Next Watford Manager Odds: After Paulo Pezzolano

The early favourite to replace Tom Cleverley at the helm is Alberto Garrido, a man who has been serving alongside him for the last 11 months.

Garrido though, was never Cleverley’s appointment, which is rarely something that lasts for long, and as such, he remains with the Hornets now.

Garrido has some serious pedigree in the coaching world too, albeit not in the top job. The 49-year-old’s career has largely been spent in Spain where he led the Real Madrid youth and reserves sides for a period of 15 years.

That experience of developing players, rather than having to buy them in, could well be a big plus for the Hornets hierarchy with the finances available at the club far from extensive.

With several players, ex-players and fans expressing their disappointment with Cleverley’s sacking, keeping the setup ticking along with someone that knows how things were working behind the scenes could be a positive too.

Rewind to January this year, and there were several reports linking Watford with a move for Jose Rojo Martin – or Pacheta as he is better known.

At the time, the Watford owners refused to comment on such links. Subsequently, Watford picked up a few results, and Cleverley earned a stay of execution.

Those stories came from reliable sources though both in Spain and locally to Watford. As such, there is little surprise Pacheta’s name is now doing the rounds.

As a manager, Pacheta has had has nearly as many clubs as Watford has gaffers over the years with 10 clubs across a 14 year period.

The longest he’s stayed in any of those roles is 30 months, with Elche, but a career win ratio of 43% is far from disastrous and, clearly, his history would suggest the trigger-happy Pozzo family are unlikely to bother him.

Will Still is a name that seems to come up in the betting for a vast array of Championship jobs.

Still made his first managerial strides in his homeland, Belgium, with Lierse and then Beerschot, but it wasn’t until he transitioned into Europe’s big five leagues with Reims that he really saw his name up in lights.

He guided them to a couple of midtable finishes and looks set to achieve a similar feat with Lens, who he joined last summer, this season.

At some point, a move to England, where he started his coaching journey at academy level, does feel likely for Still, whose parents are both English, but with his stock high amongst Championship suitors, you might think the 32-year-old would choose his first step into English football carefully meaning the Watford vacancy doesn’t necessarily fit. Certainly, odds of 7/2 don’t look like good value.

He is, however, in a relationship with a Hornets supporting journalist, so maybe, just maybe…

Marti Cifuentes has done a decent job since coming to England having joined QPR back in October 2023 but the end of his tenure has been somewhat of a comedy skit; the Loftus Road club placed their manager on gardening leave at the end of the season, reportedly frustrated that Cifuentes was continually batting his eyelids elsewhere.

Again, like with others before him, with admiring glances coming his direction from other Championship teams, we’re unsure if the volatility of the Watford hotseat would appeal.

You can see why the club might be keen on him, though, with the 42-year-old former Hammarby manager having stabilised a rather unfancied QPR side over the past couple of years.