Watford figure reveals likely key reason behind Rob Edwards’ departure amid Middlesbrough links | OneFootball

Watford shot-stopper Daniel Bachmann has admitted his side lacked the intensity and work rate needed to make Rob Edwards’ time at Vicarage Road a success, speaking candidly to the Watford Observer.

The Hornets had endured a reasonably underwhelming start to the campaign going into the first international break, winning just 14 points from their opening 10 league games and sitting in 10th spot.

Considering they managed to retain the likes of Joao Pedro and Ismailia Sarr, this was a real disappointment for the Hertfordshire outfit and it was Edwards who paid the price as he was dismissed last month.

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Did Watford win, lose or draw the last time they played at Goodison Park?

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Some had expected Edwards to make a slow start to life at the club considering he was an inexperienced boss and hadn’t managed in the Championship before his arrival at Vicarage Road.

However, first-teamer Bachmann believes he and his teammates should be taking a considerable amount of responsibility for their underwhelming start, even though they responded excellently with a 4-0 victory over Stoke City as they made the perfect start to life under Slaven Bilic.

He said: “It has to be different in terms of the work rate and the intensity, as that wasn’t there and it all fell on Rob’s head, and he has had to leave.

“We have got a lot of quality in this squad. But that doesn’t matter or count if we don’t run, and fight, and put in the work.”

The Austrian’s former boss may not be out of work for long though, with the 39-year-old being heavily linked with the top job at Middlesbrough following Chris Wilder’s sacking yesterday morning.

They are reportedly set to interview him – and is currently the favourite to succeed Wilder despite current AFC Bournemouth caretaker boss Gary O’Neil joining him in the race.

The Verdict:

This is an admirable admission from Bachmann – but it doesn’t exactly reflect well on the first team who performed extremely poor last season and needed to redeem themselves during the early stages of this term.

In fairness, it’s perhaps hard to be up to standard when the board are constantly chopping and changing managers and this is one key reason why the club’s strategy towards hiring and firing needs to change.

It may have worked for them in the past – but it won’t benefit them in the long term and this is why they need to think carefully when choosing future managers.

The club seems desperate to get back to the top flight at the first time of asking and this is why it was a mistake to appoint Edwards, who was always going to take time to adapt to life at the club and adjust to a new division.

Under Bilic, it would be difficult to see the Hornets failing but if he does struggle, they should be looking to give him the chance to turn things around before dismissing another manager.