Questions at the quarter

Incredibly, the Premier League season is now a quarter of the way through. After all the anticipation and excitement following Watford’s promotion, the first ten games of the Premier League season have passed in the blink of an eye, so following an excellent away win at Stoke, it feels like a sensible time to assess the start the Hornets have made.

Having said that, carrying out a dispassionate analysis is actually quite difficult. I mean, it *feels* like we’ve made a decent start; we’re clear of the relegation zone, have won or drawn more games than we’ve lost, haven’t been hammered and are looking defensively sound. But despite all that, we’re still only a few poor results from being in amongst it at the foot of the table. To genuinely judge our start I need a barometer, something to compare our progress with. A sensible yardstick. Or two. Enter AFC Bournemouth and Norwich City.

The Cherries and Canaries accompanied Watford into the Premier League at the culmination of a keenly contested Championship season and despite Norwich having to rely on the play-offs and Watford gifting Bournemouth the title on the final day, the Hornets were comfortably the least fancied of the trio. With this in mind, you could be forgiven for thinking I’d have revelled in the most recent round of results; Watford victorious at Stoke whilst Bournemouth and Norwich fell to successive defeats – the pair of them conceding a combined total of 17 goals in their last two games. Whilst you wouldn’t be entirely incorrect, I did feel a touch conflicted.

Having experienced the Premier League twice before with Watford, I know only too well the speed and ease at which newly promoted teams are dismissed by pundits, opposition supporters and all too often, opposition teams. It can be a painful and joyless experience and it’s one that I don’t generally wish upon others. As a Watford supporter it’s in my genes to support the underdog - I always like to see promoted sides do well, so seeing Bournemouth and Norwich suffer demoralising wasn’t as much fun as you might have expected. The Premier League is no place for sentiment however, and with Watford’s sole mission being to find three teams with a lower points tally come the end of the season, the more competitors finding it tough, the better. So just how do Watford measure up against their promoted counterparts and what can we learn from their experiences so far?

Bournemouth made their Premier League debut amidst a blaze of publicity. The combination of their perceived lack of wealth, a brush or two with extinction, their historic place in the league structure and the twinkle in the eyes of Eddie Howe enough to ensure that their story was one that most would be familiar with by the time the season kicked off. The first game provided a dose of unwanted reality – a home defeat to Aston Villa, their only win of the season. Since then though Bournemouth have suffered an even greater blow, losing Calum Wilson, Tyrone Mings and Max Gradel to long term injuries. Whilst none are proven at Premier League level, it’s fair to say that the trio had been identified as being vital to Bournemouth’s survival hopes and with injuries to Harry Arter and Tommy Elphick following hot on their heels, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to have some sympathy.

All clubs suffer with injuries and Watford will have to negotiate some tough times I’m sure, but it does highlight the need for strength in depth. Not just players that can come in and cover, but quality players – Premier League standard players. The jury is still out on Watford’s much publicised influx of new faces, but it could be argued that by bolstering the squad in such numbers, instead of unsettling the balance as so many predicted, the club were taking sensible steps to guard against exactly the sort of misfortune that has beset Eddie Howe’s team this season.

Norwich City sit one point and one place ahead of Bournemouth and they too have found it difficult to build up a meaningful head of steam. The Canaries were the polar opposite of Watford in their summer recruitment, seemingly relying on the existing squad and the nouse of manager Alex Neil to chart a course to safety. Apart from the drubbing at Newcastle, Norwich haven’t really been on the wrong end of a hiding, turning in decent enough performances without much reward. This is a worrying trend, playing well but not quite well enough to get a result. It’s a difficult place to be in, success seemingly so close, yet simultaneously so far. As a supporter it’s as tantalising as it is frustrating, but being almost good enough, as Watford fans will know from painful memories, simply doesn’t cut it in the Premier League.

Watford will undoubtedly face some of the challenges that Bournemouth and Norwich are encountering. There will be injuries; there will be games that don’t quite go their way. As it stands, the Hornets look better equipped to deal with these Premier League pitfalls, but with a quarter of the season gone, plenty of questions remain.