The Hornets’ 20th-place standing in the Championship means that the volatile Gino Pozzo and Valerien Ismael may soon part ways.
Gino Pozzo, the owner of Watford, is possibly the most notorious owner in English football when it comes to being trigger-happy and not giving managers very much time at all.
Pozzo and his father Giampaolo purchased the Hornets in 2012, but it wasn’t long before Gino took total control of the organization in 2014.
Since becoming the sole owner of Vicarage Road, 17 new permanent managers have been hired, including Quique Sanchez Flores on multiple times. Meanwhile, Billy McKinlay only held the position for a short period of time.
Eight different permanent head coaches have led the Hertfordshire team since the start of the 2020–21 season, including three different ones in 2022–23.
Rob Edwards, Slaven Bilic, and Chris Wilder all failed to get long-term contracts, and this opened the door for Valerien Ismael to return to English football.
After leaving West Brom, the Frenchman signed a three-year contract, and after managing Besiktas in Turkey for a while, he was a free agent.
Ismaila Sarr and Joao Pedro both left Vicarage Road over the summer for better opportunities, although a number of new players were brought in to bolster Ismael’s team before and after the start of the 2023–24 season.
It’s possible that some false hope was offered to Hornets supporters after their team’s 4-0 thrashing of Queens Park Rangers on the first day of the season.
How has Valerien Ismael performed thus far with Watford?
Watford lost their next four Championship games before defeating Birmingham City 2-0 in September. This victory came only after the Blues were reduced to 10 men late in the contest, and two goals in stoppage time secured victory for Ismael’s team.
They subsequently drew with West Brom at home before losing to Leeds United handily at Elland Road. This past weekend, shoddy defending lost them points once more as Middlesbrough traveled from Teesside and triumphed 3-2.
Watford’s position in 20th place in the Championship after nine games is undoubtedly concerning considering that at this point last year, they were in 10th place, and Rob Edwards was fired less than a week later.
Will Valerien Ismael be fired as head coach of Watford by Gino Pozzo?
They have to travel to both Sunderland and Cardiff City before the international break, and both of those teams have been playing quite well lately and might present a lot of challenges for Ismael’s team.
The possibility exists that Watford might be in the bottom three by this time next week, with Middlesbrough and QPR only a point and Rotherham four back, and you have to wonder if Pozzo is considering firing himself once more.
It wouldn’t come as a surprise if it were because of the results thus far, but it’s still early in the season, and Watford is now only three points off of the top half. As a result, things might easily change.
Even though Ismael signed a contract that ran through 2026, there were indications a few weeks ago that the leadership was considering extending it. It would have been an intriguing turn of events, but football is a fickle sport, and the team’s performance since then has been quite dismal.
If Watford fails to pick up any points in its next two games, Pozzo will undoubtedly consider firing Ismael. As a result, don’t be surprised if Watford finds itself without a manager once more by the end of the following week, much like they were a year ago.
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