Confidence is a difficult thing to fake. It's one of those intangible qualities which can make you that little bit faster, that little bit stronger, have the bottle to try that volley from 30 yards.

It can instantly be the fine line between success and failure - but this isn't telling you anything you don't know. So why have so many in sport struggled with it for so long?

Confidence players have been around for years and winning mentalities forged as long as there have been games to play, but only now is the role of psychology in the increasingly money-spinning world of sport receiving more professional credence.

You can spend all week on a football training pitch devising the most intricate of tactical plans to outwit your Saturday opponent, but if your head's not in the game you haven't got a hope in hell.

"I find it hard to believe I could've been so successful being controlled by my emotions on the pitch," said six-time Premier League winner Rio Ferdinand on Radio Five this morning, for example.

His former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was undeniably the master of mentalities, and the fact Fergie Time was christened owes as much to Manchester United's desire to fight to the death as to his own of convincing referees their watches were running fast.

Some people are just charasmatic, others less so. There is definitely an aspect of personal pride behind why managers are only welcoming psychologists into the dressing room in 2017 - years after they have given up responsibility elsewhere to the likes of ProZone and Wyscout to analyse their own players and future targets.

Of the three new coaches who joined Marco Silva at Watford in the summer, none have that remit. They don't need it; Silva himself has an inate ability to instill self-belief in his squad. You can't teach that kind of leadership.

He has moulded the club in the space of eight short games into his own image, giving the Hornets a never-say-die attitude which is arguably more important than their technical ability, not that it is lacking after an expensive summer.

In fairness, it is a feat Walter Mazzarri managed too - albeit leaving them often dull, occasionally confusing and regularly looking like they didn't want to be there at all.

I have made a point of asking every player I see in the post-match mix zone what the 40-year-old has changed since he arrived at Vicarage Road in late May to alter the squad's mentality so much.

I'm yet to get a straight answer - and that is perhaps telling in itself, because Silva's revolution has been a quiet, considered one - much like the man himself.

But the confidence in each of the seven players we've spoken to has been effervescent; on Saturday, Jose Holebas said after the draw with West Brom that Watford "should be winning games like this", before conceding a draw was still a good result.

The Greek defender has never lacked self-belief but the strength of his words was still striking, and you get the idea it is a feeling which reverberates around the dressing room.

It is another cliche, but good teams grind out results without playing well. Watford were far from terrible at West Brom on Saturday, but earned a point when they were 15 seconds away from getting beaten.

Likewise at Swansea a week before, they found themselves under pressure throughout the second half but still emerged with victory.

Last season Watford picked up six points in the final 10 minutes of games; they've already got four from the final five minutes under Silva.

The Portuguese is as good a tactician as you will see, and we've regaled the precision with which he imparts his knowledge to his players before.

But, for my money, it's his ability to unite his players which will prove far more crucial over the course of the season.

"We believe in ourselves now and never give up," said Holebas on Saturday. "That’s how it should be, it should’ve been like that last year and the year before, but every time there was something.

"It comes automatically when you start winning and not losing, and you begin to believe."

I've shied away from giving out too many predictions on how Watford will fare this season, because there's always time for a bad run of form to bring your optimism crashing down around your ankles.

But seven games in, that likelihood is already beginning to wane, because the mentality in this squad has changed with a click of Silva's fingers. They simply won't crumple like they did last season.

Let's just be grateful Crystal Palace didn't snap him up before Watford came calling - because look at them now - but hope however his philosophy serves the Hornets this season, no vultures come circling for a man whose stock is rising faster than Paul Merson can row back on his pre-season predictions.