We should all be delighted to see Nestory Irankunda moving to Watford. It’s a far more visible league than the Swiss League so at the very least it ought to be possible to watch his games (or at least YouTube highlights) and follow his progress on the English-speaking Watford forums.

Some would say the Championship is the toughest league in the world.

The games come thick and fast and the pace is frantic. The ultimate prize – promotion to the EPL – is worth hundreds of millions of pounds so the competition is fierce. Reputations can be made there…

Or destroyed.

There is no doubt that Nestory is an amazing talent. If you have a look at his highlight reels you’ll see any number of instances of him bursting past defenders with explosive pace and tight control, and then blasting shots past keepers reminiscent of Peter Lorimer – often from distance. When Nestory hits them, they stay hit.

This is a talent that translates to any league.

Adelaide United’s Nestory Irankunda. (Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)

On his day he will excite the Watford crowd, and I would not be at all surprised to see him become somewhat of a cult figure there. He definitely is good enough.

But Nestory has his dark side.

They say that he does not listen to coaches and loses his rag when criticised.

He can famously get riled by opposition defenders and get so emotional (when he doesn’t get the decisions he thinks he deserves) that his game just disappears. Jacob Farrell always had him in his back pocket when Adelaide played the Mariners, and (surprise, surprise) they’ll be up against each other again in the Championship.

I’ve no doubt that managers facing Watford will be poring all over the footage of Farrell vs Nestory and taking note of how it was done.

It gets worse.

As the most competitive league in the oldest football culture, the fans of Championship teams are (arguably) the most passionate and knowledgeable anywhere. There are communities all over England where people sit in pubs (all day sometimes) or go on the internet and discuss/debate in the finest detail the goings on of their team and opponents.

Nestory is about to be suffused within this culture and learn first-hand what that means – the complete immersion of fans in (what Freud would call) the superego of their clubs.

When it goes well on the pitch, that superego will manifest as love for its heroes.

When it goes badly, fans can turn on their own with a fury that beggars belief.

Opposition fans, of course, are another matter.

If Nestory does well, he will be targeted with abusive chants and songs. Possibly even racist chants.

How will he cope with that?

He shouldn’t have to. But examples are legion (to this day, sadly) of black players being abused in Europe, and England can be as bad as anywhere. How does a passionate 19 year-old cope with tens of thousands directing their hate at him?

If I was Nestory’s coach/mentor, I would first have him focus on himself and what he brings to the team. I would have him totally focused on improvement goals in attack and defence.

I would prepare him for hate and explain that, coming from opposition fans, it is a massive compliment. The better he plays, the more they’ll hate, so he needs to be inspired by hate and want more of it. (And the more he is hated by opposition fans, the more he’ll be loved by his own.)

I would also tell him that, with his level of talent, he has the building blocks of an amazing career. But, as his Socceroos coach Tony Popvic said, talent is not enough. He needs to use his Championship experience to find that next level. He needs to find consistency and learn resilience enough to play at his best, or close to his best, all of the time.

At 19, the world is at Nestory’s feet.

He could become one of the greatest players in the world, or he could fail to reach his potential due to not coping with the mental aspects of the bizarre goldfish bowl into which he is about to dive.

It’s up to Nestory, but I will be watching with great interest to see how he goes. I don’t think I’ve been so excited about an Australian player since Harry Kewell.