Troy Deeney has spoken of his admiration for Watford head coach Xisco Munoz and said that he deserves the bulk of the credit for this season's success.

While the players themselves had to adapt to the change of coach midway through the campaign, Munoz himself had a lot more to deal with, moving to England, away from his family, and hauling a struggling squad from an invidious position in the table, back into the Premier League. 

When asked about the campaign, the coach is always quick to lay praise at the feet of the players and his fellow staff members, but the skipper feels that without Munoz's influence, things might not have worked out as well as they did this season.

"From the start of the season to second half of the season is chalk and cheese, the change he's made is great," said Deeney. "It's given the boys a freedom of character and identity and I think when you're around him, you can feel that energy, that happiness, it just pours out of him and you can't help but like the man and I think he's been great.  

Watford Observer:

"I said it after the Millwall game he deserves an awful lot of credit. He's a manager that will always give credit to the players and you appreciate that but in certain moments, I think he needs to be patted on the back as well."

While sitting most of the second half of the season out with an injury, Deeney worked closely with Munoz, helping out the fledgling coach as much as he could.

During that time Deeney, who is working on his coaching badges himself, said he learnt a great deal, particularly about man management and how to deal with players. 

"The biggest thing would be his man management, it's been brilliant," he said. "Talking to people, having conversations, uncomfortable conversations, with people who are not in the team - just how he's handled that and I think he's great. He's doing his pro licence now and you just wish him all the best.

"Anything I could do to help out, I'm always going to do that because the end goal is about the we, it's about Watford, it's not about Troy or Xisco. We know that and we want to make this place the best it can and impact change while we're here."

With supporters absent for the entirety of Munoz's time in charge so far, they have not yet had a chance to properly show their appreciated for the job that has been done since the Spaniard arrived back in December.

Deeney is looking forward to seeing the fans get their chance to interact with him on the touchline during games at Vicarage Road next season.

"He's that that engaging type," explained the captain. "So I'm pretty sure after five or ten minutes, when they give a song or ask for him to give them a wave, he'll do that. He'll also be smart enough to understand moments of the game and if he feels that the team need a pick up, I'm sure he'll rely on the fans.

Watford Observer:

"I actually picture him just leading the crowd like an orchestra when he needs them, like: 'time to go, come on'. I could just see him doing that.

"I hope everything goes well, because he's a great guy, as I say, and I think fans could see that press obviously can see that, and I think fans will see that the more they see him.

"I think it will be good. The excitement will be there for everybody and I just hope that we can all deliver, not only for the fans, but the players as well."