9:10am Thursday 11th March 2010
By Joe Whitbread
Former Hornet Peter Kennedy is at a loss to explain Nathan Ellington’s disappointing career at Watford.
Kennedy, speaking ahead of the clash between two of his former sides on Saturday, played alongside Ellington, currently on-loan at Greek side Xanthi, during a three-year spell at Wigan.
‘The Duke’ scored 59 goals in 134 appearances for the Latics but has only hit the net five times for the Hornets since joining from West Brom in 2007.
Kennedy said: “When Wigan signed him, he was scoring for fun but I don’t know what’s happened since then. Football is a massive mental game. You need to ask him yourself but when I was at Wigan he was a very good player.”
It was Graham Taylor that brought Kennedy to Vicarage Road from Notts County in 1997. At 24, the Northern Ireland international was having doubts over continuing his career after new County boss Sam Allardyce told him he wasn’t needed at Meadow Lane.
“At the end of that season I headed back to Northern Ireland unsure whether I wanted to carry on as a professional footballer,” he explained.
“Even at that early stage of my career I had a big decision to make. That summer I had a phone call from an agent saying that Watford were interested in me and I said yes. Graham Taylor approached Notts County, made an offer and agreed everything very quickly.”
Kennedy’s first year with the Hornets couldn’t have gone any better. Not only did the club clinch promotion after finishing second behind Bristol Rovers, but Kennedy also finished top scorer with 12 goals, including a hat-trick against Southend.
“It was the only hat-trick I’ve scored in my career,” he recalls. “It was just one of those nights. I scored with my right, got a free kick and luckily managed to score in the second half too. When I look back now, it was one of my fondest memories during my time at the club.
“The success we had at the time, Graham had a lot to do with it. As a manager he made the right decisions and brought in the right players and luckily everyone gelled. If it wasn’t for him none of it would have happened.”
The following season saw the club complete a remarkable feat with the Hornets clinching their second promotion in two seasons after beating first Birmingham and then Bolton in the play-offs.
Kennedy, who played every game that season, admits that he is still amazed by the team’s accomplishment that year.
“That season was unbelievable, the whole club was on a cress of a wave and it was fantastic for a small team like Watford to have done what we did.
“It was a tough league, in front of bigger teams, bigger crowds and better players. We adjusted to it very well and were in the top six most of the season. It was very surreal at the time,” he admitted.
The pinnacle of that season was the famous 2-0 win over Bolton at Wembley but Kennedy says he can’t recall much from the game and still watches it occasionally on video.
“I feel more nervous now watching it on tape than I did at the time,” he said.
“But I don’t remember much about the match apart from my family being over and having a great night. Unfortunately I had to go for an operation two days after which was on the back of my mind. But it was a fantastic day and one I am very proud of.
“We were well prepared by Graham and the coaching staff when I look back now. The occasion didn’t get to us. Personally for me it felt like any other match, we knew what we had to do, we knew our job.”
After contributing so much during the club’s journey to the Premiership, the biggest frustration for Kennedy was a succession of injuries that limited him to only 18 appearances in the top flight.
He said: “It was disappointing. I picked up a bad back injury and it took a while to sort it out. It was stupid injuries and from then on, until I left the club, it was very stop-start. That’s football and things happen but I would have loved to have played every game that season.
“I played in most of the big games including away at Manchester United and at Anfield too so it was a great experience. It was difficult against seasoned pros and world class players but I think the club did themselves proud. Graham deserves a lot of credit for sticking by the players that got us there. He brought in a few players but unfortunately we weren’t strong enough.”
It was a similar story for Kennedy is his final year at the club as he suffered with injuries, making just 17 appearances as he struggled with an achilles problem. He knew his time was up when Graham Taylor was replaced by Gianluca Vialli that summer.
“I had one year left on my contract and it wasn’t a surprise, I just took it on the chin and luckily I had the chance to go to a good club like Wigan.”
After three years at the JJB, Kennedy joined Peterborough but was reluctant to speak about his spell at the Posh after the controversial series Big Ron Manager was filmed at the club. He simply described it as “a bit of a disaster”.
He returned to Northern Ireland in 2006 and is currently plying his trade with Donegal Celtic FC in the country’s second division. He is also training to be an accountant.
Kennedy’s career has spanned 20 years but he has little doubt about which club he has enjoyed playing for the most.
“Watford was very enjoyable and I had more good memories than bad. It was just fantastic and I haven’t got a bad word to say about anybody at the club. Unfortunately it couldn’t last forever.”
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