Johnny Phillips: Watford sacking a manager is fast becoming at footnote

Bilic’s sacking did not make the backpages or lead the headlines on the sports news channels. Instead it was consigned to a place much lower down the running order. Sacking Watford managers does not constitute news.

Bilic's final game was a desperately dull 0-0 draw at home to Preston North End last Saturday, a result that left them with just one win in their last eight league matches and four points off the Championship play-off places. It is hardly inspiring form and Bilic joins a long list of managers who have jumped on and off the most turbulent managerial merry-go-round in British football. Maybe he is better off out of it.

The Croatian won 10 of his 26 matches in charge after being appointed in September on an 18-month contract, replacing Rob Edwards who was sacked after only 10 league games. Now it is Chris Wilder who must pick up the pieces.

There have been questions asked of Wilder’s judgment. Why is he taking on such an impossible job where he will not be given time? Well, that is actually the appeal of the job, such is the reputation Watford have now achieved.

In normal circumstances managers fear the sack, they are scared of the stain it will leave on their CV, a record tarnished by a dismissal. But such is the hopelessness of the Watford strategy that is now almost a badge of honour to be sent packing from Vicarage Road.

Look at Edwards and the job he is doing at Luton Town. The idea that a manager sacked by local rivals after 10 games could be welcomed by supporters would usually be hard to grasp. But not when Watford are concerned. It speaks volumes for the thinking in the boardroom at Luton that they were not remotely put off by Edwards’ spell at the arch enemy down the M1. They knew their supporters would not hold it against Edwards and they knew the supporters would not hold it against the board.

Edwards is flying at Kennilworth Road, building on the great work of Nathan Jones, and has consolidated the club’s play-off position as we head into the remaining months of the season. His Watford dismissal is barely a footnote in his own managerial rise.

Wilder arrives at Watford after a difficult time as Middlesbrough manager following his successful spell with Sheffield United. It would be reasonable to assume that, after the travails on Teesside, he needs to ensure the next job work outs in order to avoid reputational damage. But not where Watford are concerned.

Wilder can walk through the doors at Vicarage Road knowing that this is a win win situation. If he guides Watford to the play-offs then his reputation will be enhanced. If he ends up

going the way of all the other managers in recent history, shunted out of the back door, then he simply walks away with a pay-off with no blemish on his copybook.

The club’s owners have tied themselves in so many knots with their haphazard approach to managerial appointments that the role may have come full circle. No longer viewed as a poisoned chalice but more a free hit. Who wouldn’t take the job?

But, of course, there are losers in this. One more, Watford supporters are left wondering when it will all end. The cycle going on and on and on. Maybe apathy has set in. Managerial changes appear to be greeted with a shrug of the shoulder these days rather than howls of protest. It all feels so unnecessary.

And then there is the message it sends to the players. When Bilic took the job last autumn, each member of the squad will have assumed they would be at the club longer than the head coach. That cannot be a good thing under any circumstances. Players will be less inclined to respond to whatever strategies and methods are being employed, knowing that the man making the decisions will be first out of the door if they do not work.

Watford travel to Queens Park Rangers today, a club who have also gone through some difficult times with their own appointments in recent years. Gareth Ainsworth arrived from Wycombe Wanderers attempting to provide some stability but it has not been an easy task in his short spell at Loftus Road. Ten QPR managers came and went over the same period Ainsworth was in charge at Wycombe so maybe there will be some kindred spirits in the boardroom this afternoon.