He may look mild-mannered and his personality is certainly one of an amiable individual, but Tom Cleverley is not averse to giving his players a double earful when required.
And, at half-time in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Plymouth, he delivered what he described as a “rocket”.
The boos from the stands might have prepared the Watford players for their manager’s feedback, and even Cleverley admitted what he said on Saturday was one of his most aggressive half-time assessments.
“There’s only been two or three of those this season,” he said.
“I feel like the players are mentally strong enough to be able to take that or else I wouldn’t do it.
“And it comes because I know they are better than that first half.
“We prepare better than that first-half performance.
“I think they have done fantastically well to reconnect with the supporters of the last 12 months.
“People have enjoyed coming back to The Vic in the last year, but that first-half performance was something I wouldn’t have enjoyed watching.
“I want us to be much more entertaining than that.
“I don’t have any regrets about doing it, and I don’t feel bad doing it.
“It’s something that probably wasn’t in my character when I was a player but I’ve developed it – it’s a stressful job!”
Of course, having played for Sir Alex Ferguson, Cleverley would have seen first-hand the effect that half-time ‘hairdryer’ treatment can have.
In fact, he even received a personal delivery of it.
“Once, and if you’re a smart guy then you want to never experience it again,” Cleverley admitted.
“It was a game at Stamford Bridge. A short but respectful remark back to the boss was not advisable.
“We actually lost the game, it was an FA Cup replay at Chelsea.”
The Watford boss explained what made him especially unhappy during Saturday’s first half.
“Unforced errors was the main thing, and that is why I demand standards in every single drill we do during the week,” he said.
“No drill in football is insignificant and we always train with purpose.
“We train to not make those unforced errors, and sometimes if the players don’t value it in the week then you can’t just switch a light on at the weekend.
“So I was disappointed with those unforced errors.
“The lack of intensity and the lack of goal attempts as well, those three things were where we fell short in the first half, and we regret that.
“We had some nice moments where we broke through the first line of pressure and then got sloppy in our quality.
“We have players that you expect better from, and are better than they showed.
“I was pleased with the response from half-time onwards and they showed a bit of character.
“It was quite a strong half-time team-talk.”
