'The challenge is to keep developing and building' (From This Is Local London)

Watford manager Sean Dyche positive about future prospects

2:20pm Friday 25th May 2012 in Latest Sport

Sean Dyche believes Watford face an “ongoing challenge” to keep progressing but is positive about his team’s prospects for the future.

The Hornets defied many pundits’ pre-season predictions of relegation last season by finishing 11th in the Championship after a strong second half of the campaign raised hopes of a late play-off charge.

Watford ultimately finished 11 points off a top-six place but they ended the season with a five-match unbeaten run and, more impressively, a sequence of seven games undefeated on their travels.

Reflecting on the campaign, Dyche said: “We have laid down some good foundations this year during tough times, particularly early season.

Now the things we were believing in then are quite apparent and the players are belieiving more and more about some of the things we have asked of them.

“There is an ongoing challenge at this club. People were asking me about being disappointed about not making the play-offs, which is bizarre.

“I understand that and it is a positive thing but it is a long journey in a short space of time for a club like ours.

So to be asked that has been fantastic and has shown a real big step forward for us as a club and me as a young manager and some of the young players at the club.

“Now the ongoing challenge is to keep developing and building and looking to improve against maybe not all the odds, but some of the odds.

“There is every chance we will be bookies favourites to go down again this year and there will be every chance that people will be semi-confused as to why Watford are not signing the massive players, which happens every year and I had it again last summer.”

The Hornets boss continued: “So the challenge is always there for Watford but as we have shown this year, it is not something which is unachieveable but our guidelines make it tougher than some clubs to have achievement beyond the realms of what people consider achievement at our club.

“By that I mean this season a lot of people saw achievement as staying up – well we looked beyond that and it is quite obvious by the way the players went about their business.”

Turning to the future, Dyche said: “If we can keep building, developing, learning and keep improving then performances can improve and the longer they do that, the better chance you have of moving the team forward and when the team moves forward then the club will invariably move forward.

“I want to be open-minded about that because I am aware of the challenges we face year on year, but I am also proud of what we have done and positive about what we can do.

“We have to be flexible within that so there are no limits or boundaries and we keep moving the team and club forward and then good things can happen.”