Chris Wilder gave Hearts fans a glimpse of the no-nonsense character they could have at the helm next season with an astonishing post-match rant - which included a pop at former Hibs stopper Ryan Porteous.
The Watford boss knows his time at Vicarage Road is set to be brief with his whistle stop tour around the English Championship nearing the end game. The Hornets are lacking a sting and set to miss out on the Championship play-offs. Wilder specialises in speaking his mind and the assembled media were given a late night treat as he unloaded after their 3-1 defeat to Cardiff City.
The 55-year-old is the betting favourite to take the reins in Gorgie and was linked with Aberdeen – he was also in attendance to watch Celtic defeat Rangers in the Viaplay Cup Final in February. And a permanent migration north appears a bonafide option after he scorched his Watford stars for playing like individuals as he opened the door to his next move.
And the emotive former Sheffield United gaffer didn't miss a beat with a controlled rant which didn't miss anyone as reporters went into extra time capturing his every word.
Chris Wilder's searing Watford slapdown in full
"There it is, in a nutshell. Team. I want to see a team. Supporters want to see a team. Geezer sat behind me, he wants to see a team. Everybody wants to see a team.
“I’ve just been talking to Dean Whitehead, one of their coaching staff. A lad I know really well, Oxford boy. He said at 1-0 up, they’re thinking how many. When we went 1-0 up, you might have seen I got a message on to Hamza 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 know sometimes night games you don’t get always get the attendance, but the atmosphere at the start was good and relaxed, I think people enjoyed the start we made. And then all of a sudden, it just went off plan.
“Wherever I’ve been, where I am, wherever I go next, I try to build a team. I’ve never stopped individuals doing creative aspects for the team at the top of the pitch. Our goal summed that up. Fabulous ball from Imran, great knock-down by Davis, tap in for Sarr. Great team goal.
“Then all of a sudden everybody wants to flick it and do their own thing. People are playing out of position, hitting cross-field balls, and 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.
“Where we had the game after 15 minutes was absolutely perfect and everybody in the ground saw that. And, by the way, the opposition saw it too. But we just went ‘bop, over to you boys, you go and score three goals’.
“It’s regardless of shape or this and that – it’s about people doing their individual jobs and doing it for the team. The team is the star. The team is what people want to come and see. It happened against Wigan, it happened against Huddersfield, it happened against Coventry."
On errors
“We were absolutely cruising at 2-0 at Coventry and the punters start going ‘ole ole’ and I’m thinking ‘no please, no oles, I want us to get 3-0 up’. I want Ryan Porteous to head one straight back, I don’t want him to head it down. I don’t want one of my midfield players to go and play on the right wing, I don’t want my centre forward to go and get it off the centre halves. I want us to play as a team.
“Everybody at this football club, internally in terms of the staff, but most importantly the supporters, want to see a team. Manchester City have great players, but they play as a team. Grealish plays wide left, Silva plays wide right, Haaland scores thousands of goals. He gets the ball on his left peg last week, chips it to the back post and Silva scores. That’s a team goal.
“We know where we wanted the game and we know where they wanted the game. They wanted a bitty game, they want to break the game up. And they had the right to break the game up because they were 3-1 up. They don’t want a fast-flowing game, and yet even in the second half we’ve had three or four chances.
“They have three big centre halves and three midfield players. If I got a marker pen and drew a picture of three here and three here, it’s quite easy to say where the space is. But we tried to keep going through the middle and being individuals. 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.
“You can’t drop points against Wigan, Huddersfield, Coventry and Cardiff, and expect to be anywhere near the play-offs."
On individuals
“The best team in the division have got great individuals, they’re not stopped from doing their individual stuff, but they work as a team. The second-best team is one I know really well, they’ve got some great individuals. The demand of those players and of each other, and of the supporters, and of the club, is we’ve got to play as a team. That’s why those two will go up, and the other teams – yet again, teams – are the ones who will be playing for something come the end of the season, while the individuals are sat on the beach.
“I don’t know what they’re going to be thinking. Don’t know if they care about anything else. They’ll just jet off and that’ll be it. The club has been great with me. I’ll be totally honest, there’s no interference. There has been a couple of discussions in terms of certain things that they wanted to do or I wanted to do, and they’ve let me do it.
“I have no criticism of the club in terms of affecting me or telling me to do this, that or the other. I’ve talked openly and honestly and I will do, in summary, to the owner and the sporting director at the end of the season. They will have my view on where the club is at. I played as kid, I played for 15 years. I like team sports. I didn’t take a golf club or a tennis racquet. I like golf, but I wanted to play in a team."
On teamwork
“I played in a team right the way through until I was 32, and then I’ve coached teams until I’m 55. In those two periods I’ve also watched a lot of football. I watched a documentary about Aston Villa the other night, when they won the league and the European Cup under Ron Saunders. A team. That team beat another team in Liverpool, they beat another team in Forest. So it’s not a new thing, this being a team. Man City and Liverpool, they’re teams. We know it’s the team, not the individuals and basically where it’s all at. It’s for other people to make those decisions on the direction of the club. I think you’ll understand when I do speak, I’ll speak openly and honestly like I have done to the players. Like I did at QPR, like I did at Luton, and like I did when we’ve done well.
“I talk openly and honestly to the players, I’m transparent. I’m the same with the media, and I’m the same with the people who have got the power at the football club. Well, I’m not used to it. You go through bad periods in your career and you get criticism, but the level of it maybe represents the feelings at the moment. It’s tough and it’s not nice, but you have to own it and stand out there, try to get through it.
“Second half the game was theirs. It was bitty and niggly. I’ve got no issue with that as they’ve earned the right to do it. Well, they’ll say they’ve earned it. For me, it was totally self-inflicted, that 10 or 15 minutes. Tactically, the space was out wide but we had players playing all over the place in the second half. Forwards playing in the pitch, full-backs playing out the pitch. I felt sorry for the full-backs because they should have been playing in the pitch and the wingers should have been playing out the pitch as apparently that’s their game, taking people on and crossing it.
“When we did cross it we can’t get across the near post. It’s just basic football. And we still created three chances. They’ve had five chances and scored three goals. It’s not really been a smash and grab, it’s been a gift. Look at the decisions in that period. That 10 or 15 minutes epitomised the longer standing issues. It’s a club of individuals, isn’t it?"
On dealing with dressing room
“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’. 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. There’s too many of them in that category I think. It’s quite difficult. I’m here to the end of the season and it’s a little bit deeper than maybe the last three games. If I was here on a two-year deal I wouldn’t need much. I’ve already seen signs of the weaknesses. I know from my experience what looks good.
On Watford's failings
“I’ve always got a plan in my head but I’m here to the end of the season. 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.
“Maybe that season’s been underpinned by some really strong characters that maybe wouldn’t have allowed what has been happening out on the pitch to happen. The likes of Cleverley and Gosling. How big a part did Troy Deeney play in all that, keeping everything together? I don’t think it is unmanageable, but there are certain things that really have to change, in my opinion. Others might have different opinions and just say go again, because we’ve had success doing it the way they’re doing it. But you just get the feeling that maybe the supporters want to see a team. They want to see something built that maybe lasts for a little bit longer than a year.”
On recruitment and being on same page
“I wasn’t here in terms of recruiting so the model is the model that the club use, and have relied on. So I’m not going to get involved in all that Me being on the same page as the fans? I’m just a normal guy that sees a game of football and I know what I think the supporters want to see. I sympathise with them at the moment because they’re seeing it in bits but not enough. We can be inconsistent in 10 minutes. You’re never going to achieve anything if you’ve got complete inconsistency running through your team.”
On what comes next
“I’m not going to talk about myself. It’s not about me or what I’m going to do next year. All I know is it’s a really good club with a lot of good people. Great training ground, great facilities, fabulous ground, and a down-to-earth passionate fanbase that wants to see a team. 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.”
Trying to manage up
“The owner has let me get on with it and I’ve got a group of players, and I’ll be giving a summary to the owner. I’ve spoke to the sporting director already. I’m not the king-maker, I’m not the decision maker on the future of the football club. From my point of view there will be a summary that goes into the sporting director and owner. They might just chuck it in the bin, or they might look at it and go ‘Yeah, there’s a couple of things there we can look to do’.”
What comes next for Watford
“There has been the model and there has been success with it. The owners might try and recreate that. I personally think the supporters want something a little bit deeper than maybe what’s happened. But you can’t get away from years in the Premier League, an FA Cup Final, and a lot of the supporters would have enjoyed those times.
“The owner has been good with me and offered me the opportunity of trying. We’ve tried. I’ve kicked every ball, I’ve headed every ball, and I’m as disappointed as I’ve ever been in the game. I’m here for a short period of time, but I think you can tell from my body language out on the pitch and where I am now – I’m not used to it, I don’t like it. We can all take defeat, we all understand it. But it’s been a different experience for me in terms of the attitude of what they think is a good player. I know what I’m looking at as a player, and that’s not saying it’s 6ft 4in centre halves who just head it and boot it away. But good players play in a structure and play for the team. There is no I in team. The star of the show and the club is the team.”
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