Watford need to 'buck the trend' - Still
Head coach Ed Still says the whole Watford squad need to step up to ensure another campaign doesn't fizzle out like in recent seasons.
[Getty Images] Head coach Ed Still says the whole of the Watford squad has to "step up and take responsibility" if they are to "buck the trend" of finishing poorly in recent seasons. The Hornets have failed to win any of their last four games, following three wins and two draws in their first seven games after Still succeeded Javi Gracia in early February. Sitting mid-table in 12th , having fallen out of play-off contention, it continues a recent trend where Watford have finished 11th, 15th and 14th in the Championship since their relegation from the Premier League in 2022.
"I'm not going to go into too much of an analysis of that, but there are patterns and trends that are there and it's something that needs to change," Still told BBC Radio Three Counties. "These are times in the season when you need to stand up, compete and put everything on the pitch to match your ambitions and all the talk and everything you say and I say. "I know I am one to be open and communicative but you then need to deliver on the pitch and we didn't do that [in Saturday's defeat at Oxford United ].
"You've got to grow and learn. OK, there are a lot of young players – but it isn't just a team of young players. "Everybody's got to step up and take responsibility, not point fingers or turn round and say 'it's his fault and it's his fault'.
"It's not – it's everybody. All of us have got to come together even more, push harder and buck the trend that's been happening over the past seasons and also, now, over the past few weeks. "Before coming in, I knew exactly what I was walking into.