“I've tried to make them as prepared as possible”

In the eyes of many seasoned observers Watford overachieved by some considerable margin by ending the regular season in third place in the Coca-Cola Championship.

Not that this concerned manager Aidy Boothroyd however, and a convincing two legged Play-off Semi-Final victory over much fancied Crystal Palace has left the ambitious young boss within striking distance of the Premiership.

Now tasked with overcoming former colleague Kevin Blackwell and Leeds United at the Millennium Stadium, the 35-year-old Bradford born boss has been leaving nothing to chance as he attempts to fulfil a long held belief as explained to Sue McCann at www.leaguemanagers.com.

“Because we've got a very young side, what I've tried to do is make them as prepared as possible. I brought the staff and the players to Cardiff on Monday night, stayed over at the hotel we're going to be staying in at the weekend, had a tour of the Millennium Stadium, and had lunch at the stadium on Tuesday. We've done as much as we can to alleviate all the tension on the day stuff and what we're going to do is come and play the game like we would any other game and not the occasion. We're going to treat it as a normal game so we'll not be on the pitch beforehand taking pictures and all the rest of it, apart from the warm up.

We're trying to think one step ahead and we've not been there before, myself included. So we've got to get a feel of it and know what it's all about. We've measured the pitch out and for the rest of the week we'll train on the same size pitch.”

People have referred to you and your team as ‘surprise performers' this season, but I have a feeling that you aren't surprised at all at your teams progress and that tag doesn't do Watford justice?

“Well I'm not surprised but that's down to the quality of the people that I've got on the playing side and also on my staff. I've got people who want to improve and do better. All of us do a lot of brainstorming and chat about things and there's a lot of disagreements, but I want to find the best way. I'm not surprised because when you get enough people of the right ilk you're almost at the point where you cannot help but do better than what you did before.”

You wrote to each of your players ahead of the start of the season telling them what you expected from them, was reaching the play-off final in that letter?

“What was in that letter was what they could expect of me through the season and what I expected of them too. When we met on July 4th last year I said that I expected automatic promotion and play-offs as a minimum for us. We only just missed out on automatic promotion and we've got to make sure that we're the third best team and the only way we can to that is by beating Leeds”

Given the ties between you and Kevin Blackwell and the fact that he brought you to Elland Road; would you have preferred not to be facing him as the ‘adversary' in Sunday's Final?

“I think it's a real David & Goliath Final that's the exciting thing about it. When you look at the money that Leeds have spent, the experience that they've got and the size of the club then there's always that little romance in your heart for the underdog. So that's why I think it will be a terrific final for the neutral. It's good for me because I know Leeds, I know the way that they think, I know the way they prepare and I know the way that Kevin prepares and the way he thinks. So it's a good Final for me.”

If you are promoted to the Premiership on Sunday, why will Watford be better equipped to remain in the Premiership this time around?

“I think one thing that I've noticed from the teams that have gone up and stayed there like Wigan and West Ham is that they've added experience and pace in different areas. That's what we'd have to do. We wouldn't be going and spending money on big name players because to me it's the hungry ones and the ones that want to be better and want to win things and want to improve themselves. They're the ones that appeal to me, not the ones that been there and bought the t-shirt. Sometimes players that get money and get some wealth behind them tend to lose their focus and they get fat. I don't want people like that around me.”

Steve McClaren has been appointed England Manager, you along with several other English Managers have excelled this season. Do you predict a bright future for English coaches?

“I think a lot of that is down to the coaching programme that the LMA and the FA have put together, producing licences like Certificate in Applied Management. Along with the Pro Licence it's the only qualification where you are actually going outside of football, looking at best practice in other areas. Where I might have been luckier than others in being able to land a job and being able to talk myself into a job, is that I've done courses outside of football. The bug has bitten me about best practices in other areas and I've gone on courses to do with business, communication and teaching because I think that's all part of leading a club.”

Interview reproduced courtesy of www.leaguemanagers.com.