As the man who brought Dean Austin back to Watford departed this summer the Hornets’ assistant coach had a decision to make.

Follow Slavisa Jokanovic out of the club or remain at Vicarage Road. It took just one conversation with Quique Sanchez Flores to make his choice an easy one.

“We always judge people straight away,” Austin admits. “I am sure Quique did the same with me. My first impression was he is someone who is very experienced and is someone who has tremendous knowledge.

“He knows exactly what he wants and knows how to achieve it. I was impressed. We had a chat and I also spoke to his assistants Alberto (Giraldez) and Antonio (Diaz Carlavilla). We got along straight away.”

The other key factor was that Gino Pozzo wanted Austin to stay. The 45-year-old had become a vital part of the coaching set-up at Vicarage Road since returning to the club in January.

He brings much needed knowledge of the English game to a multicultural coaching team. Something that is valued by those at the club, including Flores.

“Dean is very important for us,” the Spaniard says. “He is our connection with English football. I respect him a lot.

“He helps control the little details and advises me. Whenever I coach in a foreign country I make it clear that you need to open your mind up to the people who know the country.

“In that respect we are very safe with Dean. He has a lot of talent but more importantly he is a very good person.”

There is certainly a mutual respect between Austin and Flores. They enjoy working together and learning from each other.

“Quique is very open,” Austin says. “If he wants something from me he will ask. For example when we play somebody like Stoke he will approach me and say ‘Dean tell me about Stoke? How do you think they will play against us?’

“That’s the way he works. He wants all the details. He is very meticulous. When we have time to have fun then that’s what we do but when it is time to work we’re serious about what we do.

“We can be sitting in the office for 45 minutes and there will be silence as we are doing our bits and pieces. But it’s a comfortable silence. That is when you know you’ve got something special.”

When conversation does strike up Austin admits it is usually in Spanish. The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder may not class himself as being totally fluent but he can more than hold a conversation in the language .

“When we talk most of it is in Spanish which is good because it helps me improve,” he says. “There will be bits in English which are just for me and if I don’t quite understand something and need clarification I say: ‘Please Quique give it to me in Inglés (English)’.”

In that respect little has changed from last season. Jokanovic and his coaching team, which included Javier Pereira and Ruben Martinez, would regularly speak in Spanish with Austin.

It didn’t create any barriers, however. The quartet formed a very strong relationship as they helped Watford reach the Premier League.

Hornets fans will know what happened next. Jokanovic and the club couldn’t agree a new contract and the Serbian departed, along with Martinez and Pereira.

“I was surprised to see Slav go but at the same time I know these things happen in football,” Austin says.

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“Nothing lasts forever and sometimes, for one reason or another, things don’t go as you planned and you move on. Unfortunately that is life in football.

“I spoke to Slav pretty much every day until he left and went back to Spain. At that stage things were still ongoing and nothing had been decided.

“I then went on holiday but we still spoke once a week. He let me know his position and what he was going to do.

“Unfortunately he moved on. I had a great relationship with Slav and everyone knows that. But that is the way it goes sometimes. I’d like to think I’ve built the same relationship with Quique.”

Jokanovic would land a job with Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv and was joined at the club by Pereira. The duo returned to England in September as Maccabi took on Chelsea in the Champions League.

It gave Austin the chance to catch up with the duo.

“I met up with Slav and Javi for a coffee,” he explains. “Slav gave me a call and asked me if I was free to come to their hotel. It was really good to see them. They are enjoying life in Tel Aviv and life in the Champions League.”

And Austin is enjoying life in the Premier League with Watford. The Hornets have easily adapted to top flight football despite starting the season with a new head coach and an abundance of new signings.

Many pundits expected Watford to struggle with the well-worn argument used that the Golden Boys had changed too much.

But Austin says he never doubted the Hornets would be able to thrive in the Premier League and puts that down to the family atmosphere that has been built at the club.

“Quique is very close to the players. He speaks to them on a daily basis,” Austin, who was twice on Watford’s books as a youngster, says.

“After training you will always see him with one or two players. He will be talking to them about a certain situation or about a certain game. On a daily basis he’s very hands on.

“We have a very family orientated environment here. Every player is made to feel welcome and they are always helped.

“When you have a situation where everyone is trying to pull together then it makes it easier for the players to perform.

“Sometimes it is simple. If a player is happy then a player will perform well. If they are unhappy they won’t.

“So we work hard to make the environment here the best it can be. From the coaching staff to the sports science staff to the director of football to the chief executive to the owner. This is our family.”

Given Watford have a 25 man squad it is inevitable players will be left disappointed on a match day.

Some will be on the bench while others will be watching on from the stands. Austin appreciates it isn’t easy for any player to be told they will not be involved on a match day but he says Flores is always willing to explain his decisions.

“Every player is treated with respect every single day,” he says. “It isn’t always nice when you’re left out but you’ve got to take it on the chin, work harder and make sure you’re in the squad the following week.

“They know there is an open door policy here. If you want to talk to Quique his door is always open.

“We have 25 players and we try to give them the best. We want them to give their all every day in training and then do the same on the pitch on a Saturday. We always want them to give their all for this club.”

There will be more from Dean Austin in next week's Watford Observer.