Tom Cleverley on brink of sack as Watford boss despite Hornets being a point off play-offs
Tom Cleverley is on the brink of being sacked as Watford boss, talkSPORT understands. The former Manchester United midfielder is in his first job in management and is a popular figure among the Championship club’s fanbase. Cleverley looks to be on the way out at Vicarage Road despite being highly ratedGetty He exceeded expectations at the start of his reign by going unbeaten in his first 17 home games, despite the club selling some of their key players last summer and investing only a small amount back into the squad. But their form has dipped since Boxing Day with just four points from a possible 18 – and it looks set to cost the 35-year-old his job. Watford released a statement on Thursday evening in response to reports over Cleverley’s future, saying that he would be in the dugout for their game against Coventry City on Saturday. It read: “Watford FC confirms Tom will be in charge for the match at Coventry City and that the speculation over his position is just that – pure speculation.” However, the club has not offered any assurances on Cleverley’s future beyond that. Responding to the statement, talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook remained unconvinced. “It was quite a bizarre statement that was issued last night in response to our story that Tom Cleverley was on the brink of being the latest managerial casualty,” Crook told the Breakfast Show. “I think the Pozzo family have had 21 managers in 13 years. Cleverley’s done well. They’re one point off the playoffs. “Recent form has tailed off a little bit, but they put out a statement confirming that he’ll be in charge for the game against Coventry on Saturday. “We never said he wouldn’t be, by the way, but that’s not a long-term assurance. “If you’re Tom Cleverley, does that fill you with any great confidence?” Cleverley has impressed in his stint at Watford and will have no shortage of suitors should he be axedGetty Reports in Spain claim former Villareal manager Jose Rojo Martin, better known as Pacheta, is already lined up to become Watford’s next manager. Cleverley was named as caretaker boss after replacing Valerien Ismael in March last year. His first task was to steer them clear of relegation problems and he managed that with the club finishing 15th in the table. Appointed as permanent boss over the summer, Cleverley won his first five matches in charge this term and pushed Watford up towards the top end of the table throughout the first half of the season. He oversaw the longest unbeaten home streak at Vicarage Road in 48 years as they avoided defeat for 17 consecutive matches. But a 2-1 defeat at home to Preston on Tuesday night has seen Watford win just two of their eight Championship fixtures since December 15. Watford managers since Pozzo takeover in June 2012 ManagerAppointedDepartedSean DycheJune 2011July 2012Gianfranco ZolaJuly 2012December 2013Giuseppe SanninoDecember 2013August 2014Oscar GarciaSeptember 2014October 2014Billy McKinlaySeptember 2014October 2014Slavisa JokanovicOctober 2014June 2015Quique Sanchez FloresJune 2015 May 2016Walter MazzariJuly 2016May 2017Marco SilvaMay 2017January 2018Javi GraciaJanuary 2018September 2019Quique Sanchez FloresSeptember 2019December 2019Hayden MullinsDecember 2019(Caretaker)Nigel PearsonDecember 2019July 2020Hayden MullinsJuly 2020(Caretaker)Vladimir IvicAugust 2020December 2020Xisco MunozDecember 2020October 2021Claudio RanieriOctober 2021 January 2022Roy HodgsonJanuary 2022May 2022Rob EdwardsMay 2022September 2022Slaven BilicSeptember 2022March 2023Chris WilderMarch 2023May 2023Valerien IsmaelMay 2023March 2024Tom CleverleyMarch 2024? They now sit in eighth position, albeit just a point behind Blackburn Rovers, who occupy the final play-off spot in sixth place. With the play-offs now clearly the aim, Watford chiefs have been weighing up making a change in order to try and cement their spot in the top six. Since the Pozzo family took charge of Watford on June 2012, the club have been renowned for their swift changes of manager. After sacking Sean Dyche the month after they arrived, the Hornets have appointed 21 different managers to lead the club. They are Sean Dyche, Gianfranco Zola, Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia, Billy McKinlay, Slavisa Jokanovic, Quique Sanchez Flores – who led the club twice – Walter Mazzarri, Marco Silva, Javi Gracia, Nigel Pearson, Vladimir Ivic, Xisco Munoz, Claudio Ranieri, Roy Hodgson, Rob Edwards, Slaven Bilic, Chris Wilder, Valerien Ismael and Tom Cleverley. It means that should they replace Cleverley, it will be the 22nd boss of the Pozzo era in 13 years. Cleverley looks set for a very bright career in management whatever happens next with ex-teammate Troy Deeney telling talkSPORT about when he knew the midfielder would move into coaching. Deeney said: “He had the characteristics in the way that he br
Tom Cleverley is on the brink of being sacked as Watford boss, talkSPORT understands.
The former Manchester United midfielder is in his first job in management and is a popular figure among the Championship club’s fanbase.
He exceeded expectations at the start of his reign by going unbeaten in his first 17 home games, despite the club selling some of their key players last summer and investing only a small amount back into the squad.
But their form has dipped since Boxing Day with just four points from a possible 18 – and it looks set to cost the 35-year-old his job.
Watford released a statement on Thursday evening in response to reports over Cleverley’s future, saying that he would be in the dugout for their game against Coventry City on Saturday.
It read: “Watford FC confirms Tom will be in charge for the match at Coventry City and that the speculation over his position is just that – pure speculation.”
However, the club has not offered any assurances on Cleverley’s future beyond that.
Responding to the statement, talkSPORT’s chief football correspondent Alex Crook remained unconvinced.
“It was quite a bizarre statement that was issued last night in response to our story that Tom Cleverley was on the brink of being the latest managerial casualty,” Crook told the Breakfast Show.
“I think the Pozzo family have had 21 managers in 13 years. Cleverley’s done well. They’re one point off the playoffs.
“Recent form has tailed off a little bit, but they put out a statement confirming that he’ll be in charge for the game against Coventry on Saturday.
“We never said he wouldn’t be, by the way, but that’s not a long-term assurance.
“If you’re Tom Cleverley, does that fill you with any great confidence?”
Reports in Spain claim former Villareal manager Jose Rojo Martin, better known as Pacheta, is already lined up to become Watford’s next manager.
Cleverley was named as caretaker boss after replacing Valerien Ismael in March last year.
His first task was to steer them clear of relegation problems and he managed that with the club finishing 15th in the table.
Appointed as permanent boss over the summer, Cleverley won his first five matches in charge this term and pushed Watford up towards the top end of the table throughout the first half of the season.
He oversaw the longest unbeaten home streak at Vicarage Road in 48 years as they avoided defeat for 17 consecutive matches.
But a 2-1 defeat at home to Preston on Tuesday night has seen Watford win just two of their eight Championship fixtures since December 15.
Watford managers since Pozzo takeover in June 2012
| Manager | Appointed | Departed |
| Sean Dyche | June 2011 | July 2012 |
| Gianfranco Zola | July 2012 | December 2013 |
| Giuseppe Sannino | December 2013 | August 2014 |
| Oscar Garcia | September 2014 | October 2014 |
| Billy McKinlay | September 2014 | October 2014 |
| Slavisa Jokanovic | October 2014 | June 2015 |
| Quique Sanchez Flores | June 2015 | May 2016 |
| Walter Mazzari | July 2016 | May 2017 |
| Marco Silva | May 2017 | January 2018 |
| Javi Gracia | January 2018 | September 2019 |
| Quique Sanchez Flores | September 2019 | December 2019 |
| Hayden Mullins | December 2019 | (Caretaker) |
| Nigel Pearson | December 2019 | July 2020 |
| Hayden Mullins | July 2020 | (Caretaker) |
| Vladimir Ivic | August 2020 | December 2020 |
| Xisco Munoz | December 2020 | October 2021 |
| Claudio Ranieri | October 2021 | January 2022 |
| Roy Hodgson | January 2022 | May 2022 |
| Rob Edwards | May 2022 | September 2022 |
| Slaven Bilic | September 2022 | March 2023 |
| Chris Wilder | March 2023 | May 2023 |
| Valerien Ismael | May 2023 | March 2024 |
| Tom Cleverley | March 2024 | ? |
They now sit in eighth position, albeit just a point behind Blackburn Rovers, who occupy the final play-off spot in sixth place.
With the play-offs now clearly the aim, Watford chiefs have been weighing up making a change in order to try and cement their spot in the top six.
Since the Pozzo family took charge of Watford on June 2012, the club have been renowned for their swift changes of manager.
After sacking Sean Dyche the month after they arrived, the Hornets have appointed 21 different managers to lead the club.
They are Sean Dyche, Gianfranco Zola, Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia, Billy McKinlay, Slavisa Jokanovic, Quique Sanchez Flores – who led the club twice – Walter Mazzarri, Marco Silva, Javi Gracia, Nigel Pearson, Vladimir Ivic, Xisco Munoz, Claudio Ranieri, Roy Hodgson, Rob Edwards, Slaven Bilic, Chris Wilder, Valerien Ismael and Tom Cleverley.
It means that should they replace Cleverley, it will be the 22nd boss of the Pozzo era in 13 years.
Cleverley looks set for a very bright career in management whatever happens next with ex-teammate Troy Deeney telling talkSPORT about when he knew the midfielder would move into coaching.
Deeney said: “He had the characteristics in the way that he broke down the game.
“We were fortunate at the time with Clevs because I was captain and he was unofficially vice-captain and he’d obviously played for Man United and Team GB and just the way he broke down how goals went in, how they were scored and what we were looking at – he just looked at the game completely differently to any of the other players.
“He always studied and watched games. When you hear players talk about how you broke down games, we would be playing poker, let’s say, like eight of us, and me and him would be watching. Even though the game’s going on here, we’re like, oh, did you see that? Or did you see this?
“Obviously, he had great learning under Sir Alex Ferguson, so he knows how to speak. I don’t really see many people come out of Man United and not know how to speak.”
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