"One of the worst" - Watford FC player slammed following 2023-24 performances | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It has been yet another season of disappointment for Watford FC fans, as the Hornets failed to mount any serious challenge for promotion, and instead spent some of the season looking over their shoulder toward the drop.

However, now that the dust has settled on this season, fans can look back and assess the campaign from top to bottom.

There were some positives to look at throughout the season, but FLW fan pundit Justin Beattie has instead spoken to us about the side's most underwhelming player this season - which was a summer recruit by Valerien Ismael.

Watford FC fan pundit critical of Jamal Lewis' performances

While it can be argued that the Watford squad overall have been very underwhelming this season, Justin feels it is left-back Jamal Lewis that should be put under the spotlight in particular.

Speaking to FLW about his thoughts on Lewis' loan spell at Vicarage Road, Justin said, "We were expecting big things from him when it was announced we had bought him in.

"We had seen what he had done at Norwich in the Championship previously, and we were excited to have a Premier League player playing for us in the Championship.

"However, he has been one of the worst loan signings Watford have ever had.

"He didn't get forward enough, he didn't cross the ball enough and didn't particularly look at all interested. I'll be glad to see him go back."

The mid-season return of Emmanuel Dennis was also singled out too as being a very underwhelming deal overall, but a little more leeway was given to the Nigerian in comparison to Lewis.

"Dennis' return wasn't all that to be honest," Justin added.

"He came with a huge fanfare and despite being painted like a returning messiah by our social media team, he didn't do too much either.

"But if I have to pick only one player, it has to be Lewis, all day long."

Jamal Lewis' disappointing season at Watford FC in numbers

Lewis joined the Hornets in hopes of reigniting what had become a stagnating career at Newcastle United. Since joining the Magpies in 2020, the Northern Ireland international has only featured 36 times across three seasons.

However, despite featuring in the majority of the Hornets' games this season, appearing 36 times in a Watford shirt over 2023-24, the claimed lack of interest by Justin is sure to do him no good when Newcastle boss Eddie Howe assesses what is next for Lewis at Newcastle this summer.

When diving into his stats for the season, it does not make for much prettier reading, as the promising player that was once seen at Norwich seems to have slipped away.

According to The Mirror, Lewis does not seem to have much time left in the North East, and will likely be moved on along with many other squad players at St James' Park in the upcoming window, but it is such a shame to see a player that was once hailed as a hot prospect fall into slight mediocrity, when such promise was once shown in the same division he has just disappointed in.

What is next for Lewis remains to be seen, but if Lewis is going to make a move to a Championship club this summer, it doesn't look likely to be to Vicarage Road.