Tom Cleverley answers questions sent in by members of the Southern Counties Hornets supporter group, in a Q&A first published in Watford FC matchday programme The Hornet earlier this season...
What is your favourite goal you have scored for Watford? (Matt & Rudy Johnson)
“That’s a good question. I’d say probably the one at Palace away. It was a tough, tough period for me, probably the toughest period of my career with my Achilles giving me a load of problems for about a year to 14 months. Then when I was back fit I had been out of favour, so more than anything I was just happy that my hard work had paid off and that I could have some input to the team and repay some of the faith that people had shown in me. It meant a lot to me, that goal. It was a nice finish and a winner away from home against a big rival of ours, so for many reasons it’s my favourite goal.”
What are the most significant changes you’ve seen at Watford from your first spell at The Vic in 2009 (as Player of the Season) to returning in 2017? (Phil Dell)
“With no disrespect to the lads who I was here with the first time, the quality of player has massively gone up, right from when I first stepped foot back into the building and you had people like Capoue and Kaboul here. Off the pitch, the ambition of the club has been transformed. We’re constantly improving the training ground and improving the stadium, whereas when I was here the first time there were only three stands. It’s a club going in the right direction, both on and off the field.”
What did you say to Lloyd Doyley when he scored THAT goal and looked genuinely shocked to do so? (Jason Rose)
“I was going on like I was some veteran goalscorer, which I wasn’t, but I wanted Lloyd to enjoy it with the fans, so I basically just pointed to say ‘go and enjoy it, these are your people, you’re their player’. I just wanted him to savour it.”
What do you like doing when you are not playing football? (Olivia Fry)
“I’m a massive golf fan, so from Thursday until Sunday I’ll be watching golf every evening from the US. When we get a day off I’ll try to play once a month at least, maybe twice a month in the summer. I quite often spend a fair bit of my time in the summer playing golf in Portugal. I play with friends outside of football as well as some who are players. I play with Will Hughes and Dan Bachmann sometimes, and I’ve been on the course a few times with guys like Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand.”
What is your signature dish when cooking? (Mark Fry)
“I’m not great at cooking, to be honest. I’d probably say it’d be some sort of pasta in a sauce, but honestly cooking is not my forte at all. I cook for the kids but it’s things like fish fingers and chips, so I’m not very good in the kitchen.”
If you weren't a footballer, what professional career would you have chosen? (Matt Forrester)
“My daughter asked me this the other day. If I wasn’t a footballer I’d still like to be involved in sport somehow, maybe as something like a scout. I’ve got a lot of knowledge in the game – even before I gained a lot of experience, I was always watching football games – so maybe a scout or a coach for younger players. If it wasn’t sports related, I’d be a bit lost.”
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? MOTD as a pundit, the dugout as a manager or something away from football? (Tristan Savage)
“My ambition is to be a coach. If not a manager, I’d want to be at a top club as part of the coaching staff. I know you don’t walk into those jobs, you have to do a lot of hard work, so I’m going to do my B licence in the summer and the A licence the year after. By then I’ll be into my early-to-mid-30s and thinking seriously about what happens next. In the dugout as a coach would definitely be my number one ambition. In my mid-to-late 20s I had my doubts about whether I’d have the personality for it, as I think when you’re at bigger clubs you get drowned out a bit and you wonder whether you’ll be able to hold a dressing room together, but since coming here I’ve become one of the leaders and gained a lot of experience, and I think I’ve definitely got the personality and the work-rate to do it. Hopefully I’ve got plenty more years of playing left in me, but coaching’s my ambition further down the line.”
Who gets recognised in public more, you or your wife? (Hilda Hasley)
“I think I’m going to have to say me! My wife did used to get recognised sometimes when we lived in Essex, though.”
If you could meet any person dead or alive for a chat, who would it be and why? (Sophie Nottley Williams)
“I like Eddie Hearn, so I think I’d say him. I think he’s got great ideas, I watch all of his interviews and listen to his podcasts, and everything that comes out of his mouth makes perfect sense. I love listening to him from a sports point of view as well as a business point of view. His book will be a good read.”
If you could choose one tune to crank up in the dressing room pre-match to motivate the team, what would it be? (Mark Sheehan)
“Supersonic by Oasis, although it’d probably only go down well with about 30 per cent of the dressing room!”
Who has the best singing voice in the locker room? (Si, Kelly, Jess & Holly Parris)
“William Troost-Ekong did his initiation and his voice wasn’t great, but he had a lot of confidence so I think I’ll say him!”
If you had to go into lockdown with two Watford players you have played with (current or former), who would you choose and why? (James Marshall)
“Hughesy and Mapps. There are quite a few lads that I get on really well with, but I’d probably pick those two as we have loads in common. We’d end up watching a lot of golf and drinking coffee. We used to have a little coffee club, us three in the morning. Cathcart was in the coffee club but he never came, so that’s why he’s not invited to the house.”
Who is the Watford midfield partner you’ve enjoyed playing alongside the most, and why? And the same question, but for a non-Watford team? (Paul Lee)
“Me and Doucouré had a really good relationship in the 2017/18 season. He really flourished that season; I think he scored getting on for 10 goals. Away from Watford, I’d say it’s a close one between Fabian Delph and Michael Carrick. Delph is a massively under-rated player – he went on to win two Premier Leagues at Man City, but maybe doesn’t get the recognition for how good he is. As for Carrick, I played a lot of games with him during some of the most successful years of my career, so he’d be up there too.”
In all your time at the 'Orns, who would you rate as the most gifted teammate footballing wise? (Martin Grimsdale)
“I think that’ll be either Capoue or Hughes. They’re both incredibly technically gifted players, they’re clever, and they’re both gifted in the brain as well as in the feet.”
Marbella or Manchester? (Richard Massara)
“Manchester, for sure! I went when I was younger to Marbella so maybe 10 years ago I’d have said Marbella, but not now. Bradford is my actual home, but I go back to Manchester three or four times a year.”
Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck? (Jason Rose)
“Can I just say, this is the most Craig Cathcart question that I have ever heard! It’s not come from him, has it? I think I’d go for the 100 duck-sized horses. I’m more of a stamina man than a power man, so I think I’d get through the small ones.”
