Watford boss Valerien Ismael hailed his players as they got his Vicarage Road reign off to a rip-roaring start with a 4-0 win against a hapless QPR side.
All of the goals came in a scintillating first-half display that saw the Hornets take the lead after just 33 seconds through Tom Dele-Bashiru.
The impressive Imran Louza, Matthias Martins and Vakoun Bayo also profited from some dismal defending from the shell-shocked visitors to find the net in a scoreline that could have been much more emphatic.
Former Barnsley and West Brom manager Ismael is the 19th permanent managerial appointment since 2012 and he could not have asked for a better introduction to his new club as Watford delivered a superb performance with Louza the architect for much of their good play.
“I knew the guys were ready, we worked hard for seven weeks so they gave us the feeling they were ready for the competition,” Ismael said.
“I told them just to get their rewards, to put their attitude and intensity in the game.
“It was a perfect start for everyone, not about the result but more about the attitude to get the reward after seven weeks of hard work.
”The combination for the goals, we’ve worked on it for seven weeks, the positioning of the players, we attack together and defend together.
“It was the perfect first step but nothing more.
“But the way we scored the goals, the combinations, the positioning from the players, it was all very pleasing.”
Louza set up the opener with a sublime reverse pass for Dele-Bashiru and added the second with a fine curling finish from the edge of the box that found the bottom right corner of Asmir Begovic’s net.
Ismael said the Morocco international, who missed the World Cup due to a serious ankle injury, has benefitted from a full pre-season and is looking forward to working with him.
“A lot of players played at a high level but for Imran it was good after last season to have a good pre-season,” he said.
“He made every session and you can see straight away the difference, because when you are confident in your body you can show your quality.”
QPR boss Gareth Ainsworth admitted he has his work cut out to keep the club in the Championship with little money available to him to spend due to Financial Fair Play regulations.
Without first-choice centre-backs Jake Clarke-Salter and Jimmy Dunne due to injury, debutants Joe Gubbins and Morgan Fox struggled to contain the Hornets.
However, Ainsworth insists he will keep the club up.
“I am not happy, we were behind after the first minute and sometimes you have to hold hands up and say you weren’t good enough,” he said.
“We were not ready for that first half from Watford and we were torn apart at times.
“I thought we looked a lot better in the second half but on the day Watford were much better than us.
“We win and lose as a team, there is no finger pointing from me, it is down to me as the manager to put it right.
“We are favourites for the bottom of the league, but we will be better than we were last season where we scrapped it to stay up.”
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
Vardy eyes 100-point season after Leicester's title win
Jamie Vardy has challenged his Leicester City team-mates to reach 100 points after sealing the Championship title with one game to spare.
The Foxes were promoted back to the Premier League without kicking a ball after Leeds United’s 4-0 defeat to QPR on Friday, but they needed to win on Monday to earn top spot.
Enzo Maresca’s side cruised to a 3-0 victory over Preston through Vardy’s brace and Kasey McAteer’s header, moving them to 97 points.
With one last milestone in their reach, Vardy wants to make sure they end an already successful season on a high.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We can celebrate it tonight, but now we have another target which is 100 points.
“We are over the moon. It has gone by quick but it's a graft. Not many days off, I'll tell you that.
“The lads - they've given it all. Thoroughly deserved, and I'm glad we've had 5000 to come and celebrate with us. It's not like it's 20 minutes up the road."
After a run of just three victories from nine games in the league between mid-February and April, Leicester have now won each of their last three outings.
Maresca has praised his players for their hard work in what he labelled a “tough season”.
“Fantastic, it's been a fantastic season. The Championship is a tough season and very intense, but I'm very happy," said Maresca.
"Now it's time to enjoy the work of the season to bring this special club back to the Premier League. We deserve it.
“The last two days they have been fantastic. We got promoted, but it was difficult in game preparation. But we used all of today to prepare for the game, the morning and afternoon. It was good.”
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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