Roy Hodgson is back and so too are his weird and wonderful quotes. Speaking on Wednesday, the man who brought us “water-into-wine achievements” when discussing his time managing Halmstad in the mid-70s and “taking the slings and arrows” after his failure with England at Euro 2016 was at it again as he outlined his decision to come out of retirement to take charge of Watford. This time Hodgson went full nautical for what may prove to be his most memorable utterance. “This job was one I was never going to turn down because it was quite literally the siren call from the mermaid as the sailor passes by on his ship,” he said. “They got the right mermaid going past the right ship.” Hodgson is presumably the ship in that analogy. Or the sailor. Either way, it was some way for him to try to explain the lure of Watford after his departure from Crystal Palace and decision, at the age of 74, to call time on a management career stretching over four decades. He was meant to be relaxing but instead is back on the touchline, taking charge of a 17th club and one 19th in the Premier League having lost seven and drawn one of their past eight games. As Hodgson admits, keeping Watford up is an “arduous challenge”, but he insists he retains the energy and enthusiasm for it. “What I thought I would be able to do when I left Palace, I was able to do,” he said. “I was happy with my life and not looking at what job could be available. This one came out of the blue and I was glad it did because I felt ready to go back in. “In my eyes I’m fine, but you might find that people who have worked with me think: ‘He’s slowed down, he’s not what he once was.’ I certainly don’t feel that way. And really, nothing comes close [to being a manager]. But I always knew that. I knew I could never say I don’t miss it or football doesn’t mean anything to me any more.” It is a case of straight out of the slippers and into the fire for Hodgson given his debut as Watford manager comes on Saturday with a trip to Burnley, who sit one place and two points behind them. It may be too early in the season to call it a six-pointer but defeat would be a big setback for either side, Watford especially given they have played two games more than Sean Dyche’s side. Hodgson, having had only a week to prepare his new team, admits Watford may not be ready for the challenge at Turf Moor but he has called on them to deliver better performances than those that led to Claudio Ranieri’s sacking, with the Italian’s successor drawing on his successful escapes from relegation, most notably with Fulham, for inspiration. “I’ve got to believe the way I go about the job with Ray Lewington [his assistant], we are capable of turning this club around,” he said. “And I do believe there are enough players of Premier League quality at the club to get out of the relegation zone. But the only way we’ll do that is if they produce the level of football required. “If we don’t win [against Burnley] we have to be careful not to say it’s all over. It should’ve been all over at Fulham when we were two goals down at Manchester City with three games to go. But we did it. So as far as I’m concerned, our faith will last until the very last moment we can’t do it any more.” Hodgson said his contract lasts only until the end of the season, which is perhaps just as well given the regularity with which the owner, Gino Pozzo, gets through managers, his latest hire being the 16th in less than 10 years. With that in mind, Hodgson’s mermaids analogy feels especially pertinent given in Greek mythology the siren call was used to entice sailors to their destruction. “I’ve jumped in at the deep end,” said Hodgson, keeping the nautical theme going. “I can only hope that won’t see me drowning.”