If they could hear it above the music on the PA system, then Watford’s players will know the fans gave a very vocal rating of the performance against Cardiff on Wednesday, both at half-time and again on the final whistle.

The boos were possibly still echoing as Chris Wilder then told the media what he thought about it.

However, it was noticeable that while some of the players did stay on the pitch to applaud the fans after the game, others headed straight down the tunnel at a rapid rate.

Wilder felt those that did so made a mistake, and should have stayed out with the other players to absorb the level of supporter discontent.

“Yeah, 100% you have to take it on the chin,” he said.

“The players have been here a while, and on Saturday after we’d beaten Bristol City they were all walking off and enjoying it.

“They accepted the applause and adulation, and then when they leave the ground there’s probably young kids wanting autographs, and then wherever they went on Saturday night or Sunday they’ll have had people saying well done.

“So if you want to do that, you have to deal with the other part. You have to take the criticism that comes your way when you don’t perform. We all do.”

Wilder has handed out a few verbal excoriations in his short time at the club, but he has also praised the team when it’s been justified.

“I’ve praised them when they’ve played well. I’ve not just smashed them all the time,” he pointed out.

“I’ve had relative success in my career and that hasn’t come by just whacking players with a stick after a bad performance.

“Setbacks will happen, in football but also in life. Nobody has a perfect life, regardless of who you are and what you do.

“It can be health issues, work issues, relationship issues, you have to try and keep going. You can’t just wave the white flag.

“Things have gone wrong in my career, I’ve made bad decisions, and I’ve had criticism. What do you do? Just pack it in because you don’t like it, or do you go again?

“The people that have longevity and success in the game come back each time. We’d all love to be Pep Guardiola and win nearly all the time, but he’s had adversity and he’s come back, and that’s why for me he is the best in the business.

“It does help that Man City have spent a billion, but when they bring players in it’s players that tick all the boxes.

“Will our players look back at this week and think ‘yeah, he’s right, I do need to be a team player to get to the top’?

“The players who play for Man City and Liverpool and Arsenal have everything right. You’ve seen the documentaries, and you can see they know it’s not about one man – it’s about the collective and the group.

“For each individual game you always need everybody to be on the same page.”

Wilder says the only way to respond to a night like Wednesday is in the next game you play.

“I think when you get beat like we did, the answer is always to be found out on the pitch.

“The lucky ones will have the opportunity to put right what was a disappointing evening, and if I had criticism levelled at me as a player I know what my reaction would be, and I know what the reaction of good football pros would be.

“So the lucky ones will have an opportunity tomorrow, and there’ll be a couple that won’t.

“I will go to the end of the season, whether it’s preparation, video analysis, attitude, motivation, I’ll go right to the end. And I will demand that of the players.

“From a player point of view, hopefully they will show those same qualities and characteristics, because that is what a proper player looks like.

“When criticism is levelled, proper players come out punching. I don’t mean literally, but in terms of their attitude and the characteristics they show.

“I want players to play well. I want my defenders to defend, my midfielders to play in midfield and my forwards to create and then stick it in. I want us to play as a team.

“I want us to do our jobs and be better than we have been, and certainly better than Wednesday.

“You have to come back swinging, don’t you? I always did. That’s the fight you’ve got to have inside.

“I’m honest, I can’t dress things up, I’m not going to speak to the media after a game like Wednesday and mug myself off saying we were a little bit unlucky.

“I’m not going to say it was a bit unfortunate how we defended that set piece, or that I can understand players wanting to be individuals and do their own thing.

“I say it, how it is. The criticism was an honest assessment of what I saw. The fan reaction was their assessment.”

A digital subscription to the Watford Observer gives you unlimited access to every WFC story.

You can currently sunbscribe for six months for just £6: click here for full details.

As well as every story, you'll see less ads and enjoy a faster website.