Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Watford certainly did not hang about in their attempts to name a new manager. 24 hours from the time of writing Marco Silva was the boss of the Hornets who currently sit 10th in the Premier League, now Javi Gracia has stepped into the hotseat at Vicarage Road.
The club have gone on record to say that they blame Everton for the distraction they caused after attempting to appoint Silva as their boss last Autumn. Since then Watford’s form has simply not been anywhere near it was at the start of the campaign.
Add into the mix the fact that Silva had reportedly fallen out with the club’s board and you got the feeling that Watford would not hesitate to pull the trigger and replace the man at the helm of the club if they deemed it necessary.
Having only earned five points from their last 33 they would have certainly deemed it necessary, as things stands Watford are now only four points from safety. The safety net they once had has now been eroded and had they kept the status quo then they would have only slumped down the table further.
A slump that has already happened in the past two seasons and was enough to earn a P45 for both Quique Sanchez Flores. Both times the club started the campaign brightly only to then sink like a stone, history is nearly repeating itself thrice only the difference here is that Silva did not get a whole season in charge.
Watford were obviously not best pleased with the fact that Silva was flirting with Everton but at the same time it perhaps smacks of doubled standards that they have had Javi Gracia installed with immediate effect. This hints that they must have been talking to him before the sacking of the former Olympiakos and Hull manager.
Gracia comes here since leaving Russian club Rubin Kazan last June. The 47-year-old previously spent two seasons with Spanish La Liga side Malaga, and also worked in Greece. Gracia is the 10th manager to work for Watford under the Pozzo family since 2012.
An astonishing turnover of managers but I guess the turnover has worked to a certain degree but at the same time it is not one that fosters a culture of loyalty at the club. If they are only prepared to have managers stay for two seasons then they cannot be at all surprised if their heads are subsequently looking elsewhere.
Ultimately we will know if the decision to sack Silva and install Gracia has been a wise one come the end of the season. Should Watford have the slide halted and stay in mid-table then I guess they just carry on as normal but if they do continue to sink like a stone then they may well need to reconsider their approach to hiring and firing.
