Hi everyone, Hope you had a good weekend watching the internationals that took place, and hopefully you didn’t get too much rain where you were either! We’ve enjoyed a good week’s work at London Colney this week and that’s coincided with us having most, if not all, of our players to work with for a change. That’s unusual to be honest with you, but it makes a nice change for us and really gives us a big chance to focus on making what has been an encouraging start to the season, a really good start to the season. There’s a spell of five quick fire fixtures for us, two of which are away from home in Sheffield ironically, with three really big home ties wedged in between them all. This weekend we know that Sheffield Wednesday will pose a big threat to us, they’ll look to attack and get at us and we’ll have to have our Nottingham Forest lessons in mind when we defend against them. Those players that haven’t been here this week have been away with our Academy staff in sunny Spain – alright for some eh? In fairness they’ve been working hard themselves out there and have forged a great link with Valencia, a huge European club in their own right. To be able to send a team out to play a big Spanish side, with first team players featuring for them, says a lot about our stature and reputation and how it is growing worldwide. I’m pleased to say the boys did really well out there and got themselves a 2-2 draw against a strong Valencia team – so well done to them, although knowing the mentality of our boys they’ll have been disappointed not to have made it a win instead. Speaking of the Academy, last week, I had the privilege of opening the Harefield Academy to its newest students, including some of our youngest Watford Academy schoolboys. It was quite inspiring to see the environment that has been built for them as young pupils – it’s a far cry from the sort of schools me and you will have attended I can tell you. But, as they were reminded on the day, it’s not buildings that make places, its people, and we’ll be reminding our young players that first and foremost they need to be good young men. As is often said, ‘it’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice’ and they’ll have to have that in mind if they want to progress on the pitch. I’m sure they will. For those of you who’ve saved your pennies to be able to travel to Hillsborough on Saturday, brilliant, I can’t wait to see you in the Yorkshire rain! If not, I’m sure you’ll be watching from afar and hopefully we’ll get you a result either way. Come on!
