Watford FC Head Coach Tom Cleverley is fast approaching one-year in charge of the Hornets. So now seems a good time to reflect on his time in charge and discuss his future at Vicarage Road.
Cleverley, whose contract expires in the summer, has already seen his share of ups and downs coaching the side. His hope now will surely be that his ups can count for enough to be offered a longer contract.
But would this be the right decision for the club?
Cleverley’s Ups and Downs
Cleverley was appointed as interim Head Coach for Watford on the 9th of March, 2024. This came following a successful period of coaching in the academy and the dismissal of Valerian Ismael.
In this move, he became Watford’s 12th manager since 2019, not including two interim spells led by Hayden Mullins.
For a long time now, Watford has become synonymous with a revolving door of managers. Since Gino Pozzo bought the club in 2012, 19 different managers have been at the helm and all barring Gianfranco Zola and Javi Gracia have remained for less than a year.
With the one-year anniversary of his initial appointment just a few weeks away, it appears likely that Cleverley will also soon join this rank. In the 47 league games he had been in the dugout for, the Hornets have won 17 times, drawn 11 matches and lost 19 games.
This puts Tom at a 32.17% win rate. On the surface, this may seem relatively unimpressive.
However, when budgets are factored in, Watford’s current 9th place spot, just three points shy of the playoffs, looks much better. According to Transfermarkt’s income and expenditures table, Watford has spent the least on transfers in the league with just €3.28m in outgoings which is a far cry from top spenders Burnley who have splashed €54.19.
This is in spite of the fact that the Hornets brought in €30m from sales. This was from selling the likes of Ismael Kone and Yaser Asprilla.
Overall, the Hornets have the 6th highest income in the division. With this in mind, it is hard to deny that Cleverley is going above and beyond this season.
It has not been all positive for him this season though. In late January, following a poor string of results in which Watford lost to the likes of Burnley, Cardiff, QPR, Sheffield United, Fulham and Preston, reports surfaced claiming that Cleverley was on the verge of being sacked by Gino Pozzo.
Pozzo’s Statement and Cleverley’s Future
However, in light of this news, a rare statement from Pozzo himself was released declaring the following.
“Scott Duxbury and I have always believed the best possible chance of success this season is with Tom Cleverley as our Head Coach. There are always frustrations along the way during any season, but we always identified Tom as a bright young coach who we could work together with to help deliver success to the club.”
“We are committed to support him and look forward to the challenges ahead together.”
With Cleverley’s current contract expiring at the end of the season though, and just 12 league games remaining in the season, Hornets fans will surely be hoping for news sooner rather than later regarding a new contract for Tom..
Cleverley, who is still just 35 years old, has performed little short of miracles this season to have his side in the position they are in and it would feel like a waste for Pozzo to not stick with what he has when so few predecessors to Cleverley have managed to bring long term success.
In the remainder of the season, the hope for all parties will surely be that Watford attain a playoff spot. The Hornets have not been in the Premier League since their singular season in their 2021/22 campaign and so with such low expenditure, it seems that Watford could well do with a lucrative season that the English top flight would provide.
Should Cleverley guide Watford into the Championship top-six, this would surely be enough for Pozzo to offer a new deal. However, he has regardless brought success on a tight budget and potentially poor finances going forward.
So, Gino Pozzo may be wise to extend Tom’s stay at the club regardless of how the rest of this season pans out.