Watford's manager merry-go-round sees Bilic become Pozzo's 16th pick

09/28/2022

Watford have had one less manager in 10 years than West Ham have in their ENTIRE history! Slaven Bilic is now the Pozzos’ 16th permanent boss… but with two Premier League promotions and an FA Cup final, is the hiring and firing policy working?

Trigger-happy Watford sacked manager Rob Edwards after just 10 league games
Slaven Bilic is back in English football as Watford’s 17th manager in 10 years
The Pozzo family’s hire-fire approach has delivered two top-flight promotions
The Hornets have also reached an FA Cup final, as well as an FA Cup semi-final

One thing Rob Edwards cannot be is surprised. Angry, sure. Let down, sure. But not surprised. This is Watford under the Pozzo family. The hottest of hot-seats never finds itself occupied for long.

Binning Edwards after 10 league games would be laughable if it wasn’t so depressing.

Watford never seem to learn and now it will be Slaven Bilic’s turn as the 16th permanent appointment by the Pozzos in 10 years to try and turn the tide.

‘What we needed was continuity behind a coach that we believe in and the supporters believe in,’ chief executive Scott Duxbury said of Edwards’ appointment in June.

‘We also wanted somebody who could grow with us. We know that we could not carry on as we were. Watford Football Club needed its culture back.

‘In Rob Edwards, we have appointed a manager we all totally believe in, and a manager who will lead and drive that change. We will be supporting Rob Edwards come hell or high water.’

Watford sacked Rob Edwards after just over four months in charge at Vicarage Road

Ex-West Ham and West Bromwich Albion boss Slaven Bilic will take over as his replacement

Grow with us? Couldn’t carry on as we were? Needed its culture back? Hell or high water? An utterly bizarre statement then as it remains today.

What culture were they seeking to re-establish with the appointment of Edwards, really?

Since the Pozzo family took control in 2012, they have appointed 16 managers – with Quique Sanchez Flores enduring two spells.

By contrast, West Ham have had 18 permanent managers in their entire 127-year history. So, remind us of that Watford culture…

Gianfranco Zola (left), Nigel Pearson (centre) and Slavisa Jokanovic (right) have been in charge

Xisco Munoz took the reigns in December 2020 but was dismissed after just 36 matches

WATFORD SEASONS

2012-13 – 3rd, play-offs

2013-14 – 13th

2014-15 – 2nd, (promoted to Premier League)

2015-16 – 13th + (FA Cup semi-final)

2016-17 – 14th

2017-18 – 11th

2018-19 – 11th + (FA Cup final)

2019-20 – 19th, (relegated to Championship)

2020-21 – 2nd, (promoted to Premier League)

2021-22 – 19th (relegated to Champ)

Bilic, who has been on the Pozzos’ radar for a number of seasons, arrives as the club’s fourth permanent manager this year. That’s a new manager every two and a half months, give or take.

There can be no denying that after a promising start results had declined for Edwards and, sat 10th, the Pozzo family had clearly had enough following a 2-2 draw with Sunderland.

Edwards had won one of his last seven games in charge, leaving them a point outside the play-offs and nine points off first-place Sheffield United.

‘As with all decisions taken by the board, I believe this change to be in the best interests of the club,’ Giampaolo Pozzo explained in the statement that confirmed Bilic’s appointment.

‘We felt Rob had enough time to show us the identity of his team, however, performances haven’t reflected our hopes and ambitions.

‘Now we must move forward, and, in Slaven Bilic, we have secured the services of an experienced coach who has recent experience of promotion to the Premier League.’

The key dissection of that Duxbury interview back in June is the idea that Watford cannot go on as they are now, with fans barely able to even get to know the new manager’s name before they are ruthlessly deemed surplus to requirements.

Quique Sanchez-Flores (left), Marco Silva (middle) and Oscar Garcia (right) also got the boot

Javi Gracia got 66 games in charge and took Watford to an FA Cup final in the 2018-19 season

On the face of it, since the Pozzo family took over Watford have enjoyed two promotions, one FA Cup final and one FA Cup semi-final.

There have also been two relegations in that spell – in 2019-20 and 2021-22 – so it’s not a perfect science but as frustrating as it is for Watford fans, a decade without patience has delivered Watford’s owners much of the success they have craved.

The question now is whether this unrelenting style, with no time afforded to new managers, has now totally lost touch with reality.

Since appointing Quique Sánchez Flores in September 2019, the seven permanent Watford managers have had have averaged just 19.3 games in charge of the club.

What can any owner realistically expect to build or grow in less than 20 matches?

‘No doubt @WatfordFC will already be on the look out for a successor to Bilic!’ joked Sky Sports’ Jeff Stelling. Worryingly for Bilic, it won’t feel too far from the truth if history tells us anything.

Combined, Claudio Ranieri (left), Vladimir Ivic (centre) and Giuseppe Saninno (right) got 62 games in charge of Watford as their hire and fire approach leaves little room for patience

Walter Mazzarri took the job on in July 2016 but was gone less than a year later after 41 games

Watford, like Chelsea for many years, have seen the fruits of their labour in hiring and firing but this latest episode, in which Edwards was reportedly ‘kept in the dark’, according to the Athletic, has left a sour taste in the mouths of supporters.

In walks Bilic, joining Sanchez-Flores, Hayden Mullins, Nigel Pearson, Vladimir Ivić, Xisco Munoz, Claudio Ranieri, Roy Hodgson and Edwards, in taking a seat in the Watford dugout since 2019.

There comes a point whereby supporters’ disillusionment will spill over and success won’t follow to bail out the Pozzo family’s decision making.

As many people have managed Watford since 2012 as have been monarch of England since 1650, wrote one reporter in jest this week.

A ludicrous statistic that befits a ludicrous situation. Watford have pulled a Watford.

So much for ‘hell or high water’, then.

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