Watford sack manager Marco Silva after latest defeat as managerial changes continue in English premier league with another new manager arriving.
Another weekend of premier league games and another manager loses his job. This time its Marco Silva. who was sacrificed by Watford after another defeat leaves the team looking towards the bottom half of the table.
Purely in terms of results the decision might not appear that surprising, even if Watford are still sitting in mid table. However, having fired Silva, Watford issued one of the stranger statements a club has made after doing this. The Hornets claimed the decision was the consequence of the approach for Silva by another club earlier in the season.
That club of course was Everton, who made Silva their first choice to replace Ronald Koeman in October. This did appear to unsettle the Watford boss, who seemed to have his head turned by the Merseyside club’s efforts to tempt him northwards.
It seems to be a stretch though to claim this approach is the sole reason for Watford’s recent poor form, which has seen them win only one of the last 11 league games. Such a statement would also appear to question the professionalism of the coach Watford still claimed was the right one for them!
If Silva was still the right person for the job then surely the Watford hierarchy should have shown more faith in him and given him some more time, especially with a number of days left in the transfer window for him to strengthen the squad. After all, Watford are sitting in 10th place and are not exactly in a crisis position just yet, despite their recent slide.
Of course there’s another aspect to this as yet another manager, the eighth this season, is axed with the league campaign just about half way through. Once more a coach loses his job after just a few months in his post and with plenty of games left you would think, to turn things around.
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The rapidity with which managers leave their jobs in the premier league is becoming almost bewildering. And having got rid of Silva, Watford’s Italian owners bring in another coach from abroad who has no experience in the premier league.
Yet again this will raise questions about the future of British coaches getting vacant jobs in the league. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to overseas coaches in the premier league. In fact, one of the reasons the league is such an attractive product is that so many of the best managers in world football ply their trade here.
We all know though that these coaches are here because the premier league is both high-profile and these jobs are highly paid. And because they believe they can achieve their career goals in this country (assuming they stay in their post long enough!). In the end though as other countries recognise, it’s still important to bring through home-grown managers and playing talent.
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In addition, although Watford has so far survived in the league by regularly replacing managers, it still does not seem a viable long-term strategy for a mid-table club. Surely for a club of Watford’s size they need to seek some kind of stability to enable the club to build a solid foundation, not just for survival but to become truly competitive.