Paperwork issue with his replacement kept Pollock at Watford
Back in January, Mattie Pollock had packed his stuff up and was all set to leave Watford and move to play in Europe.
The defender had signed for the Hornets in the summer of 2021, but his chances in the first team had been very limited.
He’d spent a season on loan at Cheltenham and made nearly 40 appearances, and half a season with Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League.
However, he had registered just five outings for the Hornets in the 22/23 season, and eight more from the bench (totalling only 107 minutes) in the first half of 23/24 as the January transfer window was heading towards its close.
The defender handed in a transfer request, and had a number of offers at home and abroad, one of which was progressed to the point of completion.
“The deal was done. I was going to sign for a team in Belgium,” he recalled.
“I went over there and everything was pretty much sorted, but there was an issue with Antonio Tikvic’s visa.
“He was coming in but whatever happened stopped that and it was the only reason I didn’t leave at that point.
“I’m thankful it didn’t because since then, under Clevs, everything has turned around for me.
“But I can’t hide it, the deal was done and I was pretty much on my way out.”
At the time, Pollock said the transfer request was something borne out of frustration and needing to play football. He didn’t really want to leave Vicarage Road.
“It wasn’t what I wanted, no, but I wasn’t getting games and I felt I was being messed about,” Pollock admitted.
“The manager at the time didn’t really fancy me, and that’s fine because everybody has their own opinions.
“At my age, I felt I had to be playing games. I pride myself on wanting to play.
“If I’m good enough then I’ll play, if I’m not then I’ll drop down a league if it means I can play. I don’t want to sit around and pick up a pay packet. I don’t play footy for that.
“I was going to leave to get games, the deal was done – and then it fell through. Good job it did.”
Having not departed, Pollock started four games before Valerien Ismael lost his job, but was then named in Tom Cleverley’s first starting XI for the 1-0 win away at Birmingham, and started six of the final nine games under the new head coach.
