Riza returns to Vicarage Road to face a head coach who played for him
The last time Watford hosted Cardiff at Vicarage Road, Omer Riza was in the home dug-out alongside the then head coach Valerian Ismael.
Tomorrow, Riza will be back only this time in the away dug-out after his recent appointment as manager of the Bluebirds – and the Hornets’ head coach will be someone who played for him at Vicarage Road!
Tom Cleverley made a couple of appearances for the Under-21s when Riza was lead coach, and so tomorrow is a rare occasion where one of the bosses will have played for the other one!
“Yeah, I think he’s the only one in this division!” laughed Riza, who was installed as interim manager at Cardiff when Erol Bulut departed in September, and was then given the job permanently at the start of December.
“I know Clevs mentioned it when he spoke to the press, and he is a great guy.
“He played for me a couple of times in the Under-21s when he was coming back from injury, and was what you’d expect from him: very respectful and also showed that he had intentions to get into coaching.
“He listened, he took everything on board and hence he’s got to where he is now and is doing a great job.
“He coached the Under-18s last season, and coached my son Josh, and that team did very well.
“Watford have given him a really good opportunity to step into the top job, and to raise his levels.
“The Academy job allowed him to show how good a coach he is, and now the head coach role is a great opportunity to go to another level, and he’s done that really well.”
During his time as interim Cardiff manager, Riza oversaw a run of four wins and two draws in six matches, having inherited a squad that took one point from the first seven games.
“I came in at the start of the season under Erol, and that was a next step for me after leaving Watford,” he said.
“It was another opportunity to be in and around a first-team environment, a place I had worked hard to get to.
“Then I took the job on after Erol left, and we went through a really good patch where we stabilised and we pushed the players, and they pushed themselves.
“To get the job permanently was really good, I felt it was the right time.
“Now it’s about where we go from here. We have to show real togetherness and a desire to get up the table.”
Since that run of six games without defeat in October, Cardiff haven’t won a game and have taken only three points from their last nine games.
“We’re in a tough spot at the moment but there are still 70-odd points to play for,” Riza pointed out.
“You find yourselves sometimes losing to teams that people feel you shouldn’t, and then win against teams that everyone thinks you can’t beat.
“The league is really tough, and is very awkward in respect of the opposition you play against and the Championship really is one where anything can happen.
“There is a long way to go, and the belief is there in our squad.”
Riza admits a trip to Vicarage Road, where Watford are on a long unbeaten run, is far from ideal for a team badly needing to get points.
“I think Watford are unbeaten in 17 at home, which is brilliant from Clevs and his staff,” he said.
“But it’s also tough to keep those runs going, because everyone wants to go there and be the team that wins and ends it.
“We don’t go out with any intention other than winning games, and it’ll be the same tomorrow.
“I think it’ll be a good game, and one I’m particularly looking forward to.”
Riza knows most of the current squad from his time alongside Ismael last season, but there are some he knows better than others having worked with them at Under-21 level.
The likes of Ryan Andrews and James Morris played regularly for him, and he had a hand in nurturing some of the club’s up and coming talent like Leo Ramirez-Espain and Amin Nabizada.
Riza also coached Kwadwo Baah, and is quite pleased the forward will be missing the game through suspension.
“He’s always had potential,” said the Cardiff boss.
“Sometimes he can be misunderstood with his characteristics and his body language, but if you’re a good coach you have to look past that.
“He has real quality and he’s a handful, and he’s getting his chance.
“Clevs has given a lot of players their opportunity, players who maybe weren’t getting them before, and they are proving what they can do.”
Riza’s time at Watford was characterised by the effort he put into helping younger players progress, and his hard work was rewarded when he was promoted to a first-team coaching position by Ismael.
However, as is the way in football, when Ismael was shown the door at Watford in March, Riza and fellow coach Dean Whitehead went through the exit with him.
“To have to leave when Valerien left I thought was really brutal, but it’s also football,” reflected Riza.
“You have to move forwards, knuckle down and get on with your career.
“But I was disappointed and I’ve said that before, but I also think things happen for a reason.
“I was at Watford for a long time, six seasons, and I worked with the youngsters at the club, and I helped to produce players who have gone on and are having good careers.
“I’ve seen a lot of them now they’re playing, and they are always respectful.
“I talk to a lot of the lads I coached at Watford regularly, and they send me messages as well, and that’s really nice.
“I enjoyed my time at Watford and I worked really hard to help produce players, and then stepped up to the role with the first team and I really enjoyed that too.
“The way it ended was a bit abrupt but the club had to make their decision, and I’m happy with where I’m going with my career.”
Having coached Watford Under-21s means Riza has taken charge of a team at Vicarage Road before, but that was with only a few hundred inside the ground.
“Obviously I experienced a full Vicarage Road last season when I was part of the first-team staff, but to be there as a head coach in a full stadium at Watford will be a first for me.
“Things like that don’t phase me, but I do feel I’ve earned the chance as well.
“I have worked hard over the course of my career, first as a player in England and also abroad, and then as a coach. I have done my groundwork.”
Riza cited Cleverley as a fellow example of a coach whose work further down a club structure has earned them an opportunity at the senior job.
“People might say about me ‘well he’s only ever been a youth coach’, but Clevs is a prime example of a very good young coach who has made that step up.
“He had only coached the Under-18s before he got the job. Another former Watford head coach, Chris Wilder, he came through a non-league coaching pathway to get to where he is now.
“It happens with so many coaches, and sometimes you have to go down certain routes in order to prove yourself.
“It shows what you are all about, rather than just giving up and saying I’m never going to get the opportunity.
“Believe in what you believe in, work hard, be authentic, have integrity and be honest, and learn your stuff.
“If you do that, then things will be there for you, and I feel that is what I have done in first-team and youth environments.
“I think I’m in a really good place now to kick on in my career, and I will do that.”
