DENNIS THE MENACE
For much of the 2021-22 season, Watford’s fate has seemed set in stone.
The Hornets have spent much of the campaign inside the relegation zone, fighting the same current that dragged them down to the Championship just two years ago. It is a battle that has claimed two different managers and brought a third out of prospective retirement; nevertheless, it seems increasingly like a losing one.
The one shred of comfort in the bleakness has come in the form of Nigeria international Emmanuel Dennis.
The 24-year-old joined Watford last summer from Belgian side Club Brugge, following a disappointing loan spell in the German Bundesliga with Cologne, for a modest €4 million fee.
Fair to say, then, that expectations were not overly high.
Yet Dennis has been a revelation. In November he became only the sixth player in Premier League history to notch at least five goals and five assists within his first12 matches. By the middle of April he had scored or assisted15 goals – half of Watford’s total attacking output at the time.
For English fans, it has been quite the introduction, both in terms of impact and the speed of
