The Ghosts Of Vicarage Road: Watford's Treatment Of Managers Harms Their Legacy

The Hornets have dispensed with yet another manager
07:00, 28 Sep 2022

As inevitable as a lying politician or a Michael Buble Christmas album, Watford FC have sacked their manager. At this point their revolving door policy isn’t even beyond parody. It’s beyond whatever is already beyond parody. It happens so often we’re all bored of our own jokes about it. There’s only so many times you can say “It’ll be Harry Hornet’s turn next!” without your friends throwing you out of the group chat. 

This time it was Rob Edwards, in case you were wondering. As of press time his replacement, former West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion manager Slaven Bilic, was still in a job. 24 hours as Watford manager! That must be a new record. (Lampard voice) No but seriously, they sack a lot of managers.

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For a while Watford’s owners, the Pozzo family and their ‘sack first, ask questions later’ remit actually seemed to work. Like a younger sibling to Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea, who kept winning trophies despite their head coaches having the life expectancy of a house fly, Watford’s chopping and changing bore fruit. 

Before the Italian family took charge of the club in 2012, they had spent just two seasons in the Premier League over its 20-year history. In the decade that has followed they have played in the top tier for six seasons. Five of those were consecutive, between 2015/16 and 2019/20. It was their longest unbroken spell in the top flight since the glory days of Graham Taylor in the 1980s. 

This modern high point for the Hornets was achieved in the most unstable, counter-intuitive way possible. The Pozzos have gone through 18 permanent managers since taking over. Some have gone on to great success elsewhere (Brendan Rodgers, Sean Dyche), some lasted mere days (Billy McKinlay) and some have even been back for another go (Quique Sanchez Flores). But it doesn’t matter whether they secured promotion (Slavisa Jokanovic, Xisco Munoz) or a best-ever Premier League finish and an FA Cup final appearance (Javi Gracia); they have all ended up on the chopping block.

But while it was working, nobody thought to question it. Sure, they sneered when the inevitable sacking came. They made jokes. They trotted out the eye-watering stats behind the Vicarage Road churn. But what else was there to say? Watford sacked managers but they remained comfortably a Premier League team for a long time. Then they got relegated.

In typical Hornets fashion, the 2019/20 season was an absolute manager-fest. Javi Gracia, he of the 11th placed finish and FA Cup final, lasted four games. Admittedly they only got one point from them but it still felt early to dispense with a manager who had brought such success to the club. Up next was a return for Sanchez Flores, who had previously been let go after having the temerity to lead them to a 13th place finish and an FA Cup semi final.

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It would not prove to be second time lucky for Sanchez Flores, he was gone by Christmas. Former Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson replaced him, but didn’t even have enough time to call anyone an ostrich. He was inexplicably dumped with two games left of the season, only for interim appointment Hayden Mullins to lose those games and ratify their relegation.

Former PAOK and Maccabi Tel Aviv boss Vladimir Ivic was the man tasked with taking Watford back up at the first attempt. He was sacked with the side in fifth place in December. Xisco finished the job, securing automatic promotion with a 2nd placed finish. 

Lesson learned? Was it f**k. Watford employed the services of Xisco, Claudio Ranieri and Roy Hodgson as they were relegated last season. If these seem like an arbitrary set of coaches appointed with no clear plan or tactical identity then that’s because they are.

In fact if you go through the full roll call of Pozzo-era bosses, there is no clear link between them. There appears to be no unifying football strategy, no essence of what the Pozzos think Watford Football Club should be. Contrast their scattershot appointments with a club like Brighton & Hove Albion, who have seamlessly replaced Graham Potter with Roberto De Zerbi, a manager well-placed to continue in the same vein, it’s like night and day.

Rob Edwards was supposed to be the antidote to Watford’s lack of ideas. A young coach who had impressed at Forest Green Rovers, owner Gino Pozzo promised he would support Edwards “come hell or high water” in order to build a more sustainable Watford. Hell ended up being ten league games and high water apparently means “one point off the play-offs”. Once again, Watford have done a Watford. 

Slaven Bilic is the latest to take to the Watford dugout. He’s a good coach and might well take them up. But even if he does, what then? If his side lose the first two or three games of the Premier League season he’ll probably be out of a job. Like his 18 predecessors, he will leave no trace of his existence. No legacy. Watford is a club operating completely without one at this point. There is nothing identifiably Watford beyond the fact they sack managers. Which, considering the last decade has seen the club enjoy some of its greatest achievements, is the saddest part of all. 

DISCLAIMER: Slaven Bilic was still Watford manager at the time of writing. If he isn’t by the time you’re reading this, just delete where applicable. Sam Allardyce/Hayden Mullins/Harry Hornet/Xisco Munoz/Sisqo/Harry Redknapp.

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