Football Season Guide

The Championship

England

The Championship

2013/2014

Watford

In

Lewis McGugan (mid) (Nottingham Forest), Christian Battocchio (mid) (Udinese), Marco Cassetti (def) (Udinese), Daniel Pudil (def) (Granada), Uche Ikpeazu (att) (Reading), Ikechi Anya (def) (Granada), Reece Brown (def) (Manchester United), Almen Abdi (mid) (Udinese), Javier Acuna (att) (Udinese), Gabriele Angella (def) (Udinese), Marco Faraoni (def) (Udinese), Diego Fabbrini (att) (Udinese), Joel Ekstrand (def) (Udinese), Iriney (mid) (Granada)

Out

Chris Iwelumo (att) (Scunthorpe United), Jack Bonham (gk) (Brentford), Stephen McGinn (mid) (Sheffield United), Craig Forsyth (sp)(mid) (Derby County), Mark Yeates (sp)(mid) (Bradford City), Prince Buaben (mid) (Released), Piero Mingoia (mid) (Released)

The Hornets will be looking to go one better this season after falling at the Championship playoff semi-final stage on penalties. Gianfranco Zola's cosmopolitan side will have an even greater influence from Italian outfit, Udinese in 2013/14, with no less than eight players arriving on permanent deals at Vicarage Road. The Serie A club is owned by Watford's owners, the Pozzo family and the two clubs are continuing to take advantage of loopholes in the ownership system. Zola will not be complaining however as he appears to have an embarrassment of riches at his disposal. The likes of Almen Abdi, Marco Cassetti, Joel Ekstrand and Ikechi Anya have all returned on permanent contracts after successful loan spells last season. Meanwhile talented Paraguayan forward, Javier Acuna and Brazilian midfielder, Iriney also add to the Hornets' flair. On paper this is a squad that should be challenging for automatic promotion, but much does depend on how quickly Zola's new recruits can adapt to the English second tier.

Target

Automatic promotion, provided the new summer signings can gel.