Dan Gosling spills all on his ‘disgraceful’ Watford teammates – and miserable bosses

Dan Gosling spills all on his ‘disgraceful’ Watford teammates – and miserable bosses in a spell he describes of being the word in his career.

The 32-year-old midfielder has slammed the ‘disgraceful’ attitudes he witnessed inside the dressing room during Watford’s Premier League relegation last season.

He also spoke on the ‘miserable’ and ‘repetitive’ management styles of Claudio Ranieri and Roy Hodgson while also finding himself out of the 25-man squad for large parts of last season, as Watford slumped to a 19th-place finish and suffered relegation alongside Burnley and Norwich.

Gosling opened up on the negative experience he endured at Vicarage Road last season in a revealing interview with the Watford Observer.

“Being left out of the 25 was a shock, I’ll be honest,” he said. “That’s as bad as it gets really. I thought it would be okay staying at the club and training, but after a couple of weeks I realised it was going to be very tough.

“I was working with the first-team squad but we had so many players that it was overcrowded. If they were doing a drill that needed 20 players, I was the first player to be told I wasn’t needed and so I’d end up training on my own.

“If someone got a knock or left the session, then I’d be called over to replace them. Otherwise, I’d spend the session on my own.

“It was tough, because you can’t help feeling unwanted. I just said to myself that I had to try and come in each day and be happy, work hard, get through it day by day. I concentrated on my all-round fitness, did a lot of gym work. I pretty much switched off from games as I knew I wasn’t going to be part of them.”

When Gosling was told he wasn’t going to be part of the 25-man squad at the end of the January transfer window, he was offered the chance to go and play elsewhere.

“The club wanted me to go on loan during that January window, but I said I didn’t agree,” he said.

“I felt I should be in and around playing at Watford, I wanted to fight for my place. I’d also just relocated my family – I have three children under 5 – a few weeks earlier and I didn’t want that upheaval. It would have been really tough on my wife, as she was pregnant with our third child at that time. I didn’t think it was fair on her, fair on my kids and I just refused as I didn’t think it was the right thing for my career or for my family.

“I felt like I was being unfairly treated so I dug my heels in. The loan options were for clubs in the north, I’d just moved my pregnant wife and kids to this area and I couldn’t consider a loan that wasn’t commutable. I wasn’t going to uproot them to a new area and then move up north for three months.

“My wife understands how football works and she knows you move around. But having literally just moved, and with a baby on the way, I just wasn’t prepared to move away for three months.

“The club said I wouldn’t be in the 25 if I stayed, and even knowing that I stuck to my guns and said I’d stay here.”

With Gosling not in the 25-man squad and Claudio Ranieri losing his job, Roy Hodgson arrived and Gosling was back in the squad – though only because another player departed.

“When Roy came in I wasn’t in the 25, but then Ashley Fletcher went out on loan and that opened up a place,” he explained.

“I found that all very strange. If the club knew they were going to loan him out, then why include him in the 25 in the first place? I think he was only in one matchday squad, then he went out on loan. But while he was still here, that took my place up.”

Gosling was subbed on for the closing stages of the opening-day win over Aston Villa at Vicarage Road, and when asked if he ever expect his season to unfold the way it did, he replied: “Virtually end that day you mean?! No, I didn’t see that coming really.

“I actually thought I was going to start the Villa game as I’d played in pre-season, scored a couple of goals and was doing at least as well as anyone else.

“Then in the week leading up to the game the club signed another midfielder and he went straight into the team. I was a bit shocked but I had to deal with it. I’m professional, I adopt a professional attitude and I got on with it.

“I prepared as well as usual, warmed up well, came on for the last 20 minutes and we won the game. I was due to start the next game at Brighton as Kucka had got injured, but I got Covid and that sidelined me for four games.

“But then after I’d got better, that was pretty much me done for a few months, other than sitting on the bench.

“We just kept bringing players in. They signed Peter Etebo on loan from Stoke, he’s back at Stoke now. I know he got an injury but he didn’t really play much,” said Gosling.

“They signed Tufan from a Turkish club. He was here on loan: is he going to really care if the club goes down? He knew that whatever happened, he could go back to wherever he came from. He’d never played English football at all, never played here, never played in the Premier League. He wasn’t bothered and he wasn’t that fit either.

“They signed Kucka. He’d played at the top level in Italy but had never played in England, didn’t know any of the players but goes straight into the team. Now he’s off playing in Slovakia.

“So there were three players in the same position as me, and they’ve all gone now and none of them are playing anywhere as good as Watford. Tufan has joined Hull. With all due respect to Hull, they aren’t as big as Watford.

“I just felt bringing in three players ahead of me was the wrong decision. The club and my agent were telling me I was seen as a big part of things, they didn’t want to sell me. It was all so strange.

“Did the club work out they hadn’t recruited as strongly as they as they thought, and we might be in relegation trouble? Did they want me around to help get them back if they were relegated?

“I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but those were the vibes I was getting.”

Gosling played in the victory over Aston Villa on the 14th of August, but didn’t make another appearance until September the 21st.

“I got picked to play against Stoke in the Carabao Cup, and I was told to go out there and show us what you can do,” he said. “We lost the game but I played 80 minutes and gave it my all. Then I was back out of the picture again.”

Gosling confronted the issue by speaking with head coach Xisco Munoz.

“I spoke to the manager two or three times,” he said. “I remember I wasn’t even on the bench for the game at Norwich, and Xisco just said that we had a lot of players in the same position and I needed to bide my time.

“That was fair enough, I got my head down and worked – and then he got the sack a couple of weeks later.”

On Ranieri: “That time with Ranieri was just really unenjoyable. The training we did, the spirit they created, the staff that came with him – the whole thing was just miserable. They were miserable, and it made it miserable.

“I was surprised they lasted four months to be honest. I have been in football a long time, and so have a few boys in the squad, and that time was as bad as it can get.”

Gosling weren’t a fan of the five-a-side football in training.

“Yes, and I absolutely hate that!” said Gosling. “If you’re going out on the training pitch and just doing five-a-side games day after day, it is literally nothing football. It’s kid’s football. As a pro, you don’t learn anything from it.

“There’s a time and place for five-a-sides obviously, but it’s usually a few fun games at the end of a session. Doing whole sessions of five-a-side every doesn’t win you games. Look at the results on the pitch.”

Unfortunately for Gosling – and Watford fans – the departure of Ranieri and arrival of Roy Hodgson saw very little change, on or off the pitch.

“To be fair to Roy, what he did in training was very repetitive, but at least it was game-like situations. You do need to freshen it up a bit though. This is 2022,” said Gosling.

“I’d be watching games and I just wanted to shout and communicate, and nobody was doing that. The way the team was set up wasn’t the best. The preparation going into games wasn’t the best either.

“Roy and Ray gave it a good go at the start, but after a while they seemed to give up as well. When you see that, and you see and hear arguments – well, what chance have you got?”

More on Hodgson: “We had players walking into training saying they’d had enough now. The team was down and we had players that knew they’d be leaving. Players were saying ‘well I’ve played 20 games, the team is down, I’m done here and someone else can have a go’.

“I thought that attitude was a disgrace. There were a lot of disgraceful attitudes here last season and that’s ultimately the reason we went down. It wasn’t a question of ability. Maybe some players didn’t always hit the levels they are capable of, but it was the attitude of individuals that did for us.

“It was a real disgrace, easily the worst dressing room I’ve ever been a part of. So now that we’re clearing the decks and trying to build something new is refreshing.”

Having not played since a 25-minute appearance as a substitute at Leicester in the FA Cup defeat in January, Gosling found himself playing in the final three games of the season, and the reshuffled team ended a run of six straight defeats by drawing 0-0 with Everton at Vicarage Road.

“The difference was, in those last three games of the season, you had players on the pitch that actually cared. Look at someone like Kalu: signed in January, didn’t kick a ball really until those last three games. He was training hard, doing the right things – but if you’re never getting picked to play then you can’t show it.

“In those last three games you had people on the pitch that cared about Watford and wanted to play with a bit of pride. Before that you had people who didn’t really want to go out there and run around.”

Then came the final home match of the season, a 5-1 whipping at the hands of Leicester.

“That Leicester game was strange because we started really well,” said Gosling. “We got a goal, and could have gone 2-0 up when we hit the bar. Then we made four or five individual errors that led to the goals. It wasn’t like they were ripping through us, they punished our errors.

“There was nobody on that pitch that day who wasn’t up for it, and you couldn’t always say that previously. We made mistakes and we got punished, but each one of those players cared.”

On life under new boss Rob Edwards: “The fresh start is so good. We’ve signed a couple of hungry players, and I know the hope is that we get a few more through the door. We do need more new faces. But it’s just so refreshing.

“Rob and Richie have come in with new ideas, fresh ways of doing things and we are working in a way that fits in with 2022. Football has moved on – last season at times it felt like we hadn’t.”

What has Rob done differently since coming in?

“Well for starters he’s out in the middle of the pitch coaching,” said Gosling. “One thing I’ve noticed is that he likes to do extras with individuals at the end of training. That was something I had got used to before last season. Rob has brought that straight back.

“It’s great because clearly Rob wants to make every individual at this club better. Whether you’re 18 or a 30-something, he wants to work on a part of your game that he thinks he can improve so that his team do well.

“Last season, as soon as training was done, everyone was off. People were fed up with what we were doing.

“We had so many players here last season that we ended up in a queue to train. You’d have three sets of defenders waiting behind the goal to come on every ten minutes. You’d be doing a warm-up and then you’d have to stand still for ten minutes because it wasn’t your turn. In the middle of winter you’d be freezing and thinking ‘I really don’t want to be doing this’.

“We were training at walking pace. That’s no good for anyone.”

“Under the new gaffer, training is 100 per cent. We are at it. That is how it needs to be. Last year we were training at walking pace, our preparation was sloppy, and we were going into games like that. Of course you’re going to have players going out on the pitch with no energy.

“Now the work is proper hard but that’s how it has to be. You know when you go out for a game that everyone is up for it, and knows what they’re doing.

“We’re trying to be a pressing team this season, last year we just sat off every single team. That isn’t a good look, it brings criticism from the fans. It looks like a lazy attitude. You can sit off teams and not be lazy, but the way we were doing it was just not right. The fans had every right to be calling us out.

“Now we have a lot of energy, we have players who have the right mindset. We want to press high, we want to squeeze the pitch and trap the opponents in. Hopefully the fans will recognise the hard work we’re doing. Players who graft, players who are committed, players who give everything, that’s what fans want. That’s what gets them up out of their seats.”

“The new gaffer has come in, spelled out exactly what he wants and how we’ll be doing it, and there has been no diversion from that,” said Gosling. “Under previous managers we’d work on something for a fortnight, then the next week we’d be doing something completely different.

“As a player you’re thinking ‘okay, we’ve worked on doing this for a couple of weeks, and now we’ve got to disregard that and do something else?’ “The message from Rob has clear and consistent. We know what we’re doing and that we’ll be sticking to it. The players have to adapt to that.

“It will take time. We are progressing though, and Saturday against Wycombe was much better than the Tuesday before against Bolton. We are getting fitter, we are learning what the gaffer wants, we are pressing far harder, and players are adapting to new roles.

“It might be uncomfortable for a few lads at the moment but that’s often how it is when you are changing the way a team plays. Once we get it right, all of us will see the benefits. It just will take a bit of time.”

You can see more of the interview by clicking HERE.

Twitter users had their say as Dan Gosling spills all on his ‘disgraceful’ Watford teammates – and miserable bosses…

@jaxk95131884: Give him the armband

@watfordspeak: Big Danny G! This is not the player I was expecting👀

@UxbridgeGeorge: Incredible story really, you would think you were talking about Sunday League not Premier League. #watfordfc

@cdsmithphoto: Relegation proving to be a blessing in disguise. It’s clear small improvements are being made around the club. Now just to recruit properly by end of August. However, if Rob isn’t given time and recruitment issues not addressed this season, it’ll be Pozzo out from me. #watfordfc

@Rekcurt1: Good piece. Not gonna lie you could see a disinterested disillusioned collection of players last year. Relegation was self inflicted. All fans want to see is a committed hardworking team that care. If we have that then we will be there or there abouts.

@WatfordTalk: Great interview and confirms everything we suspected about the shambolic nature of last season. So important that we stop recruiting players that couldn’t care less, and stop the merry-go-round that helps a toxic atmosphere to form

@ajobbowfc: Really good piece, very interesting perspective. Some of the things mentioned are exactly what we were all predicting, about attitude etc. With Gosling, it’s clear he is a good lad and works hard for the team, definitely deserves some minutes next season. #WatfordFC

@AndrewCarberry: Fair play Dan Gosling

@Muffinmanmint1: Reading this makes me Question Giaretta so much more, I think he’s poison. Also reading this makes me want to see Gosling kick on this season and show everyone what he can do. Very open and honest interview 👏

@OllieEds: Captain Gosling…#watfordfc

@inayellowshirt: Wow… quite a surprise for this to come out from a current player with club clearance. Hopefully serve as showing we have kicked that season into the trash and a fresh start is here

@H_Salvidge14: Superb piece about the disaster which was last season, feels like on the management side we’ve turned the corner, let’s hope Rob Edwards gets some time!!! #WatfordFC

@RookeryEmma: A great (if not painful) read! As fans you can sort of gauge what’s happening, but confirmation from a player is what makes it so painful. So many stupid mistakes, too many. Sounds a promising and refreshing start with RE. We need to move on from the embarrassment of last season

@callumbedwell01: Working the early hours then going to watford felt like a chore last season and we was paying for it! Hate to imagine what the players felt training for a couple hours and getting paid thousands of £ for it. Fair fucks to gosling for being honest and giving his all each time

This is such a bloody good piece that it’s convinced me that Gosling should be captain this season. #WatfordFC
Great work by @androofrench once again, smashing it this season. 💛👊 https://t.co/EMauzL4FLe

— Hornet Shane (@HornetShane) July 22, 2022