Watford hired former West Ham and West Bromwich Albion manager Slaven Bilić on Monday. The Croatian is the latest name on a constantly changing wheel at the Vicarage Road stall.
In fact, Bilić is the Hornets’ 17th permanent manager since 2012. That means the club’s managers have, on average over the past decade, just over half a season to manage Watford. The list of names to manage the club during that period includes Claudio Ranieri, who managed the club for 14 games, or his successor Roy Hodgson. Watford assigned the former England manager just 18 games as Watford suffered relegation.
Slaven Bilić’s time in England produced great endings and bad memories. Top of the pile is the 2015/16 Premier League campaign. Under Dimitri Payet and new manager Bilić, West Ham finished seventh in the Premier League. That eventually qualified the team for the Europa League qualifying stages.
Another strong memory, particularly for Watford interests this season, is that Bilić led West Brom back to the Premier League in his first season in charge. However, in his second season with The Baggies, a poor start to the campaign led to his dismissal.
Watford FC confirm Slaven Bilić as their new head coach on an 18-month contract, subject to receiving the relevant work permit.
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) September 26, 2022
More recently, Bilić managed Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan. He left the club in January 2022 after a year with the team.
Slaven Bilić is the new manager of Watford
Watford’s decision to hire Slaven Bilić as manager is surprising from an outsider’s perspective. After relegation in the previous season, Watford’s start to the 2022/23 Championship season is not ideal, but not entirely terrible either.
After 10 games, Watford sit 10th in the table. However, that discrepancy between the Hornets and the top of the table isn’t as big as it seems. Watford has 14 points after going 3-5-2. That point total is just four points behind the team currently in third place, Reading, and six points behind second place Norwich.
The previous coach, Rob Edwards, only had nine games in charge. It shows the volatility of the manager role at Watford and how insecure the position is. Therefore, Slaven Bilić is likely to have to start work at Watford. Otherwise, he risks his job.
PHOTO: IMAGO/PA Images
