The football manager of Watford, Nigel Pearson, has been sacked seven months after he was appointed to rescue the team from relegation. He is the third football manager that had to be forced out of the club between September 2019 to July 2020.
Javi Gracia was the first Watford‘s football manager to be sacked this season followed by Quique Sanchez Flores in December. It has earlier been reported that Nigel Pearson would be sacked before the relegation-threatened team face Manchester City on Tuesday. However, Watford‘s 3-1 defeat in the hands of West Ham United on Friday was enough to show the 56-year-old English tactician the exit door.
The seven months of Nigel Pearson as Watford’s football manager
Nigel Pearson replaced Quique Sanchez Flores on 6 December 2019 as the football manager of the then-struggling club. The club was at the bottom of the Premier League table after losing 9 matches and drawing 5 out of 16 matches.
In his first game in charge of the club, Watford lost 2-0 to Liverpool and went on to beat Manchester United 8 days after. The football manager shocked the world, especially Liverpool football club on 29 February 2020, when he led Watford to end their attempt to finish the league unbeaten. They defeated the eventual Premier League champions 3-0.
Nigel Pearson went on to drag Watford from the bottom of the table in December 2019 to the 17th spot, three points above Aston Villa and Bournemouth; 3 points below Brighton and West Ham United. The football manager helped the club to win 7 matches and drew 5 in 22 games in all competitions.
The most important thing was that despite the inconsistency of the club since the Premier League returned from the coronavirus break, Pearson has been able to keep the team three points away from the relegation zone. But that didn’t really matter to Watford owner Gino Pozzo.
Though his contract would have expired at the end of the season since that was the agreement he had with Pozzo before he took over in December, most critics believe that the former Leicester City football manager has done enough for the struggling team to at least be allowed to complete the season.
The football manager was sacked alongside his assistant, Craig Shakespeare, and they have been replaced by U23s coach Haydn Mullins and goalkeeper coach Graham Stack on a temporary basis.
Watford war against relegation now that their football manager, Nigel Pearson, is gone.
Watford would have been saved or stopped worrying about being relegated if they had won West Ham United on Friday. The failure to do the needful against the 15th placed West Ham United has brought more pressure on Watford.
As it stands, Watford now has 34 points in 36 matches. Their survival will be guaranteed if they win one of their last two matches against Manchester City and Arsenal.
If they fail to get three points from the two matches, they will be left to hope that 18th placed Aston Villa don’t pick four points from their last two matches as they are having 31 points in 36 games.
Bournemouth is Relegated Mathematically
At this point of the season, Watford don’t have to worry about Bournemouth as they lost their match against Southampton today, July 19, to keep them rooted at the 19th spot with 31 points in 37 matches. Bournemouth are now left with one match which they will play against Everton on Sunday 26. They need to win the match with at least 6 un-replied goals to survive the drop.
So, the survival war is now between Watford and Aston Villa. Watford have 4 goals difference and 3 points better than Aston Villa which will go against in-form Arsenal on Tuesday and then against West Ham on Sunday 26.
The only disadvantage Watford have is that they are meeting Manchester City that could be very ruthless on a good day. And then, in-form Arsenal on 26 July. They will certainly scale through if they can win any of the two teams or lose the matches and hope that Aston Villa will not get 4 points from their remaining two matches.
Huddersfield Town sacked their football manager Danny Cowley
Unlike the case of Nigel Pearson, Danny Cowley was sacked 10 months after he took over the affairs of Championship side Huddersfield. His assistant football manager and brother Nicky Cowley left the club after he was sacked.
At the point Danny Cowley joined Huddersfield in September 2019, the Championship club was rooted on the 23rd spot out of 24 teams. At that point, Huddersfield failed to win any of their first six games.
Unfortunately for Danny Cowley, he was sacked hours after he led Huddersfield to defeat second-placed West Brom on Friday. He was also sacked after he successfully helped the team from the 23rd position in September to the 18th spot on the Championship table.
“We have made this decision in the belief that, in the long term, it is in the best interests of the club as we move forward,” the chairman of the club, Phil Hodgkinson said.
Huddersfield’s relegation situation report
Danny Cowley’s last match as the football manager of Huddersfield has guaranteed the club of a championship football next season. For the form of the club in their last 6 games where they lost a match and kept four straight clean sheets, even if they lose their last match of the season against Millwall, they will still remain in the Championship.
This is so because the relegation zone in the Championship starts from the 22nd spot. And the 22nd-placed Luton have 48 points, three points lower than Huddersfield.
Besides that, Huddersfield’s goals difference is 14 times better than Luton’s. Hence, Luton will have to win 14-0 if Huddersfield lose on Wednesday before they can be able to drag Huddersfield back to the relegation zone.
