Steven Watt knew his phone was going to ring at some point this week. As soon as José Mourinho, in anticipation of the inevitable question at his first press conference as Manchester United manager, produced a list featuring Watt and all the other young players he has apparently nurtured from the nest, someone was bound to ask.
The list of 55 players does, shall we say, occasionally depart from reality, but Watt genuinely was a player handed his debut by Mourinho at Chelsea. Indeed, he is perhaps as well placed as anyone to talk about the chances Mourinho gives young players, and equally could be the most likely to offer a negative view. The Scottish centre-back was 19 when Mourinho arrived at Chelsea in 2004, and appeared in the new man’s first game in charge of the team, a friendly against Oxford. However, after that Watt made just two competitive appearances for the first team – one a start against Scunthorpe in the third round of the FA Cup, the other a few minutes as a substitute against Newcastle in the final game of the season, with the league title already won.
So does Watt think that, with a total of around 92 minutes in the first team he was given enough of a chance? “I think I was,” he says. “I’m a firm believer that if you were good enough, you’d get your opportunity. I fell short of being good enough. When you’re at a club like Chelsea, you have to be exceptional. John Terry has been exceptional for club and country for a long time. If you’re a youngster at these clubs, you have to be at that level to break through.”
There’s no bitterness in Watt’s voice as he talks about his time at Stamford Bridge, and has a matter-of-fact acceptance that the job of a young player at a club such as Chelsea is incredibly difficult. “I was fifth-choice centre-half when I was there. Wherever José has gone, he likes two players per position, and I was unfortunate, if you like, that I had Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, William Gallas and Robert Huth in front of me.”
The only hint of negativity in Watt’s words appear in mild disappointment that he didn’t play just one more game. Chelsea won Watt’s first start 3-1, then faced Birmingham, at that stage a top-flight team, in the fourth round of the FA Cup. “I thought I did well against Scunthorpe,” he says, “I did feel a little bit disappointed that I wasn’t in the squad for that game, at least on the bench. I can’t sit here and say I wouldn’t have liked to have played more – of course I would – but I do believe I was given a chance, but I didn’t quite make the grade.”
The following season Watt went on loan to Barnsley, where he got a taste for first-team football, so a permanent transfer to Swansea was arranged in January 2006. “If I hadn’t left,” he says, “I believe I would’ve played more.” After that, injuries blighted his career (he twice dislocated a shoulder), only making more than 50 appearances at one club, Ross County. He is now assistant manager of Hastings, in the Ryman League Division One South.
Maybe surprisingly, Watt paints a picture of Mourinho as a man who used humour as part of his man-management. “It was all played down, he was laughing and joking with me,” Watt says of his debut. “His man-management is as you’d imagine; he really knows how to get the best out of every individual. He was always good for a practical joke here and there.
“Billy McCulloch [Chelsea’s masseur] was involved with Scotland, and they made up a letter from the Scottish FA, saying they didn’t want his services any more. José called Billy into his office and gave him a good talking to, said he’d let the club down etc. I think John Terry was behind that, and got Mourinho involved. On José’s his first day, the boys tied Bill – it was always Bill – to a chair and put him in Mourinho’s office, with his feet up on the desk. Mourinho just took him out and wheeled him down the corridor, tied to the chair.”
Watt is dismissive of the idea that Mourinho ignores young players. “His responsibility is with the first team – they’ve got to win. That was instilled in everyone on his first day. But he was aware of players in the youth team set-up. It wasn’t like he didn’t know anyone’s names. He knew who everyone was. When he first came to the club his first sessions were with the first team, the reserves, the under-19s, all as one.”
As for anyone worried about the youngsters at Manchester United, Watt offers some form of reassurance. “I always believed that if I was good enough I’d play. United have got good youngsters there, so if they’re good enough, he’ll give them a chance.”
