The Hornets gained promotion to the Premier League at
the weekend, and have the phenomenal form of Odion Ighalo in 2015 to
thank.
COMMENT By Solace Chukwu 
Follow on TwitterResults are the ultimate record of accomplishment, but their greater significance is often glimpsed only through the prism of context. On the face of it, Watford’s 2-0 win over Brighton, two places above the relegation zone and winless in six, was hardly the most stimulating contest. Still, as referee Keith Stroud blew his whistle for full time, he marked the end of a 90 minutes which the Hornets will not forget for a while.
With the win, Slavisa Jokanovic’s side sealed promotion to the Premier League for the first time in eight years; their 88-point haul means they cannot drop lower than second place with one game left in the season. It is a remarkable achievement for a club that has gone through four different managers this term alone, three of those inside the first two months of the campaign.
The manner of the result was profoundly satisfying for Jokanovic as well, with the club’s three highest scorers playing prominent roles: Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo assisted the opener for skipper and leading scorer Troy Deeney, and Deeney returned the favour deep into stoppage time for Czech international Matej Vydra to put gloss on the result.
With the fascination about tactics, it is perhaps easy to forget that football can be as easy as getting your best players to combine in advanced areas where it matters most. In this sense, Watford’s success this season has not been surprising at all; in spite of the early upheaval, they have the second-best attack in the Championship with 90, and Deeney, Ighalo and Vydra have pitched in with 56 of those.
Particularly indispensable has been the contribution of Ighalo to the cause. The 25-year-old only managed four goals for the Hornets before the New Year, but has struck sixteen times in 2015. His goals have been crucial, propelling the club from sixth place at the start of the year to top spot with one game to play.
In the gruelling 46-game season that is the English Championship, player burnout is a very present danger. One can imagine then that Ighalo saving his best for last has effectively given Watford a second wind while others floundered; Derby for example find themselves down in sixth, having led the league for much of the first half and begun the year in third.
The Nigeria international told AfricanFootball of his delight at securing promotion, saying, “I am fulfilled with the EPL ticket.
“My dream has been to play in the EPL, so with this ticket, it is a dream come true for me and I am happy to be part of this with Watford.”
Ighalo has, over the course of his career so far, certainly shown himself useful to promotion pushes. His 17 goals over 28 appearances helped Granada to promotion in Spain back in 2009. The step-up in terms of quality is one which he will have to make though, if Watford have any hopes of surviving in the Premier League; he then proceeded to score just 18 times in 99 appearances in La Liga.
For now though, the striker is not worrying about that just yet.
“My next target is to win our last match and… Championship trophy…,” he stressed.
Ego firmly to the side then for Ighalo, a firm believer in Christianity and the role of God in sporting outcomes. This hopeful, focused outlook has endeared him to the club’s fans in a major way – goals have helped too, naturally – and he is now in an environment and culture where he can be comfortable and express himself freely; a far cry from spending four seasons on loan at Granada.
More than just goals though, there are four assists to the forward’s name this season. Direct contribution to goals sees him as the second-most important player to Jokanovic, and if the Hornets are to avoid the fate of 2007 – where they finished rock-bottom of the Premier League, only managing five wins all season – they will need Ighalo to get going quickly.
They certainly have the potential to hold their own in the rarefied atmosphere of the Premier League, and thanks to being owned by the Pozzo family, they also have quality from sister clubs Italy (Udinese) and Spain (Granada) available. In manager Slavisa Jokanovic, they have a manager that at age 46 has an impressive resume featuring league titles in two different countries, and who enjoyed a brief stint in his playing career at Chelsea.
Without a doubt, 2015 has been a dream year for Odion Ighalo – promoted to the Premier League and recently a part of the Nigeria national team set-up. How he handles the limelight will tell us a lot more about the player, but if his humble demeanour is anything to go by, the Lagos-born striker is set for bigger things.
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