Former Hornets defender Martin Taylor looks back on the early months of the Pozzo family's reign at Watford

He left for Sheffield Wednesday on deadline day in summer 2012, in a move that took Hornets fans by surprise.

A well-liked professional at the club, Taylor had enjoyed one of the most consistent years of his career under Sean Dyche during the previous season.

He’d also played in every game following Gianfranco Zola’s appointment, even captaining the side in his final two appearances for Watford.

Amid a flurry of deadline day loans from Udinese and Granada, it was reported that Taylor requested to leave the Hornets. But is that the case? Or was it simply media spin?

I caught up with Taylor to revisit his time at Watford and ask why that move to Sheffield came about.

“I found out in August that Sheffield Wednesday were willing to offer me a two-year contract,” Taylor explains.

“At Watford I only had a year left. So I said: ‘I’d like to stay, can I have two years?’

“Zola said he’d be very happy for me to stay but the club’s policy was that they didn’t give anyone over a certain age more than a year. It was a big consideration for me.”

Taylor was 32 at the time, playing for a club going through a period of immense change.

“I was thinking that I’d like to play until I’m 35 but there were a lot of players coming in, as well as lots of rumours about others,” Taylor explains.

The former centre-back isn’t wrong. A total of 16 players were brought into Watford in just over a month.

“You’d come into training and there’d be five new players,” Taylor laughs.

But as hectic as it all sounds, the squad seemed positive about the experience.

“I liked it,” he says. “I’ve been in changing rooms where there have been problems, where there were cliques, but there really wasn’t an issue here.

“The guys that came in were very open to fitting into the way Watford was as a club, and the Championship environment in general.

“I can’t think of anyone at all who came in with an ego. I remember for example [Matej] Vydra and [Daniel] Pudil came in and they were really nice guys.

“Straight away, we all got on. That doesn’t always happen.”

The first rumblings of the Pozzo takeover started over the summer of 2012, while the squad were on holiday.

“It was an incredibly long close season,” Taylor explains. “Because of the Euros and the Olympics, there was a total of about 11 weeks off. Some years we only get five weeks off – 11 weeks is unheard of.

“A few days before pre-season I heard about it,” he continues. “Dychey got sacked, which was obviously quite a big thing because he’d done so well the year before.

“But when things like that happen I think it’s probably better that way.”

I ask Taylor to elaborate.

“He was a very good manager and a fantastic coach,” he begins.

“It’s one of those where it’s an injustice because he’s done so well, but if he’d have stayed he may have been given six weeks and then maybe get let go.

“As it happened, he’d just finished in a great position on a shoestring budget, and his credentials were right up there.

“Compared to a lot of other managers who are out of work because they’d been sacked, he looked a better proposition.”

From his perspective, Taylor was realistic about the situation, and the surprise of what had happened soon dissipated.

“You have to be quite pragmatic in your outlook, and you have to be able to accept changes in football,” Taylor says.

“I think if you don’t or if you can’t you struggle because there are changes all the time. You can have three managers in a season – you have to deal with it.

“Your manager’s gone, and you may have got on really well with him, but you’ve got to make an impression on the new staff straight away.”

That summer Taylor did make a good impression and the feeling was very much reciprocated.

“Obviously, the fact that Zola came in was huge, because he’s a legend,” Taylor beams.

“Even just to meet him,” he pauses. “He’s got an aura.”

The positive atmosphere at the training ground wasn’t despite the changes, but because of them.

“There was a little bit of excitement,” Taylor explains. “I was excited to go back anyway because we’d had a good year before and we’d had a long time away.

“But then everything else happened as well, and I started to think that things were going to be really good.”

With the Pozzo takeover came a thorough scouting network that extends across the globe.

Taylor is as complimentary as anyone about how this has worked for Watford, even though its existence probably contributed to his departure from the club.

The lack of any real disharmony in the squad despite the enormous change impresses him in particular.

“You’ve got to give the recruitment a bit of praise on that, because it’s something that goes unseen quite a bit,” he explains.

“Teams will do research on personalities. You can watch a player score goals and things like that on YouTube, you can get DVDs, but that’s not about character.

“Sometimes the recruitment of a player will be based more on whether their personality fits the club rather than their ability.”

The way it ended at Watford for Taylor wasn’t as simple as the player handing in a transfer request.

“The fact that the club allowed me to speak to Sheffield Wednesday was enough for me to know that it was the right move,” he explains.

“When you’re younger it’s easier,” Taylor goes on.

“At Blackburn I had a five-year contract. You’ve got your next five years planned out. Obviously things can change but if you want to stay for that long, you can.

“When you’re older you’ve got to make different decisions. Watford weren’t keen to let me go. But they’d told me I could leave when the new owners first came in. Ultimately they didn’t stand in my way.”

Taylor was back at Vicarage Road for the game against Bournemouth a fortnight ago and he has fond memories of the club.

“I really enjoyed it at Watford,” he says. “I’m not just saying this but it’s a really good club and I always feel welcome if I go back.

“The first two seasons I was there were probably the most consistent I’ve played in my career.

“Also, when you’re a player at Watford, you’ve got a big community responsibility that you don’t always have at other clubs.

“You had to make a lot of community appearances and I enjoyed them.

“When they talk about Watford being a family club, you really see why when you’re there.

“I think maybe if you’re within the club for a while you take it for granted because it’s not like that everywhere.

“It’s not that other clubs dismiss it but Watford work really, really hard at it. It’s great.”