The annual lighting of the Watford transfer firework happened on January 1, and now with the blue touchpaper smouldering, we all sit and wait to see what happens.

The same is evidently true for Tom Cleverley, as although he has given a clear brief to the recruitment team of what he needs, who he believes provides that and even a guide as to fees and loan possibilities, he’s still talking about hoping players come in and isn’t already working with them at London Colney.

We are, after all, a third of the way through the month. Of course, that’s not to say things aren’t happening.

However, the few names linked with the Hornets so far are, to the best of the knowledge of The Watford Observer, either not players that Cleverley has discussed or individuals who would be outside the likely budget available and whose agents are flying kites.

As an example, as soon as Cleverley confirmed that Dan Bachmann would be out for three months, a plethora of different goalkeepers were associated with a move to Vicarage Road.

That’s an easy one for an agent – I have a goalkeeper who wants to move in January and there’s a club whose first-choice keeper is confirmed as being injured for 12 weeks.

One thing it is fair to say is that it’s a lot harder to ‘own’ transfer dealings outside the Premier League.

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Invariably clubs in the Championship and below are waiting on a decision from the top-flight around letting a player go, or hoping a club signs someone which frees up the player they’re after, or hoping to sell a player to raise funds for other dealings.

Yes some clubs in the second tier have done business already, and Sunderland are clearly intent on furthering their bid to return to the Premier League if they are bringing in players likes Roma’s Enzo Le Fee (surely the single best surname for a transfer window ever?!).

But Watford are not alone in being yet to buy, sell or loan anyone.

Cleverley spoke about wanting to have reinforcements for the game at Cardiff on Tuesday. At the time of writing, that hasn’t materialised and so even if a new body arrives between now and kick-off in Wales, the amount of time available to integrate them into the squad/team means they will be on the bench – if there even is a signing made before the game.

So that Watford transfer firework is, we hope, fizzing away and about to ignite.

The last two January windows have shown two very different ways of handling a firework that is lit but hasn’t burst into life.

There was the Valerien Ismael approach: laid back, patient, even a little stubborn.

Outcome? One new signing (Emmanuel Dennis v2024, which was an unfit and less impactful version of Emmanuel Dennis v2021), and two players departed. The firework turned out to be a damp squib.

Emmanue Dennis - it wasn't quite the same the second time round. (Image: PA)

Before that was the Slaven Bilic approach. Speak very publicly about what he expected from the firework - before it was even lit - and then discuss regularly while it was getting ready to go off.

He went back and had a look to see what was going on – and it blew up in his face.

While Bilic had, he assured The Watford Observer, lined up deals for the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Djed Spence and Cameron Archer, he ended up being handed Henrique Araujo, Joao Ferreira and Britt Assombalonga.

The randomness of recent January transfer windows has then been followed by two campaigns which petered out.

On January 1, 2023, Watford were seventh in the table and a point outside the play-off places.

A year later, on January 1, 2024, the Hornets were four points adrift in 10th.

In 2023 they finished 11th, in 2024 they ended 15th. Transfer dealings are not the only factor which contributed to those drop-offs, but it was certainly significant.

Even off the back of the current losing run, Watford are ninth and one win (which could come on Tuesday) behind West Brom who are sixth.

Surely, in those circumstances, you give it a go? And if the bid to get into the top six falls short, the players you’ve signed provide a solid foundation for another go next season.

As Bilic found out to his cost, even if the club do bring in players during the January window there is absolutely no guarantee they will be what you need, never mind the individual names you suggested.

Of course, managers/head coaches may not always be the best people to make decisions around signings, and they need to work in tandem with a recruitment team who spend far more time studying the market and have access to tools and data to help them.

But when you’ve got a former England international who played for Manchester United during a top-level career, who knows Watford FC inside out, and clearly has the interests of the club and its growth deep in his heart – you have to put a good bit of weight behind his opinions, ideas and suggestions, don’t you?

The owner has a tremendous track record in the transfer market and has brought players to the club the like of whom we may never see again.

But back in the days of Capoue and Deulofeu, Watford were living in a Premiership mansion and doing the food shopping at Waitrose.

Now the Hornets are in a Championship mid-terrace and moving between Asda, Lidl and Aldi.

Money is scarce, bargains are rare and you need to be sure that every penny spent is done so with a plan in mind.

Pozzo is a wealthy man, a successful man, an intelligent man. He’s not a football head coach though.

If he decided to buy a Formula One team, surely he’d leave the development of the car to professional engineers and technicians, and the driving of the car to the driver?

While we await (we hope) the explosion of this January’s transfer firework, it gives all and sundry time to debate and discuss what they think Watford should do.

Those were the days . . . (Image: Action Images)

So a few personal thoughts – and like everyone else, these are purely opinions. No insider dealing etc.

Six players: a goalkeeper, a left-back, a couple of central defenders (ideally one that’s left-footed), a defensive-midfielder and a No.9.

However, and this is similar to what Cleverley has said himself, each of them has to be ‘oven ready’.

Players who know this division, won’t be surprised by anything, have got a track record at this level and hopefully higher, and are fit and ready to go.

Bilic used to talk about players who could walk in, you’d give them a shirt and have a word in their ear as they put it on, and they could go straight out and do it.

There is no point – in this particular window - signing young players, especially from overseas, who might in a year or two be absolutely magnificent but who are just not ready to play straight away.

In fact, given a choice, using whatever budget is available to sign only two or three ‘ready to go’ players in any of the positions listed above would be better than trying to spread the funds and ending up with six new signings but only one of whom is going to make an instant impact.

Think back to the start of 2015, when Ben Watson and Matthew Connolly arrived. That sort of signing: seasoned pros who know English football and its intricacies inside out.

That pair were a free transfer and a loan, but Watford might have to part with some money this time.

Looking back, and ignoring the £50k for Tom Ince, the last time Watford paid a fee for any player over 24 was when they signed Wes Hoedt for £1.8m in January 2023.

As an aside, imagine Hoedt in defence this season with the rejuvenated Mattie Pollock?

How Watford let Hoedt leave, and in the same window signed three defenders in Angelo Ogbonna (free, five league appearances), Kevin Keben (£800k, one sub appearance) and Keiky Almeida (£800k, occasional Under-21 outings) is baffling.

Of the six positions suggested, goalkeeper has suddenly become a priority. It would have been an area most likely addressed in the summer, but with Bachmann out for so long then it has to be fixed now.

The reason for suggesting centre-backs is based upon the feeling that one may be sold/leave – Cleverley has said several times there will be outs as well as ins.

With Ryan Porteous attracting attention, then a decent fee there could be repurposed, or allowing Francisco Sierralta to leave would free up a salary.

While some may fear seeing the likes of Chakvetadze and Baah being sold, that isn’t the Pozzo way.

To give the owner deserved credit, he’s never been one for cashing in on assets halfway through a season.

Other than Odion Ighalo, it’s hard to remember a first-team regular leaving in January.

Ighalo was a very rare example of Watford cashing in on their crown jewels in January. (Image: Action Images)

On the left side, it seems pretty clear that the long-serving Ken Sema may have played his last game, and as one of the bigger hitters in the salary stakes now be the time to allow him to move back to Sweden.

Although the club have, so far, not confirmed what Pierre Dwomoh has shared on a live Instagram broadcast about the severity of his injury, notwithstanding his absence then surely a defensive midfielder has been on obvious gap?

Moussa Sissoko hasn’t worked out, Edo Kayembe has regressed and Tom Dele-Bashiru is only just about returning to fitness.

Who would have thought, back in August, that Imran Louza would be the mainstay of the midfield?!

Then there is the No.9 position, something that has been the subject of so much debate and which officially became a problem this week, although it probably didn’t need Daniel Jebbison’s return to Bournemouth for many to realise that.

Six players sounds a lot, but if Sema and at least one other depart, then that is only a net increase of four into a squad the sparsity of which was shown at Craven Cottage on Thursday night.

After all, there are many clubs below Watford in the Championship table who would likely be happy to think that adding four bodies to the squad this month could make them play-off contenders.

There’s one club up the M1 that would be delighted to make a few signings just to avoid a second successive relegation battle.

They don’t need to be big-money signings, nor are they likely to be. They could be loans.

But what is needed, ideally in those six positions, are battle-hardened, streetwise, confirmed performers in the English game that are match-fit and can step straight in.

Not teenagers from abroad, not Europeans from the reserves of a famous club, not unfit stars from the past – and not a scoop from the Mogi pick ‘n’ mix.

Get it right now, support a young progressive head coach who has the club at heart and who knows, there might be a chance of the season extending beyond May 3.

Even if it doesn’t, it will be a sign of some joined-up thinking, the foundations for next season and the end to a constant hamster wheel of changing coaches who were given what the club thought they needed rather than what actually required.

As one fan perfectly summed it up in a comment on this website: “Cleverley has performed miracles with the material available – he’s being asked to paint the Mona Lisa with B&B own-brand emulsion.”

There are still 20 days to make the rest of this season, and beyond, a much prettier picture.