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 were 1–0 up at Vicarage Road in the Championship game, but after a 10-minute collapse, their visitors scored three goals and won the game 3–1.
Watford are in the middle of the Championship with vague play-off ambitions, but the task was made more difficult by defeat.
Their manager spoke over 20 minutes into the game, giving a candid assessment of the outcome and how it came about in a six-minute diatribe.
He didn’t mince words and berated his team for allowing Cardiff back into the game despite their good start to the game.
Watford manager Chris Wilder launched an astonishing attack on his players on Wednesday
The Hornets boss said no one could successfully coach his players as he labeled them ‘individuals’.
Cardiff came from 1-0 down to score three quick goals to beat Watford 3-1 at Vicarage Road
Wilder started calmly and praised Watford early on for their performance.
“When we went 1-0 up you might have seen I got a message to Hamza (Choudhury) saying, ‘Nobody’s changing the script, just do what we’re doing, keep doing it, keep moving the ball, keep opening ’em and find the spaces”.
“It could have been a good night for us. The atmosphere beforehand was great. I think people enjoyed the start we made. And then suddenly things went differently than planned.’
Both the press conference and his team’s performance, it seemed.
Wilder then resigned himself to his team, criticizing their failure to stay solid in the match before things got even worse.
“We let the opponent get back into the game, they sniffed that we were mentally and physically weak and scored three,” he said.
“Suddenly everyone wants to film it and do their own thing. People play out of position, hit cross-field balls… you quickly lose your rhythm.
Basically, you say to the opponent, “Please, there’s a chance to get back in the game”. And they took it. We conceded a stupid free kick and we can’t defend set pieces.’
Wilder admitted that Watford had started the match on a positive note before falling apart
Wilder’s position as manager has been under threat in recent weeks as the club issued a statement that he would remain in charge until the end of the season amid rumors he would be replaced by Francesco Farioli.
The Hornets are known for changing managers regularly and Wilder is seemingly the latest of dozens of names to come and go at will.
“Players don’t have the courage to dig each other out, they don’t have the courage to say, ‘Get off my toes and go play in your position,’ and that’s basically because they’re individuals,” Wilder continued. .
“It is quite difficult to analyze twenty players. Some just aren’t bothered and quietly say “I don’t care, there will be no consequences for me as a player”.
Wilder said some of his team “may just not be interested” in what he has to say as manager
He claimed that some of his players “might not know” who he is or what he stands for
“Some may care, they may take over. Some may not even know who I am. But I know who I am. I know what principles I have and I know what I have achieved by being a team player and a team man.
“I will continue to be that team man. I will sacrifice everything to be involved with the team.
“I don’t think anyone can get a tune out of this firm if they go individually.”
When asked if the team was unmanageable, Wilder again gave a fair assessment.
He said, “I think it’s a struggle. I think there have been six recently. It’s a battle and it’s been hard for the supporters.
“Two relegations, a mid-table finish and the Covid season, where it was good. I don’t think it’s unmanageable, but there are certain things that really need to change, I think.
“There has been the model and success has been achieved with it. The owners can try to recreate that.
The 55-year-old appeared to accept that he will not be in charge of the club next season
“Personally, I think the supporters want something deeper than maybe what happened.”
The 55-year-old appeared to admit he will also be leaving the club at the end of the year, refusing to talk about his future after his tirade.
“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 what concerns me, I don’t think it’s right at this particular time to talk about my future.”