RANKED! All 23 Watford managers since 2008 as owners make ANOTHER change in the dugout

Since Aidy Boothroyd’s three-and-a-half-year spell as Watford manager came to an end in 2008, no permanent Hornets boss has made it past 100 games in charge.

In 2012, the club changed hands and since 2014, Gino Pozzo has ruled the roost at Vicarage Road, swinging the axe ruthlessly and frequently.

Ironically, the man who oversaw the most games as Watford manager under Pozzo, Javi Gracia, has made a return to the Vicarage after two years out of work.

Paulo Pezzolano was appointed over the summer but has already been replaced by Gracia after just 10 games at the helm.

Here, FourFourTwo ranks all 23 permanent managers since Boothroyd’s ton-up, which includes some real blasts from the past and names which make even the most ardent football fan question, ‘Did he really manage Watford?’

23. Roy Hodgson (January – May 2022)

Roy Hodgson was not a very successful Watford manager (Image credit: Getty Images)Unfortunately, it can only be Roy who takes the wooden spoon. The ex-Crystal Palace boss presided over a miserable 11 per cent win ratio during his 18 games in charge, winning just twice, despite having the likes of Joao Pedro, Ismaila Sarr and Emmanuel Dennis at his disposal.

Watford were relegated at the end of the 2021/22 campaign with their demotion all but confirmed by a 1-0 defeat against Palace at Selhurst Park. Hodgson irked travelling Hornets fans by applauding the South London club’s supporters after the match.

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22. Claudio Ranieri (October 2021 – January 2022)

Claudio Ranieri won’t want to be reminded of his brief Watford stay The 2021/22 season was one to forget for the Hertfordshire club, not least because two of their three managers won a combined four matches from 32. Ranieri was replaced by Hodgson midway through the season as the Italian was unable to get a tune out of his Watford squad.

Eleven defeats in 14 matches meant the writing was on the wall for the 2015/16 Premier League winner.

21. Chris Wilder (March – May 2023)

Chris Wilder’s Hornets spell was a forgettable one One of the shorter tenures in this list, Wilder’s spell at Vicarage Road got off to a reasonable start, beating Birmingham City in his second game by three goals to nil. However, that was about as good as it got.

Two more wins followed and 10 games later, Wilder departed as Watford finished the 2022/23 Championship season in mid-table.

20. Walter Mazzarri (July 2016 – May 2017)

Walter Mazzarri had pedigree in Italy but that didn’t translate to English football The well-travelled Italian returned to management in 2016 after almost two years out of a job following spells with Napoli and Inter Milan. Mazzarri failed to win any of his first four games in charge, which included being knocked out of the League Cup by Gillingham and by New Year’s Day 2017, had suffered heavy defeats to Liverpool (6-1) and Tottenham Hotspur (4-1).

Despite this, Mazzarri held onto his job until the end of the 2016/17 season, avoiding relegation despite finishing the campaign with 20 league defeats from 38. Watford lost each of their last six games that year, including a 5-0 shellacking by Manchester City at Vicarage Road on the final day. Ouch.

19. Valerien Ismael (May 2023 – March 2024)

Valerien Ismael is currently Blackburn Rovers boss French coach Ismael arrived having built a good reputation for himself in helping Barnsley to the League One play-offs in 2021, following a successful spell in Austria with LASK Linz. An opening day win over Queens Park Rangers proved a false dawn, though, as Watford tumbled down the Championship table, tasting victory only twice from their opening 10 games in 2023/24.

Ismael lasted until March when Tom Cleverley was appointed on an interim basis, immediately shoring up a defence that had shipped one too many goals under the Frenchman.

18. Malky Mackay (June 2009 – June 2011)

Malky Mackay (Image credit: Jeff Holmes)He lost more than he won, ending his spell as permanent boss at Vicarage Road with 33 wins from 99 matches, but if he had been in charge during the Pozzo era, it’s unlikely the Scot would’ve lasted as long as he did.

Watford began 2009/10 reasonably but could not sustain their early season form, eventually dropping to 21st in the Championship table. A run of two victories from 14 during that campaign would perhaps have cost Mackay his job under different ownership but he hung on and led the team during the following season as well.

The Hornets were particularly streaky during 2010/11 going several games without a win, before putting together multi-game unbeaten runs. Their season, and Mackay’s tenure, finished with three straight defeats to end the campaign. The manager had lost 41 of his 99 games in charge.

17. Oscar Garcia (September 2014)

Oscar Garcia It’s difficult to critique the Spaniard’s time at Vicarage Road – ranked at No.90 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best football stadiums in Britain – too much given he departed the club due to ill health and lost just one of his four games in charge, drawing two and winning the other.

16. Rob Edwards (May – September 2022)

Rob Edwards led Luton to the Premier League after his Watford stint (Image credit: Alamy)Edwards has proven himself to be a good coach elsewhere, which suggests he perhaps wasn’t given the time to get things right at Watford. Nevertheless, he did only win three of his 11 games in charge, so he can’t be too fondly remembered around Vicarage Road, not least because of what he went on to achieve with Luton Town.

15. Marco Silva (May 2017 – January 2018)

Fulham manager Marco Silva has previously managed Hull City, Watford and Everton (Image credit: Getty Images)Silva began well at Watford, losing just one of his opening eight games – albeit that was a 6-0 hammering by Manchester City. The Portuguese coach even defeated Arsenal and shared the spoils with Liverpool but it would soon go rather pear-shaped.

Three wins from his next 16 league games, which included 11 defeats, many by multiple goals, at the hands of Huddersfield Town, Chelsea and Manchester United spelled the end for Silva at the Vicarage.

14. Paulo Pezzolano (May – October 2025)

Paulo Pezzolano is interviewed after a match between Watford and Blackburn Rovers (Image credit: Getty Images)It’s a tough gig being a Watford manager, just ask newly out-of-work Pezzolano, who was unbeaten in his last three games at the helm. It wasn’t a great start to the season, nor was it terrible, so the working theory is there must have been other factors at play.

13. Quique Sanchez Flores (June 2015 – May 2016; September – December 2019)

Quique Sanchez Flores should not have returned for a second spell The Spanish coach’s time at Watford is a difficult one to assess because of his two vastly differing spells in charge. Sanchez Flores first led the Hornets to a respectable 13th place Premier League finish in 2015/16, as well as the semi-final of the FA Cup, but his second time in the dugout was disastrous.

He won one of his 10 league matches during the autumn of 2019, losing 8-0 to Man City in only his second game in charge. This particular period in which the team picked up seven points from 30 available ultimately did the damage which resulted in the club’s relegation at the end of the campaign.

12. Tom Cleverley (March 2024 – May 2025)

Tom Cleverley lasted a while by Pozzo’s standards Spending over a year in the manager’s hotseat at Vicarage Road is good going in the current climate. Cleverley’s 59-game tenure is the second-longest under Gino Pozzo, so he must have done something right?

He steadied the ship upon taking over from Ismael and began the 2024/25 season rather well but ran out of steam and subsequently out of road, too.

11. Nigel Pearson (December 2019 – July 2020)

Nigel Pearson managed to get a tune out of his Watford players Pearson doesn’t technically have a relegation on his CV for his time at Watford as he left two games before the end of the season, but the damage had largely been done prior to his December arrival when the experienced coach came in to give the team a fighting chance.

Watford were seven points adrift at the foot of the Premier League table when Pearson took charge, and three points above the drop zone when he was sacked. The Hornets lost then their two remaining league games and were relegated.

10. Billy McKinlay (September – October 2014)

Billy McKinlay’s managerial gigs have been short-lived but he’s enjoyed a long career as an assistant (Image credit: Getty Images)McKinlay did what was asked of him, despite taking charge of just two matches, and made sure the Hornets didn’t get beat on his watch. Two games, though, is no sample size to go by and even a 50 per cent win ratio won’t allow him to rank any higher than mid-table in this list.

9. Slaven Bilic (September 2022 – March 2023)

Slaven Bilic was linked with a return to West Ham before Nuno Espirito Santo’s arrival (Image credit: PA Images)The Croatian boss immediately set out his stall as a renowned coach by ensuring the Hornets clinched a 4-0 victory during his first game in charge. Three defeats from the next four did admittedly follow, but by the time he was sacked, Bilic had won 10 of his 25 matches and the club were just four points off the Championship play-offs.

Bilic’s downfall? One victory in his last eight games. It’s a brutal business.

8. Beppe Sannino (December 2013 – August 2014)

Beppe Sannino Sannino led Watford to a club record sixth straight home wins across all competitions without conceding a single goal during his 36-game stint. The journeyman Italian coach had a positive impact but didn’t always see eye to eye with all of his players, according to dressing room sources.

At the beginning of the 2014/15 season, Watford were second in the table with four wins from their opening five, but following rumours of unrest behind the scenes, Sannino walked. He maintained a 42 per cent win ratio with the club.

7. Sean Dyche (June 2011 – July 2012)

Known for his managerial spells with Burnley and Everton, Dyche previously spent time calling the shots at Watford What’s the one thing we know about Sean Dyche? He makes his teams hard to beat. After a rocky start, Dyche’s way of playing began to take root with his crop of players and the team gradually moved up the table. Watford finished the 2011/12 season in the top half, having previously been battling it out in the relegation zone, and were beaten just once in their last 13 games that season.

Seventeen victories in just over a year doesn’t exactly scream best-in-class, but Dyche recorded fewer defeats than wins, which can’t be said for too many Watford bosses of the recent past.

6. Vladimir Ivic (August – December 2020)

Vladimir Ivic’s Watford spell was short but successful on the pitch (Image credit: Getty Images)It was only a short spell in charge but Ivic managed to win nine of his 20 league games, providing a platform for his successor to win automatic promotion later that season.

5. Brendan Rodgers (November 2008 – June 2009)

Brendan Rodgers almost won the Premier League title with Liverpool in 2014 (Image credit: PA)The Northern Irishman took charge at Vicarage Road with Watford headed in one direction: down. He turned the club’s fortunes around, winning eight of the team’s last 16 games of the 2008/09 Championship season, delivering a comfortable mid-table finish in the end.

Controversially, Rodgers left at the end of the season to take the Reading job.

4. Gianfranco Zola (July 2012 – December 2013)

Gianfranco Zola came so close to winning promotion with Watford The second-longest-serving coach in this list, Zola managed Watford 75 times, finishing his spell with an impressive 44 per cent win rate.

The Italian won 6-1 at Elland Road, 4-0 at St. Andrews’ and 3-0 at the City Ground en route to a third-place finish during 2012/13. Zola’s men were beaten after extra-time in the Championship play-off final by Crystal Palace, coming agonisingly close to legendary status. He departed six months later after a difficult run of results.

3. Xisco Munoz (December 2020 – October 2021)

Xisco Munoz (Image credit: John Walton)A manager who went one better than Zola was Xisco, who led the team to promotion in 2021 but could not sustain the level of performance required in the Premier League.

Nevertheless, the team won 19 of their 23 home league matches that season and despite two wins from their opening seven games of the following campaign, Pozzo swung the axe. Watford went on to win just four more games throughout the rest of that Premier League campaign.

2. Javi Gracia (January 2018 – September 2019)

Javi Gracia is back in charge at Vicarage Road Watford have come within touching distance of major silverware under just two managers, one of whom being Javi Gracia. The Spaniard led Watford to the 2019 FA Cup Final where they were beaten by Man City and secured an 11th place Premier League finish the same season, the club’s best since 1987.

Gracia was sacked after a difficult start to the 2019/20 season, a move which many Hornets fans deemed harsh at the time given what he had achieved the previous season. He returns to the Vicarage having replaced Paulo Pezzolano.

1. Slavisa Jokanovic (October 2014 – June 2015)

Slavisa Jokanovic may be remembered by neutrals for his time at Fulham but the Serbian coach first led Watford to the top flight The Serbian coach’s first foray into English football as a manager was with the Hornets in 2014 and he delivered Premier League football at the first time of asking. Jokanovic won 21 of his 36 games at the helm as Watford finished the season on 89 points, one behind eventual Championship winners AFC Bournemouth.

However, due to not being able to agree fresh terms with the club’s ownership, he left at the end of the 2014/15 season and was replaced by Sanchez Flores.