The appointment of Slaven Bilic as the new coach of English Premier League side Watford appears to have given a glimmer of hope to the Nigerian players at the club bar goalkeeper Maduka Okoye.
Bilic was appointed as coach following the sacking of Rob Edwards after a poor start to the season, prior to his appointment none of the players of the Nigerian team, numbering three were given a look but that has since changed.
Since his appointment, the coach has brought back vice captain of the Nigerian team William Troost Ekong into the heart of his defence and has given him full game time in their last four games. His longest run in the team for over eight months.
Samuel Kalu who was seen as a player with no future at the club has also found favour with Bilic and made his first appearance of the season in the last game against Norwich City, the coach still has him in his plans for today’s game against Millwall.
With a string of injuries still affecting his side, and another tough game ahead at home to Luton Town on Sunday (October 23, 12noon KO), the ex-Croatia boss is looking forward to further squad reinforcements that will enhance Watford’s bid of climbing the table in the coming weeks.
Bilić added: “João came out of the Norwich game alright, and Kalu has been looking sharp. Offensively he has that explosion and sharpness to beat a player – he’s still not fully fit, but he can still make a big impact for us.
He has however not said a thing about Maduka Okoye and has kept his faith in Austrian goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann. Okoye’s only appearance this season came in the Carabao Cup game against MK Dons, which they lost 0-2.
