Watford manager Chris Wilder launched an astonishing attack on his own players and club after the Hornets lost to Cardiff on Wednesday night.
Wilder’s side led 1-0 at Vicarage Road in the Championship game, but a 10-minute collapse saw their visitors score three goals and win the game 3-1.
Watford are mid-table in the Championship with faint play-off ambitions, but the task was made harder with the defeat.
Their manager spoke for over 20 minutes after the game, and gave a frank assessment of the outcome and how it came about in a six-minute rant.
He didn’t mince his words, and slammed his team for allowing Cardiff back into the game despite their good start to the match.
Watford manager Chris Wilder launched an astonishing attack on his players on Wednesday
The Hornets boss said that no one would be able to coach his players successfully as he branded them ‘individuals’
Cardiff came from 1-0 down to score three quick goals and beat Watford 3-1 at Vicarage Road
Wilder started calmly, praising Watford for their performance early on.
‘When we went 1-0 up, you might have seen I got a message on to Hamza (Choudhury) and said: “Nobody changes the script, just do what we’re doing, keep doing it, keep moving the ball, keep opening them up and finding the spaces”.
‘It could have been a good night for us. The atmosphere before was great. I think people enjoyed the start we made. And then all of a sudden, it just went off plan.’
The press conference as well as his team’s performance, it seemed.
Wilder then laid into his team, slamming their failure to stay solid in the match before things got even worse.
‘We allowed the opposition to get back into the game, they sniffed we were weak mentally and physically, and scored three,’ he said.
‘All of a sudden everybody wants to flick it and do their own thing. People are playing out of position, hitting cross-field balls… you lose your rhythm quickly.
‘Basically, you say to the opposition: “There you go, there’s an opportunity to get back into the game”. And they took it. We gave a daft free kick away and we can’t defend set pieces.’
Wilder admitted that Watford had started the game in positive fashion before falling apart
Wilder’s position as manager has been under threat in recent weeks with the club issuing a statement that he will remain in charge until the end of the season amid rumours he was set to be replaced by Francesco Farioli.
The Hornets are known for swapping managers regularly and Wilder is seemingly the latest of dozens of names that come and go at will.
‘Players haven’t got the courage to dig each other out, they’ve not got the courage to say: “Get off my toes and go and play in your position”, and that’s basically because they’re individuals,’ Wilder continued.
‘It’s quite difficult to analyse 20-odd players. Some might just be not bothered and underneath their breath saying: “I’m not bothered, there’s no consequence for me as a player”.
Wilder said that some of his team ‘might just not be bothered’ with what he has to say as manager
He claimed that some of his players ‘might not know’ who he even is or what he stands for
‘Some might care, they might take it on board. Some might not even know who I am. But I know who I am. I know what principles I’ve got and I know what I’ve achieved through being a team player and a team man.
‘I’ll keep being that team man. I’ll sacrifice everything to be involved in the team.
‘I don’t think anybody will be able to get a tune out of this firm if they go individual.’
When asked if the team was unmanageable, Wilder gave another honest assessment.
He said: ‘I think it’s a struggle. I think six have had a go now recently. It’s a struggle and it’s been difficult for the supporters.
‘Two relegations, a mid-table finish and the Covid season, where it was good. I don’t think it is unmanageable, but there are certain things that really have to change, in my opinion.
‘There has been the model and there has been success with it. The owners might try and recreate that.
The 55-year-old seemed to accept that he will not be in charge of the club next season
‘I personally think the supporters want something a little bit deeper than maybe what’s happened.’
The 55-year-old seemed to concede he will be leaving the club at the end of the year too, refusing to speak about his future after his rant.
‘I’m not going to talk about myself. It’s not about me or what I’m going to do next year.
‘I’m not going to get caught up in any of that regarding me, I don’t think it’s right at this particular moment to talk about my future.’
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