Cleverley: 'I would like some reinforcements for the Cardiff game'
Tom Cleverley would ideally like to have a new signing or two in his squad when he picks his team to face Cardiff on Tuesday.
He is already one player lighter with Daniel Jebbison’s loan from Bournemouth being cut short, but even before then the Watford boss had made it clear that to be able to compete with the teams around them in the top ten of the Championship, new players would be required.
“I would like some reinforcements for the Cardiff game,” he said
“I’m sure every coach acts a bit spoilt in this market though, but I feel like I would like somebody through the door for Tuesday.
“Now that might not be the case, and it is much easier saying what you want and need than executing the deal.
“So I know how difficult it is, and it isn’t down to a lack of hard work on the part of the board and myself.
“The sooner the better though, and being prepared to make those moves sometimes separates how efficient clubs are in this window.
“We lack those percentage players, the ones who can perform consistently in this league.
“Those types of player also tend to deal with high-pressure situations, and I am really hoping that in 10 or 15 games times there is a lot of pressure on our games because we are fighting for a place in the top six.”
Although Cleverley has the small matter of an FA Cup tie and four league games to contend with between now and the end of the month, his involvement in recruitment remains.
“We meet on a daily basis at the minute to try and improve the squad and the team,” he stressed.
“It’s not a numbers game for me now, it’s a quality thing.
“I need people who are ready, people who know the league, who can come in and compete.
“We signed a lot of numbers in the summer but if you look at how many of those we’ve actually used it’s not so many.
“In a January transfer window, you want players ready to go right now to help us achieve our goals, rather than the long-term projects.
“You have pretty much highlighted your weaknesses and know the injury situation in January, and you need people who are ready to get their hands dirty straight away.
“We have identified some of those – executing those transfers is never easy, but we will also be looking to move some out as well.”
Cleverley is assessing his entire squad, and not just those he might want to replace.
“We have players we need to develop and they might go out on loan, and there are others where we don’t see much of a future here and look to move on.
“But we certainly need to improve the squad overall if we are going to reach our targets for the season.”
