fit coaching much better than he ever did as a player. His career as a player never really took off, and he sadly had to retire at the age of 26. This would turn out to be good news for the Golden Boys though, as at the age of 34, after previously having worked in the youth teams at
Gone are the old days of Graham Taylor, Gianluca Vialli and Ray Lewington, and a new era has started to form under Boothroyd. His style of football is a breath of fresh air for the club: Attacking, Attractive and Fast. The three words associated with
There is also a new style of footballer at the club. Players like Bruce Dyer, Neil Cox, Jermaine Darlington, Brynar Gunnarsson have all left, and in came Marlon King, Darius Henderson,
King now lies top of the scorer charts with Ashley Young and Henderson also in the top 10, which is some achievement, but yet well deserved.
The immergence of some of
Under previous managers ‘Macca’ was never risked due to his ‘big’ asthma problems. This has changed this season though with Boothroyd’s willingness to try out youth whatever their age, and McNamee has impressed everyone with his skill and crossing ability. Then there’s Doyley, last season people didn’t think much of him, but yet again under Boothroyd he has looked much more composed and assured on the ball, and he has decided to use his foot instead of his shin to kick the ball this season!
Finally, the engaging Young, what a player! He really has taken centre stage under the new regime, and several fine performances have seen some Premiership clubs note their interest in him. He has also got a reputation for scoring top class goals, with the strikes at home to
The Boothroyd revolution has seen Watford beat second place Sheffiled United 4-1 at Bramall Lane in recent weeks, and also three consecutive games of scoring four goals is some achievement, and this is why Coca Cola Football Leagues Manager of the Month panellist Chris Kamara has decided to give the man the recognition he has thoroughly earned with the February manager of the month award.
Let us hope for everyone’s sake the manager of the month curse will not affect the Golden Boys, and will only inspire us to go on to bigger and better things!
After the managers award I think that there is one player that has really stood out this past month, and started to make other managers sit up and take notice, and even cause our manager to ask the players' national team coach to have a look at him….. Jay Demerit.
The constant, “USA, USA!” chants from the stands show how much of a crowd favourite he has become over this season, and his take no prisoner, tough tackling, strong playing style is great to watch for the fans of Watford.
Boothroyd recently stated that “Jay has shown that he has the ability to be a top class player”, which shows how far he has come from the days of playing in front of 200 people at non-league Northwood. There must be a strong case for Jay to be called up to the USA squad for the World Cup, and such a rock in defence is sure to scare even the finest of the world’s strikers.