A brand new year and Watford’s relatively brand new manager Beppe Sannino is looking forward to really getting his teeth stuck into his role as Hornets' head coach.

The Italian now has, as he describes a “Saturday to Saturday” schedule back in place after the hectic schedule of the Christmas period.

The fan's reaction to the appointment initially was one of confusion and surprise. Most supporters had never heard of the man and fears that he couldn’t speak English and had never coached in the Championship worried many.

However, four games into his reign and Sannino appears to be defying his critics by maintaining an unbeaten run with an emphatic 4-0 victory against Millwall and an impressive draw to Championship title contenders QPR the highlights so far.

So how has Sannino done it many fans are wondering? Well it would appear that the answer is not a change in formation but rather a change in tactics.

So far the 3-5-2 wing back formation that was introduced by Gianfranco Zola has not been changed.

But Sannino has focused more on the defensive and tactical aspects of the formation and comparatively the football being played now seems much more disciplined.

Troy Deeney explains: “The new boss has been good enough to speak to me already and explained he will be working from the back”.

This would seem to suggest that Watford’s new head coach is concerned with trying to get the defence sorted out first before he looks further up the pitch.

This will come as pleasing news to the majority of fans who were worried about the leaky defence that had seen Watford fail to win in nine games before the new mans arrival.

In addition to Sannino, the Pozzos have given two late Christmas presents to the Golden Boys in the shape of midfielder Alexander Merkel and striker Mathias Ranegie.

Alexander is rated as a very good prospect and is thought to have been brought in to cover for the injured Almen Abdi, whose injury appears to be more complicated than originally feared.

The young man has already represented big clubs in the form of AC Milan and Genoa and it will be interesting to see him ply his trade for the Hornets having previously played amongst the likes of Kaka and Andrea Pirlo.

Ranegie is a Swedish international forward who made his name in his home country before being brought to the Italian club.

He appears to have a goal or two in him based on records for former clubs Malmo and BK Hacken, although he has been used as a target man at Udinese due to his size.

Both players are useful additions to the squad and could make their debuts against Reading.

All in all it's shaping up to be a very good new year for Watford, which is just what they need considering the promotion chasing club are lying 14th in the table, six points behind sixth placed Ipswich and 21 points off leaders Leicester City.