Noel-Williams: “I’m A Winner And Always Have Been”

Gifton Noel-Williams is a name that will need no introduction to Watford fans after the impact he had at the club as a player.

Now, he’ll be looking to make a mark in a different capacity, taking on the Interim Head Coach role with the Golden Girls, with his first game in the dugout this Sunday (January 16).

Having been in the position for a few weeks now, the 41-year-old is already well on top of things and has settled in well.

“It’s been an interesting few weeks, but it’s been wonderful that Amber [Wildgust – General Manager], Rich [Walker – Head of Communications & Media Relations] and Simon [Wheeler – Secretary], everyone who’s above me, has been really open and welcoming,” Noel-Williams told watfordfc.com.

“I know I’ve got the job on a temporary basis. The girls know that, but the players and I, we seem to have a little bit of a bond and we’re getting on well.

“The way I want them to play, train and represent ourselves, they seem to want the same things. It’s started well, and I’ve settled in quite well.”

One advantage for Noel-Williams is that he already had some knowledge of the squad before stepping into the role, having been involved since November. Now, he’ll have the opportunity to implement his thoughts.

“The squad is very good,” he said. “I was quite fortunate I must admit that I was in before Christmas volunteering some of my time and helping out the old Head Coach. For that reason, I got to know some of the girls anyway, and got to know their characters and how they play.

“I didn’t think I was doing it, but subconsciously there were things in my mind thinking ‘well this player could play like that, and that player could play like that’ because although I didn’t realise it, as soon as I got the opportunity I had a plan straight away, so I must have been thinking about it somewhere in my mind.

“We’ve got a problem at the moment with our centre-backs, two out with ACL injuries, one coming back from an ACL, and we’ve got one with an ankle injury, so we’ve got four in total out.

“We need to get some defenders in, that’s number one. I would like to get another attacking player in, I think we’ve got some good attacking options already, but just another one for a bit more competition.

“Later in the season we might need that, legs might get tired, so it’s good to have an extra body in. So, I think we need a few in defence and maybe one attacking player.”

The business has already started in the transfer window, and to no surprise with the above in mind, a centre-back has been brought in.

Morgan Rogers has arrived on a dual-sign agreement from Tottenham Hotspur, with the Interim Head Coach having plenty of praise for the new squad member.

“Morgan’s a very good player,” explained Noel-Williams. “I’ve heard very good things of her coming from the Wales camp, both in-house from Helen and from other players as well who have given her really high praise, so she’s got a big future ahead of her.

“For us, it was a good opportunity to get someone in who’s young, hungry and wants to prove herself. She’s not proven at this level, so she’s going to have to come into this level and she may have some ups or downs, or some bumps and bruises along the way.

“She’s got quality and a certain attitude where she doesn’t want to lose, those kind of players really excite me. I think she’ll come in and she’ll settle quite well and will be an exciting addition to the squad.”

After the frustration of having a game postponed last weekend, Noel-Williams will take charge of the team for the first time this Sunday, with a trip to Liverpool on the agenda.

“I can’t wait,” he revealed. “I’ve been in the job for two to three weeks now. The first week there was no game, which was nice, I could work with the players. Last week there was meant to be a game, we went through the prep and everything – I was upset because I wanted to play.

“On the other hand, it gives some of the players who have been injured, or had COVID issues, other things like that, time to come back into the fold.

“Sunday’s a big game against the league leaders and it’ll be exciting. I would have rather played a game first so I would have a good idea of the players and how they’re going to respond in certain situations.

“I’ve got faith in these players, and I think even if we don’t go to Liverpool and pull off a great win, we’re going to go and put in a performance where it hopefully lets the people know that ‘we’re Watford, and this is how we want to play for the rest of the season’.”

When asked what he wanted to see during his time in interim charge, the former Watford striker had some clear ideas in mind.

“Wins!” he exclaimed. “I’m a winner and always have been. I want to win games and I want to do so in a certain way.

“We’ve got some really exciting players in the squad, and I think it’s a shame to have so many exciting players and not play exciting football. I’m hoping we’ll do that and win some games.

“If I’m here for four, five, six, however many games it is, I’d want the ratio of points of per game to be good, I’d want to leave the players and squad in a better place than how I found them.

“The main thing for me has been to put a smile on the players’ faces again. It may seem silly, everyone wants to talk about tactics and your philosophy, all those things. The only thing I was really interested in for the first week or so was just putting a smile back on the players’ faces and trying to remind them of ‘why did you play football?’ in the first place.

“I know why I played football, I know why I’m still in football and I know why I love the game so much, but I wanted them to remember why they loved it so much. I think we managed to do that between the coaching staff, the backroom staff, the General Manager who has been excellent, between us all I think we’ve managed to do it.

“For me if I can do that and they can finish the season with smiles on their faces and safe – we have to be safe - if that happens, then I can say ‘well my time here has been good.’”