Meet Kelland Watts

What can we expect from Garry Monk's first summer signing?

So there we have it, the U’s summer business is officially underway. The wheels of scouting teams and player reports are in motion. The fire of the recruitment team is being stoked. And the squad for 2023/24 takes its first steps in its journey to create what can hopefully become a memorable team for all the right reasons.

The first of those signings is 24-year-old Kelland Watts. And his signing indicates a lot more than just the beginning of another summer of rumours, speculation and eventual confirmations. This feels like an indication of the type of recruitment strategy we can expect this summer. Young, but with nearly 100 League One appearances under his belt already, on the face of it this is a player with a lot of potential but also the quality to make an instant impact. An old head on young shoulders for the level, you could say.

Where last summer there was a focus on bringing in a core of players with hundreds of games worth of experience at a higher level, hoping that that natural pedigree would translate on the pitch at the bottom end of League One, this feels like a different approach already. Not just a welcome change, as fans were left desperately wanting by the bulk of those players last year, but also an approach that feels much more sensible in the long run. Raising the floor of quality in the squad while also improving the ceiling in years to come.

This might be extrapolating a lot from just a single early summer signing, but the hope is high. So what about the player himself?

Kell Watts is a 6 foot 4, 24-year-old, solely left-footed centre half. He primarily plays on the left side of defence, with experience both as part of a back three and a back four. Having started his career as a midfielder, he’s been noted for his long-range passing ability, as well as his obvious aerial threat.

He was released by his boyhood club Newcastle United this summer, where having been in the academy since the age of 8, he ended his spell there having only played 14 minutes for the first team, coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 Premier League defeat to Liverpool.

While Geordies might not remember Watts with any real significance except a promising young player who never quite made the cut, there’s plenty of recollection from other fanbases of clubs where he spent time on loan. After loans at then League Two Stevenage and Mansfield, racking up 23 appearances across both spells, Watts made the long move down to Devon for a season-long loan at Plymouth.

His time at Home Park might not be remembered particularly fondly, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Here’s what Argyle podcast Argyle Life told us about his time there:

Kelland Watts is one of those players among Argyle fans who has achieved a certain fame through obscurity. Of all the thousands of players to have pulled on the green shirt, he is one of the few who played for the greens exclusively in the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic. It wouldn’t be strictly true to say that no fans saw him play - there was that brief interregnum between the two lockdowns where fans were allowed back into the ground in their hundreds. Ultimately though, memories of him will always be intertwined with frustrating recollections of trying to connect a HDMI cable to the big TV.

Now, what was he like as a player? Watts was a regular part of a very poor defence that came 18th in the league and conceded an eye watering 80 goals across the course of the season (the second worst in the league). He wasn’t loved by fans, to put it mildly. He became associated with moments of calamity, shepherding a ball ‘out of play’ at Portsmouth which resulted in the attacker easily dispossessing him and scoring to rob Argyle of two points. Wildly swinging a fist at the ball on the goalie as it went into the net in a 6-0 loss was another. Physically he was weak and had a very low aerial duel success rate.

That said, there are absolutely reasons for U’s fans to be optimistic. Watts is a better player than he showed at Home Park, of that there is no doubt. Argyle’s 2020/21 season was above all a failure in recruitment. We didn’t just sign one inexperienced defensive player, we signed several. Even goalkeeper Michael Cooper, now the envy of the EFL, was a bit wet behind the ears. Ryan Lowe top loaded the squad, an error he rectified the following season.

One inexperienced defender with a leader around him is fine, two at a push with a bit of rotation. It’s not true to say that you don’t win anything with kids but it’s rare that you win with a defence stock full of them. Watts did show some talents. He was a composed player when it came to playing out from the back and his positional play showed promise, especially on the odd occasion where he had the guidance of Niall Canavan (before his January sale to Bradford). His successful loan spell at Wigan as part of their title season also speaks to his potential.

Since then he’s struggled with injuries and not managed to find an established role anywhere. There’s a chance Cambridge could be where he finally settled down and fulfils his not inconsiderable potential. Equally, there’s a chance he gets stuck into a rut and doesn’t learn from his errors and his moments of panic.

So while this isn’t the ringing endorsement United fans would hope for, it’s clear that even in that very poor Plymouth team there are reasons to be positive and hopeful about his quality. A young centre-half on his first season long loan is always going to have some error-strewn moments; it’s exactly the point of the loan to learn from them and become a better player.

The question then is how much has he learned from that time at Plymouth? Watts’ next move was two loan spells at Wigan, sandwiching a brief spell up the road at P*sh where injury curtailed his playing time.

Certified friend of the pod Barry Worthington from Wigan podcast Progress With United gave us the lowdown on his time there:

We've had Watts on season long loans twice at Wigan, and we tried to get him back for the season he went to Peterborough when we were in the Championship but an injury put paid to that.

He’s a left-footed centre back that can play in a 2 or 3, but always on the left as his right foot is for standing on. In his first season with us under Leam Richardson, Kell was awesome. Strong on the floor and in the air, read the game well and slotted in really well. That season we played a direct style of football and it suited his game. One goal line clearance away at Burton typified him.

He returned to Newcastle at the end of the season and picked up an injury in a training camp with the Geordies which stopped the plan to get him back.

Under Maloney we play a totally different style, he struggled with the possession at the back football and found himself out of the side, plus he picked up an injury. He is a very good defender at League 1 level and could prove a great acquisition on a free. I hope he does well, the supporters loved him here.

A lot to unpack here, but the headline has to be that Watts was a crucial part of a defence that won the League One title under Leam Richardson. Barry clearly speaks fondly about him, and given the note on a more direct playing style suiting Watts, that might be an indication for how Monk wants us to approach games next season, utilising that long range passing ability he has.

One thing to note is the injury record, which has cropped up a few times. It might be that that is a factor in being able to pick him up on a two-year deal, where maybe a club with loftier ambitions than us might have turned him down as the risk was too big. But it obviously fits the ethos of making sure every promising signing we make has a dreadful injury record, so that’s that box ticked…

The reaction to Watts’ signing has been really positive amongst U’s fans, and rightly so. Many have seen it as a bit of a statement of intent - it feels like if we can make all signings match up to this standard, we’ll give ourselves the best possible chance of success (read: ‘staying up’) this season.