Remember when Watford pledged to bring an end to their dizzying, hire-and-fire managerial policy and throw their weight behind Rob Edwards? Well, that didn’t last long.
“We felt Rob had enough time to show us the identity of his team,” said owner Gino Pozzo, the living, breathing, manager-eating embodiment of the phrase ‘leopards cannot change their spots‘, after handing the former Forest Green Rovers boss his P45 on Monday.
Clearly, Pozzo’s definition of ‘enough time’ is a little different to ours. Edwards lasted just ten league games. And Slaven Bilic’s subsequent appointment just 16 minutes later makes the Croatian Watford’s ninth different head coach (permanent or otherwise) since September 2019.
But what became of his many, many predecessors?
Roy Hodgson
After both Hodgson and Sam Allardyce suffered relegation in their most recent Premier League roles, surely the age of the old-school ‘firefighter’ can be consigned to the history books, right? 75-year-old Hodgson came out of retirement to take over at Vicarage Road. He may wish he’d never bothered.
Claudio Ranieri
Both of Watford’s last two managers were old enough to be Rob Edwards’ father. From two 70-somethings to a 39-year-old; hardly the calling card of a club with a clear plan in place.
Ranieri, just five years Hodgson’s junior has been out of work ever since leaving Vicarage Road on the back of 11 defeats in 14 games. He was recently linked with Silvio Berlusconi’s Serie A newcomers Monza.
Xisco Munoz
Would Watford still be a Premier League team if Pozzo had loosened his grip on the trigger 12 months ago? The Hornets were averaging a point-per-game, and were sitting relatively pretty in 14th, when the Spaniard was sacked in October 2021.
Remarkably, Xisco was given his marching orders by Spanish second tier outfit Huesca in June after just seven months; meaning they were quicker to fire the 42-year-old than Watford were. Some achievement, when you think about.
“I’ve received offers but we need the right offer,” Xisco tells The Athletic. “Maybe in the future I will come back to the Championship. I love the intensity.”
Vladimir Ivic
After winning four trophies in just two years in charge of Maccabi Tel Aviv before taking over Watford in 2020, Ivic is now looking to add another chapter to his Israel-themed success story. The Serbian signed a two-year deal with his former club in June.
Nigel Pearson
Like Hodgson, Pearson was parachuted into Vicarage Road with one simple task; keep Watford up. In the end, he didn’t even make it until the final day, sacked with just two games remaining in the most desperate throw of a dice imaginable.
Pearson is currently in charge of an entertaining Bristol City side. The high-flying Robins have scored the joint-most goals in the Championship (19 from ten games).
Quique Sanchez Flores
You know the phrase ‘never go back’? Well, it seems that Quique Sanchez Flores is in no mood to be guided by cliches, taking over again at Getafe following two rather varying stints in English football’s hottest hot seat.
In his third spell at the Colusseum, Madrid-born Sanchez helped save his hometown from the drop last term.
Javi Gracia
Arguably no one on this list can claim to have been sacked in harsher circumstances.
“It is difficult for me to explain why,” Gracia would later reflect, having been booted out the door just four games after leading Watford onto the Wembley turf for an FA Cup final, albeit one they would lose 6-0.
After a difficult spell at Valencia, Gracia took over from Xavi at Al-Sadd and guided the Qatari club to the league title before departing in June.
Marco Silva
Now back in the Premier League with Fulham, Silva deserves plenty of credit for rebuilding a reputation that appeared in tatters after he left a mess of an Everton side in 2019.
Walter Mazzarri
Cagliari took a leaf out of Watford’s playbook in May, sacking former Napoli boss Mazzarri with just a couple of games remaining. A la Pearson, the gamble didn’t exactly pay off. Cagliari were relegated anyway.
Slavisa Jokanovic
The soft-spoken Serb looked a sure thing when he arrived at Sheffield United last year. There was to be no third Championship promotion for Jokanovic, however, and one of Watford’s most successful managers in the 21st century is now in Russia with Dinamo Moscow.
Billy McKinlay
Just eight days and two matches; McKinley would make Rob Edwards look like Sir Alex Ferguson by comparison. Following spells at Sunderland, Staebak and Stoke, McKinlay is now working with David Moyes again at West Ham United.
Oscar Garcia
A glutton for punishment (or pay-outs, perhaps), Garcia followed up his spell at Watford with a move to arguably the most brutal club on the continent. Unsurprisingly, his time at Olympiakos was over almost as soon as it begun.
Following difficult spells at Celta Vigo and St Etienne, Garcia is enjoying a reputation-restoring spell in France. He took a limited Reims side to 14th in Ligue 1 last term.
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