Pozzo has united a fractured Watford fanbase with latest act of petulance
It wasn’t the intention, but Gino Pozzo has at least united a fractured Watford fan base in disgust at his decision to relieve Rob Edwards of his role after just 10 games.
Over the years, I have written about numerous managerial changes at Vicarage Road. Almost every time, I have backed the club. There have been a few exceptions — most notably Javi Gracia — but, more often than not, in the face of the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth from the outside world, Hornets fans have been able to make sense of the decision. In fact, in the absence of any real explanation from Pozzo or chairman and CEO Scott Duxbury, it has often fallen to supporters to rationalise and contextualise the decision for neutrals.
But not this time.
This — with the greatest of respect — isn’t even about Rob Edwards or his assistant Richie Kyle. They are good men, who were brought into the madhouse and spat out before they had a chance to affect change. Anyone who hires them in the future will raise a knowing eyebrow when it comes to the ‘Watford: 2022’ section of their CVs and move swiftly on.
The real issue is what this unwarranted change symbolises. Duxbury’s now-infamous promise to back Edwards ‘through hell and high water’ in an interview with The Watford Observer gave fans hope the club had turned a corner.
We have been made to look like fools. Within four months and just 10 Championship games, Pozzo has thrown the baby out with the bathwater. No cultural reset. No project. No rebuild. No up-and-coming coach. No show of faith. Simply, a return to the ‘strategy’ that brought 17 managers in 10 years. Eighteen if you count Sean Dyche who was inherited by Pozzo in 2012. It is telling it was the owner, not the zombie chairman-cum-CEO, who put his name to the brief statement on the club website.
The initial pledge was different. After two relegations in three seasons, Duxbury — and it’s important to stress these were his words — said the club had learned its lessons. Their tail was between their legs and it would be different. They had had an epiphany; changing coach several times a season was not the way forward. They wanted to put their faith in a young coach who would lead a cultural and footballing reset of the club and help return Watford to its values.
At first, they made good on those promises. Edwards, a young, British head coach who was still employed elsewhere was appointed. The fact Pozzo was prepared to buy someone with a track record in English football out of their contract was a big statement of intent.
The statements continued. Mainly from Duxbury who suddenly became quite verbose. One of the many promises was improved communication. Hearing from the owner still appeared to be off the table but Duxbury would at least bridge the gap. With the benefit of hindsight, he’s been more court jester than King’s hand.
Yet it has been emphatically proven to be no more than lip service. The appointment of Slaven Bilić leads many to the conclusion that regardless of what Duxbury said in the summer, it’s promotion or bust this season. You can speculate as to why that might be but there is no other rationale for abandoning a project after fourth months.
More than that, the decision speaks of a broader disconnect between Duxbury and Pozzo. It was the former who put his name to this appointment and the latter who defiantly put his name to his removal. That arrogance grates on supporters.
The last decade of Pozzo ownership has, by the club’s historic standards, been a success. Two promotions and an FA Cup final appearance — as well as a Playoff final trip another FA Cup semi-final loss — equate to ‘success’. But it is also true that since reaching the 2019 final, things have gone downhill, rapidly. Two relegations in three seasons and seven managers make for grim reading.
Pozzo has put some structure in place. Duxbury is chairman and CEO. Titles you would think make him accountable. But after this almighty slap-down from the owner — who does not hold a place on the board — it’s hard to imagine relations between the two being anything other than frosty this week.
Whoever makes the personnel decisions, it’s impossible to call 17 changes in a decade the model for success. Even if you think you know best, the evidence suggests otherwise. It was famously Albert Einstein who claimed, ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results’, and that is exactly what Watford have been doing.
It’s not the only power struggle that has infuriated Watford fans. The decision to retain sporting director Cristiano Giaretta — a fortnight after it was reported that he would be removed from his position — instead of backing Edwards is the final insult.
The received wisdom is that Edwards, backed by several players, asked for Giaretta to be removed from the training ground on a day-to-day basis. The Italian, who was appointed in August 2020 yet remains bulletproof despite failing in his stated remit, was a constant and intrusive presence at London Colney.
“I’m responsible for the technical area, for choosing the players and the head coach,” Giaretta said in November 2021. “To have a technical plan the summer before the season, to realise the need to add some players in the winter market. I always said that my role doesn’t end when you sign a player, it starts when you sign a player.”
Whether that is true or not, recruitment of players and head coaches has been nothing short of shambolic for some time now. Whether Giaretta is merely a stooge for Pozzo or the man actually responsible, only those involved will know. But it doesn’t paint a pretty picture for either party.
Speaking to The Watford Observer less than a week ago, striker Keinan Davis threw his weight behind Edwards while hinting at structural change behind the scenes. “We don’t want a change of coach — definitely not,” he said. “The gaffer (Edwards) needed to be given full control. He needed to be able to move things around. Now he’s got the opportunity to show he can take us up.”
So what changed in a week? Initial reports by The Watford Observer’s Andrew French said Giaretta had left the club immediately. They were followed by a diluted version of the same story from The Athletic’s Adam Leventhal who claimed he remained in-post with discussions over his role set to take place.
Fast forward a week and Edwards is out and Giaretta remains. Yet it’s the future of Pozzo that should — and will — be under scrutiny.