Cleverley On Robinson: "A Perfect Appointment"

Tom Cleverley described Paul Robinson’s addition to his staff as the “perfect appointment” after the club legend returned to The Vic as Assistant Coach.

Robinson will be in the dugout for the derby trip to Luton Town on Saturday (October 19, 12.30pm KO) and was on the training pitches at London Colney today.

“We’ve identified Robbo as the perfect person to come in and help us achieve our goals,” Cleverley said to watfordfc.com.

“Defensively is somewhere we need to improve, set-pieces also.

“I feel like Robbo’s experience as a player and as a coach; in the environments he’s been at they’ve always had top defensive records and top set-piece records.

“Although he’ll be assisting us in every way he can, those are two areas where I feel he comes in and can improve us straight away. It’s a perfect appointment for us.”

Cleverley added that Robinson’s experience as both a player and a coach in the Championship was a “huge part” of the deal.

“You can have all the experience in other leagues and great ideas and philosophies, but the Championship is a league of its own,” he said.

“It’s chaos, it’s physical, it’s intense, and it’s back-to-back-to-back. It’s very unique in that way so Paul’s experience in the league both as a player and a coach was definitely part of the decision.”

There have been staff changes already this season with both Armand Kavaja and Javier Pereira departing the club, but the Head Coach doesn’t see this as a negative.

“It's a work in progress,” he said. “I think it’s a representation of how ambitious we are.

“People on the outside could think ‘top six, everything’s going fantastically well’ but for me there are clear areas where we could improve and I think Paul brings the experience, knowledge and coaching qualities to get that over to the players and improve us in the right areas.

“Technically, ideas take a few weeks, but on the other hand his personality and style will have an immediate effect and there’s no better game to have that type of character than Saturday.”