FootyChatter.com

Tom Cleverley is on the brink of being sacked as Watford boss, talk SPORT 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. 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. 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 Mc Kinlay, 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 talk SPORT 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. Watford managers since Pozzo takeover in June 2022 "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. " © 2025 talk SPORT Limited

Registered in England No. 2806093. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF

talk SPORT is a registered trade mark of Wireless Group Media (GB) Limited.

This service is provided on talk SPORT Limited's Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy.