After another disappointing day at Vicarage Road, as the Hornets slipped to another home defeat this time at the hands of the play-off chasing Coventry City, the infamous corner flag made an appearance to confirm Valerian Ismael had followed the fate of those before him and was shown the WD exit door.
As for the game itself, the first 45 minutes were probably Watford's best of 2024, as they failed to capitalise on several chances following Ryan Porteous' opener. But despite the signs of improvement, yet again Watford couldn't head into the break ahead, only virtually relegated Rotherham has led fewer times at the break this campaign. The controversial recall of Daniel Bachmann has seen him concede a calamitous own goal on Wednesday night (a 1-1 draw with Swansea City) and the leveling penalty against the Sky Blues yesterday afternoon, a roll of the dice that wasn't necessary from Isamel after dropping Ben Hamer for what appears to be without good reason.
Haji Wright's second-half winner for Coventry seemed all too inevitable and that put the writing on the wall for Isamel, condemning his side to just two league wins in 2024 (away victories at struggling Rotherham and QPR) and no home victory in 119 days, a 5-0 thumping of Rotherma in November.
Watford have announced a lot of sackings over the years, however, they still found a way to keep this one fresh, as ITV's EFL highlights show broke the news 20 minutes before the club could even muster the infamous club statement. An absolute PR shambles to say the least, although it appears this is the fault of ITV as opposed to the club.
Aside from yesterday, this sacking doesn't come as a surprise certainly comparably to previous Head Coache's who have been dismissed rather hastily or harshly by Gino Pozzo and Scott Duxbury. Watford have secured just six points from the previous ten league matches, as well as dismally departing the FA Cup during the same period of time at the hands of Southampton.
With The Hornets sleepwalking towards a relegation battle, with a tough-looking run-in, the board has seen fit to relieve Ismael of his ten-month tenure, with former Hornets captain and U18 coach Tom Cleverley placed in interim charge. It's not clear whether that is just for next week's trip to Birmingham City or whether on a slightly longer-term basis, that will depend on who Pozzo and co-opt to appoint to steer a ship less steady than the titanic into another new era.
Reflecting on Isamel's time in Hertfordshire as a whole, after a glorious opening day victory at home to QPR, the Hornets made a stuttering start to the campaign culminating in being just one point off the relegation zone following defeat away to Sunderland in October. However, during this time the board appeared to lay their cards on the table, handing Ismael a contract extension and publicly showing their backing, a decision that looks like another shambles in reality, as we begin the process of paying off yet another Head Coach.
Following the loss in Wearside, there were some shoots of improvement for Watford, with an impressive run between October and Christmas putting Watford in touching distance of the play-off positions. This included a series of impressive away victories at Hull City, a demolition job of Preston and a late late Christmas special at Blackburn. In fact, as the Christmas bells rung, Isamel had led Watford to just two defeats in 11 and they came at the hands of champions elect Leicester City and promotion chasing Ipswich Town.
But a Boxing Day stuffing at the hands of Bristol City, seemed to be the start of the downward slide that has led to the current state of play. The quality of football seemed to disappear leading to a series of disappointing results, aside from the aforementioned wins against Rotherham and QPR. These included a capitulation after an initial fightback at Norwich, a dismal defeat at home to Cardiff and a turgid display at The Den against Millwall, 2024 certainly hasn't been prosperous in WD18!
January saw an unfit Emmanuel Dennis return to Hertfordshire, whilst three others headed for the exit door, leaving an already thin squad down to the bare bones. It appears the blame for that recruitment lies at Isamel after turning down a number of players, but you have to look at why he turned those players down and why the board couldn't bring in Ismael's top targets with his side at the time flirting with a potential play-off berth. Regardless of who is at fault, Ismael, the board and the club have reaped what was sewn during a below-par January window.
The sacking comes as no surprise, but it is a minor detail in a wider issue that Watford Football Club is an absolute mess on and off the pitch. Since the FA Cup Final in 2019, a series of awful Head Coach appointments, appalling on-field recruitment and general disdain in the treatment of supporters have led Watford into a rotten rut. Not forgetting after backing Rob Edwards as their man they sacked him and he went up the M1 to take that lot to the top flight (unforgivable).
The atmosphere at Vicarage Road is flat, unsurprising given our miserable home form since fans returned from the pandemic, attendances are in a worrying state - there were easily no more than 11,000 home fans on Wednesday evening and gaps all around The Vic yesterday afternoon as well - despite the well-inflated figures announced post-match. It's all a very worrying trajectory and if that alone doesn't worry the board, then I don't know what will. We've had bad spells but the fans have always largely turned out in their numbers, but this is a fanbase that has now had enough and are voting with their feet.
A constant cycle of managers, lack of identity and the club losing Watford's DNA on the pitch has led to the club just not being enjoyable to support. There are of course clubs in far worse states than us and I won't take that for granted, but with Watford it always felt special to call them 'my club', being happy to be connected for what it stood for, but now it just feels flat, there's no connection anymore. The blame lies in one place only and that's in the boardroom. It's time for Gino Pozzo and Scott Duxbury to take some accountability and either right the wrongs of the previous five years or look to move the club on to the right set of hands who can breed some life into a place that has sadly become lifeless.
I don't see how we get back to the glory days we have previously enjoyed under Gino Pozzo's ownership and I think that feeling is felt widely amongst the fan base, this rut has to come to an end because otherwise, it's only going to get worse before it gets better.
Fans of other clubs might look at this as a spoiled fanbase throwing its proverbial toys out of the pram because we're midtable in the Championship. It certainly isn't the case, 99% of the fans understand that Watford are a second-tier club, and it has no right to be dining at the top table. But this club is fragmented, from the owners, players, and supporters, something has to change because ultimately the current situation off the pitch, which has guided to the on-pitch mess, isn't healthy for the future of the club.
But for now as Andrew French expertly put it in the Watford Observer, there's a greater mission of making sure that despite another miserable time at Vicarage Road, we make sure that when the sun shines in August it's not with Watford playing in the third tier of the pyramid.
On to Birmingham, no doubt about it, it's a relegation six-pointer in the Second City.
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