NIGEL GIBBS is to join the club's management team as chief scout and the injured defender has also been granted a testimonial match as he completes 20 seasons at Vicarage Road in March 2002.

Gibbs, on the last year of his current playing contract , was "delighted" with the news and has already undertaken scouting missions.

Said Watford boss Luca Vialli: "To be a chief scout you need to be on the same wavelength as the manager when it comes to judging players. We have talked about that and, on top of that, in that position, which is a vital position, you need to have someone that cares about the club and not someone who does the job for the sake of it, but because he wants to see the club improve and progress.

"So it was an easy selection in the end. I think Nigel will be a great asset. There's no-one on the playing side of the club who can match Nigel's depth of inside knowledge or his genuine love for the club.

"I have been extremely impressed with his understanding of the game and what to look for in potential players who are right for Watford, whether as youngsters or existing professionals. This appointment completes our scouting jigsaw, and it can only be to the benefit of everyone at Vicarage Road."

Said Gibbs this week: "I am quite excited about it. I was offered the job and thought about it. I went to a couple of games to undertake player analysis for Luca and I didn't do too well. The first game was off and in the second game, the player we were interested in didn't play.

"But I got to to do a couple more games after that and he liked what I wrote."

Gibbs has struck up a good relationship with the manager who has been impressed by the player.

"Unfortunately not by what I have done on the pitch," said Gibbs this week. "We have had several chats and he has formed an opinion of me. I definitely wanted to stay with the club when my playing career ended and this is the best thing that could have happened, finding myself on the staff.

"I am very pleased with the testimonial as well. Certain people have campaigned for that on my behalf but I want to thank Tim Shaw and the board. I am very proud to have been at Watford for 20 years. It is the club I supported as a kid and watched from the terraces."

Gibbs has worked with the School of Excellence and the Academy for several years and now has the top UEFA A coaching license.

"Eventually I would like to get into that side of it," he explained. "The injury has prevented me from working with the Academy as much as I have in the past, but I have been very grateful to John McDermott and Chris Cummins for encouraging me to be involved.

"I've learnt a lot off John and I am delighted to have this new job. I am trying to get fit but it has not been going too well. I am right back to basics at the moment. There is a lot of scar tissue and we have got to break it down.

"I don't know quite how much scouting they want me to do but I think, as the season goes on, I will be scouting more than training."

His remit will be scouting duties mainly in the UK, as part of the club's international network.

Gibbs signed as an apprentice in July 1982, making his full debut the following year in the UEFA Cup tie on the icy, skating rink of a pitch at Sparta Prague.

He has recorded a total of 490 first-team appearances, despite suffering a serious knee injury in 1992 which kept him on the sidelines for the best part of two years.

He was given a free transfer four years ago, but shook off knee trouble to train with Watford and earn a monthly contract before returning to the full staff and playing a part in the Division Two Championship success.

"There can be very, very few players who have recorded 20 years' service with one club," says Tim Shaw, Watford's chief executive. "And that doesn't include the time Nigel spent with the club as a schoolboy.

"He was awarded a Testimonial Year in the 1992/93 season and we are delighted to make a bit of Watford history by him becoming the first post-war player ever to be awarded two testimonials."

Reflecting on his time at Vicarage Road, Gibbs said: "The time I have been with the club has simply flashed by, and I have experienced many, many highs and some lows on the way. The award of a second Testimonial Match counts as one of the big highs.

"It's always been my hope I could one day join the club's management team, and I am looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into the role "

December 21, 2001 10:30