Watford are fifth-favourites with the bookies to experience relegation. Yet the Hornets are off to a flying start, beating Brighton and then overcoming a normally resolute Burnley. Six points in the kitty and just 34 to obtain to prove the bookies wrong.

I did have concerns about Watford, before a ball was kicked. Did they have enough cover in attack? Would they miss Richarlison, who has experienced the first summer of rest for two years? Yet they have achieved their success without the contributions of Gerard Deulofeu and other potential first teamers.

Of course it would be foolish to get carried away with two victories over the lesser lights but then again, who are the so-called lesser lights? Burnley finished seventh last term and Brighton, after appearing to be useless at Vicarage Road, were anything but against Manchester United.

I recall an interview last season with Sky’s Spanish pundit, Guillem Balague after the appointment of Javi Gracia as the new coach. I tend to pay attention to Guillem when he talks about the Spanish scene because he appears to have his finger firmly on the pulse of La Liga. He was very enthusiastic about the Watford appointment, contending that Javi Gracia always improves teams and players alike.

I admit, I began to wonder as last season took on a turgid appearance, but Watford shelved their scattergun approach to managerial appointments and kept their finger off the trigger.

A little consistency is overdue and Gracia has started well this campaign.

I had reason to be reminded of Guillem’s expertise this summer when I was holidaying in the Spanish village of Tamariu. Ellie dropped me off with the dogs as we returned from our dinner. I walked down towards where a group was playing, wondering what I should have after consuming a bottle of rioja and a generously filled glass of curantre y tres, my favourite liqueur over dinner.

A holiday acquaintance, Tom, spotted me and started waving his arms, whereupon I looked in the direction he was waving and spotted Patrick ‘Paddy” Barclay heading my way. Paddy has worked on the four quality papers as a sports writer throughout his career and although 71, keeps his hand in with Sky’s Sunday Supplement and some prestigious radio work.

I always enjoyed his articles so I was touched when he reached out his hand and said my name and expressed great pleasure in seeing me.

It was his last night but he informed me that he too has a house in France and then he provided me with his email address and telephone number. We agreed that we would meet up and go for dinner next year - a pretty confident arrangement for a 77-year-old and the other six years younger.

But the point of this anecdote is that he asked me how long I had been visiting the village by the sea and I explained I arrived first in 1965 for what was my first-ever trip abroad.

“You must have thought you’d arrived in heaven,” said Paddy and when I asked him how he had found about this village tucked away amidst the rocky cliffs, he explained: “I asked Guillem Balague if there were any jewels left in Spain. He gave me this one and this is our second year and we are coming back next summer.”

So that is another reason why I think Guillem is a shrewd judge.

Naturally, nothing in football is decided in August, which is just as well if you happen to be a Manchester United follower. Events may overtake me but what chaos appears to be engulfing Old Trafford. I was surprised to read in many publications, which suggests it may not be fake news, the United supremo went straight to the dressing room after the final whistle at Brighton. Now that is a serious breach of football etiquette for directors, chairman and owners are expected to knock and ask if they can come in to greet the players. Apparently, manager Jose Mourinho was talking to the press after the game, which in itself seems strange.

I can imagine Graham Taylor’s reaction if Elton John had walked straight into the Watford dressing-room at any time, without checking first if it was OK with the manager. Similarly, after a match, the players came first with Graham. He would not have been waylaid for a press interview but sped straight to the dressing room after such a shoddy performance, probably catching the players attempting to glue down the teacups, in order to prevent them and their contents from being swept off the table.

Maybe times have changed and the manager, who is more like head coach these days, is regarded as being so far down the totem pole, their preferences are ignored.

What could Ed Woodward achieve by such a transgression?

Then, apparently, Mourinho is already undermined when the club appeared to call a halt on their transfer activity. It is said they thought some of the manager’s targets were too old and there would be little resale value in them after spending over £60m per player. However, £70m or more for the England centre-half Harry Maguire would have constituted a marquee signing at 25-years of age. It did not look a bad deal, with plenty of years left in the player.

Then again, it is said the powers that be at Old Trafford, particularly Woodward, pointed out Mourinho had bought centre-halves in successive summers but tended to use Chris Smalling and Phil Jones.

My own conclusion is that if Woodward is less than satisfied with his manager, but then who appointed him? And who appointed his predecessor, Louis van Gaal? And who signed off on the appointment of David Moyes? All three of those appointments are men, whose styles of play are far removed from the élan and flair of United’s tradition. If I were a Glazier, I would exclude Woodward from future football involvement and leave the former banker to concentrate on the commercial side and the budget.