Bench warmer is not working hard enough, according to head coach Valerien Ismael.
He’s seen managers come and go, looked set to be leaving himself little more than a year ago, but is still the club’s Sporting Director.
Cristiano Giaretta has said very little during his time at Vicarage Road, but often has lots said about him – and much of it is none too complimentary.However, it is interesting that in his Watford Observer interview, former head coach Slaven Bilic spoke highly of the Italian, and it’s known that Chris Wilder also enjoyed a good working relationship with Giaretta
Rob Edwards was less enthused about having Giaretta around, but after it had appeared he had convinced owner Gino Pozzo to move the Sporting Director on, Giaretta made a return and it was Edwards who was shown the door.
Valerien Ismael, who explained the decision to dispense with the services of Technical Director Ben Manga and his staff, was fulsome in his praise for Giaretta.
“From day one I have been very pleased to work with him. He is the link between the board and my staff, and he is our link back to the board,” he said.
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“His communication is clear and transparent, he has a lot of experience and knowledge of football, a lot of knowledge about the club.
“He brings a lot of interesting input, and we worked with him on the transfer market.
“Cristiano is a gentleman. He dealt well with the agents and the communication he brought to the club from the agents was very good.
“He is reliable. When he said something, he made it happen. I trust him and the bond with him inside the club is strong.
“We trust each other and that trust is very, very important.”
The way the club worked during the last transfer window was, the Watford Observer understands, unlike most that gone before.
Ismael was driving recruitment, Giaretta applied the head coach’s criteria to find options, and then when decisions on players were ready to be made the likes of owner Gino Pozzo were involved.
“It is completely different to what I am told was happening before, but from day one we worked very closely with Cristiano,” said Ismael.
“I could see day after day that the club understood the way we wanted to play, the way we train, the mentality we need, and that made it much easier for the club to go on the market and find the players suitable for us – with the financial aspect right for the club.
“At the end of the day the club were trying to support the manager, while also being stable and building a sustainable club.”
Ismael also said that while Manga agreed with his appointment in May, the ground work was done by Giaretta.
“When I came, the first contact I had with Watford was with the Sporting Director, Cristiano,” he explained.
“My agent spoke with him about me potentially becoming the new manager, and he was actually the first person I talked to.
“Then there was a second meeting on Zoom, and at the third meeting in person in London I met with Cristiano, Gino Pozzo and the Technical Director, Ben Manga – that was the first time I had met with him.”
