Watford Sack Manager…Again!

Even in a league as unpredictable as the Championship, there are some things we can rely on. As sure as night follows day, Gino Pozzo’s patience will eventually run out, sending the words “Watford Sack Manager” into the headlines yet again.

Paulo Pezzolano is the latest to be ejected from the Vicarage Road hot seat, with former boss Javi Gracia tipped to return for a second stint in charge.

Pezzolano arrived on 13 May under the “promotion specialist” banner, having guided clubs in Spain, Brazil, and Uruguay to the top flight. Tasked with repeating the feat on his first job in England, he has instead fallen some way short of Pozzo’s expectations.

Slow Start Sows Seeds for Sacking

Watford’s hierarchy made no secret of their ambition to mount a serious promotion push this season.

After sacking Tom Cleverley following a 14th-place finish last season, Pozzo stated, “Tom is a bright young coach who has a real future in the game, but he needs time to gain experience, and in football, time is a precious commodity. I felt, to achieve our immediate aims next season, we need a more experienced coach to get the best out of our squad.” Expanding on those aims for the 2025/26 campaign, the Italian owner added, “I have seen real signs this season that we have the talent within our squad to challenge for the play-off places next season and, hopefully, promotion.”

With a promotion push the aim, an inconsistent start was never likely to end well for Pezzolano. In fairness to the 42-year-old, results did show signs of picking up, with the Hornets collecting seven points from home games with Hull and Oxford, and a tricky trip to Portsmouth in late September/early October. However, reports suggest that back-to-back 1-0 defeats to Blackburn and Millwall in September had already set Pezzolano’s departure in motion.

Disciplinarian Approach Falls Flat

Watford may not be the best example, but new head coaches are usually given at least a little time to instil their ideas. However, Pezzolano didn’t help his cause with a disciplinarian attitude and a series of spiky quotes which appear to have endeared him to neither players nor fans.

After the home win over Hull City, the club made the questionable decision to release post-game dressing room footage. In this brief clip, Pezzolano singles out Moussa Sissoko for individual praise before telling the group, “We need each other. We need everyone.” Now in full flow, he continued through his translator, “As he told you, he’s not here to make friends with anyone. He’s here to help you guys improve and perform.”, and back into English, “You have a lot of problems. Individual problems. I have too”. With his audience looking variously bemused and disinterested, Pezzolano concluded by reminding his players to “enjoy this”.

It may be unfair to judge a speech made to exhausted players, but the atmosphere hardly oozed enjoyment – especially considering Watford had just picked up three points.

Unsettled System, Unsuitable Style, and Bizarre Substitutions

The abrasive approach may have worked elsewhere but was possibly ill-suited to Watford’s young, talented squad. With an average age of just over 24, Watford have one of the youngest squads in the division – a group more likely to respond to encouragement than to lectures or rants.

Rumours suggest Pezzolano lost the dressing room early in the campaign. As such. the team’s improvements after the Hull game may have been inspired by the players' desire to play for one another rather than their manager.

Sections of the fanbase suggest the positive results came despite the manager rather than because of him. Regular formation changes left little sense of a clear Pezzolano blueprint, while his pragmatic style failed to make the most of the young attacking talent at his disposal.

And then came those strange substitutions. Nestory Irankunda was hauled off after 35 minutes at Portsmouth, Vivaldo Semedo lasted only 32 minutes against Oxford, while Kwadwo Baah was given only five and three minutes to shine against Portsmouth and Oxford. Aged 19, 20, and 22 respectively, it is hard to believe such actions benefitted three young players trying to establish themselves.

Fans Make Thoughts Known

The largely uninspiring football (Watford failed to score in three of their first six league games), strange dressing room footage, and questionable man management began to take a toll on the Vicarage Road faithful.

Chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” emanated from the away section at Fratton Park, and from the home fans during the first half against Oxford at Vicarage Road. By this stage of the Pozzo era, the sacking of a head coach hardly raises an eyebrow. Watford fans appear to have seen this one coming from a mile off.

21 Head Coaches and Counting

Under Pozzo’s ownership, Watford have adopted the continental model of appointing a head coach rather than a traditional manager. Whereas legendary managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger oversaw the whole football side of the club – coaching, recruitment, transfers, etc. – a head coach generally focuses solely on training, tactics, and match preparation.

Making less of an overall footprint on the operations of a club, a head coach is believed to be more interchangeable than a manager. Pozzo has certainly put that theory to the test, with “Watford Sack Manager” vying to be the most prolific footballing headline over the past decade.

Since taking charge in 2012, Pozzo has employed 21 permanent head coaches. Pezzolano becomes the twelfth to be sacked in the past five years.

Gracia Next in Line?

With Pezzolano’s philosophy floundering so quickly, we would expect Pozzo to look for different qualities in his next appointment – someone with noted man-management skills and experience in the English game.

Pozzo’s first sacking, Sean Dyche, remains available after his departure from Everton. Ex-Uruguay manager Diego Alonso is another linked with the job, having been touted as an option following Tom Cleverley’s sacking in May.

However, the man generating the most hype is Javi Gracia, who presided over Watford’s most successful spell in the modern era. Taking charge in January 2018, the Spanish coach avoided relegation with a 14th place finish in 2017/18.

Better was to come during a memorable 2018/19 campaign. Watford’s eleventh-place finish was their best in over 30 years, while the club reached the FA Cup Final for only the second time in their history. Despite those efforts, Gracia was sacked in September of 2019 after a slow start to the campaign.

Following spells at Valencia (unsuccessful) and Al Sadd (more successful), Gracia took charge of Leeds United in February 2023. Tasked with avoiding relegation, he was on course to achieve that aim as Leeds climbed to 17th under his guidance. Nevertheless, Gracia was sacked with four games remaining, and Leeds were ultimately relegated.

Out of work since leaving Elland Road, Gracia is said to be refreshed and ready for a new challenge – one that could well unfold back at his old stamping ground, Vicarage Road.

Different season, same story: Watford sack manager, hit reset, and hope this time will finally be the charm.

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