Tom Ince shutting out Watford noise after making "no-brainer" transfer decision
More often than not, there's been a buzz around Watford Football Club in recent years - just not necessarily for the right reasons.
The Hornets have made themselves an easy target for ridicule from opposing fans in recent years due to the Pozzo family's ruthless hire-and- fire policy. After all, earlier this summer the club's Italian owners appointed their 19th manager since taking charge back in 2012.
But Tom Ince was adamant that no amount of background noise would deter him from signing on at Vicarage Road once the club came calling in the summer transfer window.
"I know there are the stories about managers and stuff like that, but when you walk in and see the history on the walls, you realise how big a club it is," Ince tells Mirror Football .
"As players you have to ignore it [the stories] because it's not something we can control. Where the club has been over the last sort of seven or eight seasons [shows] it's a club with big expectations."
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The 31-year-old isn't wrong on that point; Watford may have failed to reach the heights expected of them last term following relegation from the Premier League, but the club's aspirations of a top-flight return are unwavering.
This time around, the Hornets are expected to be a different entity entirely under new head coach Valerian Ismael: the Frenchman who garnered a reputation for relentless pressing football at Barnsley.
Challenging at the right end of the table held an obvious appeal for Ince once Watford made it clear they were keen on activating the paltry £50,000 relegation release clause in his Reading contract.
The 31-year-old was a key part of a Royals side that succumbed to relegation in the final knockings of the season after being hit with a six-point penalty by the EFL. And although a 13-game winless run from March played a major role in their demise, it was the six-point deduction - issued after the club breached an agreed profit and sustainability plan - which ultimately proved to be fatal.
Ince's plight was made even harder by the fact that his father, Paul, was the club's manager last season. He was sacked with just five games of the season remaining amid fan unrest; something that Ince junior admitted made things slightly more difficult for him.
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Tom Ince had no reservations about joining Watford (Simon Dael/REX/Shutterstock)"It did [make it harder.] I got injured with seven games to go - without blowing my own trumpet, that was a big thing for me and the team.
"I think there were a lot of people being pressured from above who felt that the expectation should always be more. I think we sort of shot ourselves in the foot because at the start of the season we were top of the table at one point, but we knew inside that it was never going to last.
"We only had 11 players [at one point], we had a lot of players who were on frees and hadn't had a club. At the start of pre-season we had five first-team players contracted to the club. We knew that staying up was our sole aim - no matter whether we were top or fourth [at one stage] our aim was to stay up.
"The owner decided to press the button and he made a decision which in the end didn't work. It's disappointing because you don't want fans to suffer. T o see the team struggling as it is now in League One with all the background noise isn't a nice thing.
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"There's a lot of players who are still there from last year who are suffering too. But if you don't have the right people at the top of the club doing the right things then you will get punished."
Despite Reading's struggles, Ince still managed to chalk up an impressive 13 goal contributions (9G, 4A) last season. Those figures alone mean Ince has a pretty good case to be considered as one of the top pound-for-pound signings in the entire football league.
He adds: "It's always nice as a footballer when a club makes you feel wanted. Watford were on the phone ever since it was made clear that I had a release clause to leave Reading and they never stopped, so it was a no-brainer for me."
That interest, coupled with Watford's aspirations, made Vicarage Road an irresistible proposition for Ince, who is now entering the twilight of his career - and he's relishing his new role as one of the elder statesmen of the group ahead of Watford's opening day fixture against QPR on Saturday afternoon.
"I think for me it's about trying to give that advice. I was there at that age playing at the same level and I think as a young player it's important not to get too high or too low.
Ince was part of the Reading team which went down from the Championship last term (Mike Morese/NurPhoto)"The Championship is always a very topsy-turvy season and there are some massive clubs, so hopefully my knowledge and advice on what it takes to be successful in this league can help and keep the young lads in a good place.
"There's a few experienced heads who know what it takes to play for teams with big expectations. There's a lot of young lads who bring that freshness and a bit of nervous energy around the place, which is a good thing. They play with that freedom and ignore the background noise, so it's a good blend."
While Watford stand to benefit from Ince's quality on the pitch, the forward's pedigree and nous will also be invaluable away from the action. Ince is no stranger to expectation - and he's ready to embrace it again in Hertfordshire.
"There's a lot of belief and a lot of quality in the dressing room, but the Championship is very telling: it takes its toll on you. There's going to be times where we can't play free-flowing football and we're going to have to dig in and be mentally strong. The Championship poses all kinds of threats, both mental and physical.
"We know the expectations that the fans and the owners have, so why not embrace that? If we didn't have good enough players then we'd set our expectations lower, but the fact we've got a good squad and a manager who believes in his players is everything."
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