If becoming Watford’s sporting director didn’t pose a big enough challenge, having three head coaches in his first five weeks was certainly a baptism of fire for Luke Dowling.

Dowling’s first official day at the club’s London Colney training base coincided with that of Oscar Garcia but before their first week was out, the new head coach was admitted to hospital with chest pains.

Dowling’s settling in period was over.

It was the 37-year-old who was tasked with addressing the media the following day ahead of the trip to Blackpool.

Some of what Dowling said to the Watford Observer that afternoon may have become redundant but a lot remains relevant – especially if you swap the name Garcia with that of Slavisa Jokanovic.

The Golden Boys had a technical director, Gian Luca Nani, for the first two years of the Pozzo family’s ownership but Dowling’s sporting director role is slightly different and the club were keen to stress he was not a direct replacement.

Nani was hugely influential in bringing a host of players to the club during the Pozzos’ first season but when owner Gino Pozzo moved to England the following summer, his role reduced significantly.

Pozzo and chief executive Scott Duxbury are heavily involved in transfer negotiations and whilst Dowling will take on some of Nani’s roles, the club were keen to hire someone with greater knowledge of the UK transfer market and lower leagues.

Dowling said: “There are a lot of good things already in place at this club in terms of the squad and the infrastructure behind the club and it is a case of me trying to add to that.

“We want to make sure the academy and the first team are all on the same page and it has to be treated as one club. I have witnessed it before when academies and the first team are like two different clubs. We are building the relationships there and making sure they don’t go off track and I will support the head coach in whatever he needs and make sure things move along nicely.

“The connection with Udinese and Granada means we have good infrastructure abroad and can tap into their expertise in the European market and I would like to think now we can have a good UK base and cover the British market. So we want the best of everything.

“A lot of Championship clubs will be UK-based in their recruitment and don’t have the resources or do not want to spend the money on European scouting. We are very fortunate here that our set-up is similar to how Premier League clubs work.”

Dowling has enjoyed a meteoric rise and his progression is likely to provide motivation for those working in non-league football.

He played for Tottenham Hotspur between the ages of eight and 17 and spent time at Reading before being released shortly before his 20th birthday.

Spells at non-league clubs Kingstonian, Walton & Hersham and Walton Casuals were to follow before he was forced to retire due to injury at the age of 28.

He managed Walton Casuals for a year, where former West Ham United defender Tony Gale is currently chairman, but recognised it would be incredibly hard to work his way up the football pyramid if he remained in non-league management.

So he spoke to Phil Parkinson, who was at Charlton Athletic as assistant and then manager and who knew Dowling from their Reading days, and it resulted in a part-time scouting role with AFC Wimbledon.

Dowling believes he played a part in the Dons reaching the Football League by helping recruit players and says he was then asked to join Crystal Palace in 2009 by chief scout Steve Kember, which is when he became full time.

He had a number of day jobs whilst being part-time in football, including driving a cab and working at a gym.

“I was married, had a mortgage and a baby on the way so I had to do other work,” Dowling explained. “As much as I wanted to watch games every day to try to get into the industry full-time, I had to earn money.”

He continued: “You do appreciate it [working in football] more because if you love football and want to be part of it, coming to work doesn’t feel like you are working. I haven’t retired at 35 and gone straight into a coaching role so whilst I would have prefered to have been a professional and been financially secure at 35, you do appreciate the other things.”

Dowling worked with George Burley and then Dougie Freedman at Palace before a club reshuffle saw him depart in the summer of 2012.

In July 2012 he was then given one of the most unenviable positions in English football as, alongside Michael Appleton, the head of recruitment was tasked with reducing Portsmouth’s wage bill to £1.4m by the end of August otherwise the club would go out of business, following the club’s relegation to League One.

The pair’s plan to replicate the sporting director model at Appleton’s former club West Bromwich Albion was not feasible but Dowling believes the tough experience, which included persuading players to sign on month-to-month contracts, helped his development.

Dowling reunited with Appleton at Blackburn Rovers as head of senior recruitment but both men only lasted two months at the then chaotic club.

He was soon back at another Championship side as he joined Brian McDermott at Leeds United. Issues surrounding his departure from Ewood Park meant he was only able to work on a consultancy basis, rather than being officially named chief scout.

Dowling’s role was similar to a head of recruitment but things changed drastically following the arrival of soon-to-be-owner Massimo Cellino.

McDermott was sacked before swiftly being reinstated and Dowling admitted “there was never the same feeling around the club [again]”.

Dowling, who lives in Surrey with his wife and six-year-old daughter, worked as a go-between for the two men and at first was expected to receive the sporting director role but it was then given to Nicola Salerno, who worked with Cellino during their time at Serie A club Cagliari.

Becoming sporting director of a Championship club who are expected to challenge for automatic promotion to the Premier League is a long way from Ryman Division One South side Walton Casuals.

He said: “In terms of my CV I have climbed the ladder quite quickly and it is nice to have been recognised by other clubs, who wanted me to work for them. But I’m now at a point where I want to stay at a club for a long period if possible and try to build something and show people what I can do.”

Dowling will be based at the club’s training ground for most of the week and will be at the majority of Watford’s home games. The rest of the time he will aim to build relationships with clubs and watch transfer targets.

He will work closely with chief scout Fillipo Giraldi and the club also have three other UK-based scouts, two of which are British and one is Italian, although more may be added in the future.

Dowling stressed he will not be the man watching the youth age groups and tracking every player, but will support the staff already in place.

Watford have a continental style when recruiting players. The Pozzos’ knowledge of the players at Udinese and Granada is utilised and he is part of a group who discuss potential targets, which includes Dowling, Giraldi, Duxbury and the head coach.

Last month Dowling stressed Garcia would be given the final say on signings and unless something drastic has changed in that time, then Jokanovic will also – although the deal for Sebastien Bassong was agreed before the new head coach’s arrival.

Dowling said: “It won’t be down to one individual who will have the final say and equally we will not go the other way where players are turning up and Oscar is left to just train them and pick them.

“There is a way we work, which involves Oscar, myself and the staff behind the scenes who will contribute and we will then make a decision on a player. But ultimately, if Oscar doesn’t particularly want a player then we will not force a player upon him. We want to give Oscar the tools to work with and he will pick the side and choose the players. We can just advise him.”

“There is a lot of good football knowledge in that room and we just sit down, talk about it and come out with the best possible solution for the football club,” he added.

“Obviously when we are looking for a particular player, we want the best player to benefit the club. Whether he is English or European is irrelevant. What will happen now is we will look at those players from Udinese and Granada and other players in other leagues and compare them with the players we are looking at in the British market. If there is a massive difference to players who are similar then we will choose accordingly. It doesn’t mean it will only be British players or players from Udinese and Granada. We are going to look at every avenue and sign the player we feel is the best option for the football club.”

For the majority of English football fans, they grew up in the era of Sir Alex Ferguson and before him the likes of Brian Clough and Bob Paisley who had a huge influence on all aspects of their clubs and controlled the transfer policies.

But more and more teams are moving away from that now and the continental model has become more common.

Dowling said: “I think the days are gone where a manager comes in, he decides the players he wants and the owner or chief executive just sign it off.

“We need to protect the football club by making sure we are choosing the right players age wise, salary wise, that they still have the desire to play.

“It is very different here to the other clubs where I have worked but for positive reasons.”

Dowling is relishing his opportunity at Watford and it is fair to assume he won’t face a month more challenging than his first at Vicarage Road.