Players and staff bid Sema farewell with a proper get-together
There is a picture showing the Watford players celebrating their 2019 FA Cup semi-final success in the dressing room after the game.
Tom Cleverley is the last man standing at London Colney from that group of players, with this week's departure of Ken Sema.
“Well Zigor Aranalde is in that picture I think, and he’s back now, but yeah I was surprised when I saw that. It made me think,” admitted Cleverley.
“It came up when we gave Ken a really good send-off behind closed doors this week.
“We had a get-together for him because he’s shown the club six and a half years of commitment and professionalism.
“He deserves that after 170-odd games and 13 goals, an FA Cup Final, a promotion.
“He is certainly someone who should be given a good send-off, because Ken has been a great servant for the club.
“He should be celebrated for how selfless he was, sacrificing himself for the team, and a great professional for our young players to learn from.
“He brought a lot of quality with that as well.”
How many of that squad that reached the FA Cup Final does Cleverley still have contact with?
“Obviously Mariappa is doing his coaching badges here at the club so I see him regularly,” he said.
“Hughesy is a close pal of mine, and the likes of Troy and Fozzy now and again.”
So which of that group of players would he bring back to Watford, if he had to choose just one?
“I’ll sit on the fence a bit, because he’s still playing right now, but Hughesy was and is a quality player,” he replied.
The return of Aranalde to the coaching staff meant a change of role for Paul Robinson.
“It made sense for a lot of reasons just to tweak the role of Robbo on the staff,” Cleverley explained.
“I think it works for everyone, with Zigor coming in and replacing him straight away.
“I worked with Zigor for nearly 18 months when I was a player and he’s someone who knows the club and had a great 18 months of success with Javi Gracia.
“He’s a really good guy that I have a good relationship with, and more importantly he brings a wealth of knowledge.
“He fits in with the multi-cultural dressing room and staff that we have here, and while he spent a lot of his career in Spain he also played for Walsall and Carlisle in England.
“It works that Zigor steps into that role and Robbo remains a valued member of the team.”
