No Silva lining at Watford
Watford have this morning done what Watford do best and sacked their manager Marco Silva and this time they’ve pointed the finger of blame at fellow Premier League club Everton.
Sean Dyche was Watford boss when the Pozzo family bought the club in the summer of 2012. He quickly went and has now been followed through the exit door by Gianfranco Zola, Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia, Billy McKinlay (who lasted eight days before they decided he was the wrong appointment), current Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic, who was dispensed with immediately after their promotion, Quique Sanchez Florez, Walter Mazzarri and now Silva.
Despite that, he appeared to be a manager in demand and landed the Watford job, one that’s free virtually every summer. They started really well and by mid-October they were fifth in the table and that prompted Everton to make a move for him. Watford stood firm, despite big compensation offers, and their chief executive made it very clear at the time that they don’t change managers mid-season.
But today they have done just that after a poor run of form that currently sees them still in the top half of the league, just in tenth place, but only five points above the drop zone.
The statement today from Watford read: “This has been a difficult decision and one not taken lightly. The club is convinced the appointment of Silva was the right one and had it not been for the unwarranted approach by a Premier League rival for his services we would have continued to prosper under his leadership.
“The catalyst for this decision is that unwarranted approach, something which the board believes has seen a significant deterioration in both focus and results to the point where the long term future of Watford FC has been jeopardised. For the security and success of the football club, the board believes it has to make a change.”
They must think that relegation is a real threat because, given the club’s track record, he’d have been gone in any case in another 14 games time.
He was very much flavour of the month with many in the media at the time of the Everton approach but I was never so sure and was convinced Everton had dodged a bullet. It’s one Watford have fired today.
As an aside, the first of those managers the Pozzo family sacked enjoyed his 100th Premier League and his 225th league game in total as Burnley manager yesterday.
Watford have become the eighth club to make a change of manager in the Premier League since the season kicked off following Crystal Palace, Leicester, West Ham, West Brom, Everton, Swansea and Stoke.
The early favourite for the job is Javi Gracia, whose last club was Rubin Kazan, with Watford hoping to make a very quick appointment.
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