Watford

Monday's shock sacking of Rob Edwards has only deepened supporters' growing resentment of Gino Pozzo.

What he must do – what any of Watford’s revolving cast of coaches has needed to do – is instil in the team a clear identity, and for that identity to remain consistent, and for the same coach to remain employed long enough for supporters to reengage. It was a decision that made sense only as a desperate plea for attention and for people who give the impression that they are keen to build relationships and reputations rather than just personal fortunes. Another is the fans’ faith in Pozzo, who in 2012 rescued Watford from the toxic ownership of Laurence Bassini and three years later [delivered them to the Premier League](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/25/watford-promoted-wigan-staring-at-relegation). [relegation was confirmed at Selhurst Park](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/may/07/crystal-palace-watford-premier-league-match-report), Hodgson, the grimmest and most graceless of the 16 coaches so far sacked by Pozzo, applauded the home fans and completely ignored his own. Nothing was done to repair them as crowds returned to games and Xisco Muñoz was replaced by Claudio Ranieri and [then Roy Hodgson](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/feb/02/roy-hodgson-watford-right-mermaid-going-past-the-right-ship). [Relegation in 2020](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/26/arsenal-watford-premier-league-match-report) and promotion a year later had been witnessed only by empty stands. Not even, in fact, in the summer transfer window, which closed upon a flimsy and top-heavy squad bereft of anyone who could perform the wing-back roles that had been crucial to Edwards’ success at Forest Green Rovers. In Rob Edwards, we have appointed a manager we all totally believe in, and a manager who will lead and drive that change. (Over the last few years the club’s transfer dealings have been strange, with some brilliant signings – Yáser Asprilla, the young Colombian midfielder with a wand of a left foot, looks like the latest – but several others that have bordered on the inexplicable, and a puzzlingly And more than anything because they had been encouraged to believe that he would be allowed to stay and to grow, to put together a play of several acts. Not because they have appreciated his tactical stylings but because they have grown tired of the club’s constantly spinning managerial carousel and know that blame for the team’s poor start has to be shared. Performances have been incoherent and wildly unimpressive, with the Hornets’ possession consisting largely of central defenders passing the ball among themselves until the crowd grows restless and one of them in desperation shanks it straight to the opposing goalkeeper.

It's been ten years since Watford owner Gino Pozzo gave an external interview. In light of current events, he must now talk directly to the fans.

It would be very easy to sit here and pick apart what has happened, and give the owner a right royal slagging. I’ve slept on what I might write about it all, and there is more I might want to say in the future. They were fully responsible for a dreadful performance at Blackburn, two days later they were told (and two different players have confirmed this to me) that sporting director Cristiano Giaretta had left the club. “However, he accepts that the way we try and work to deliver that had to change. Edwards walked into a club that had been relegated in spectacularly bad fashion, and found a squad that was lop-sided and starting to look threadbare in areas. “We realised that to have sustained and successful Premier League football, then we had to change things. So much of what was said in the summer now feels so hollow, and that is mainly because the club has reverted back to type so quickly. “Gino Pozzo wants the club to be successful and playing sustained Premier League football. Or in the moment that Sunderland equalised, did the club decide Rob Edwards had gone from the golden child to a very naughty boy? It’s at that point you notice there’s a crack on the right side of the mug. The average life of a Watford head coach in the last ten years has been roughly 27 games, so he wasn’t even given 50% of that. When you get the mug out, you notice there’s already a bit of milk in it.

Watford have confirmed Slaven Bilic will be their new head coach after Rob Edwards was sacked this morning.

The defender began his career in the late 80s in his home country, before experience in Germany preceded his time in England at both West Ham and Everton. The 54-year-old also managed West Ham United in the Premier League, collecting coaching experience abroad in between times at Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia and most recently in China with Beijing Guoan. “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.”