Many non-Hornet supporting football fans think of a managerial carousel when the word “Watford” is said. Despite how Watford’s managerial record seems excessively mentioned, there is truth in the sense that managers at Vicarage Road tend not to stay in their seat for long. Since the Gino Pozzo takeover of Watford in 2012, the Club have had over a dozen manager changes. So, with Watford losing three matches on the bounce without scoring, not playing with much identity, and a difficult spell of fixtures coming up, how long should people expect Xisco Munoz to remain at the helm?
How Long Does Xisco Munoz Have Left at Watford?
Next Two Matches Decisive Ahead of Ruthless Spell
Of course, if Watford go on a winning streak/maintain a run of solid form, Xisco Munoz will undoubtedly keep his job. Even in the Pozzo’s cut-throat approach to sacking managers, as long as results are good enough to suggest safety will be achieved, the manager will get at least until the end of the season.
If Munoz is unable to pick up at least three points from the next two matches, then the first axe of the season may very well be dropped. On Saturday, the Hornets travel to bottom-of-the-table Norwich City. Watford beat the Canaries on both occasions last season in the Championship. Thus, a defeat to Daniel Farke’s side would be alarming for a plethora of reasons.
Following the visit to Norwich, the Hornets host Newcastle United, currently in 19th place. If the Hornets cannot win against the bottom two teams – one match being at Vicarage Road, a venue Watford made a fortress last season – then the owners will likely see the only way of saving the season as being a switch of the man in charge.
Following these two clashes, the Hornets travel to Leeds United, host Liverpool, travel to Goodison Park, and host Southampton. Those four matches could be seen as a good time for a new manager to get adjusted if Munoz is determined to be out of his depths by the hierarchy at Watford.
Watford then have a difficult five-match spell starting on November 6, facing Arsenal, Manchester United, Leicester City, Chelsea, and Manchester City. Ahead of the tricky scheduling, the Hornets would want to have confidence the man leading them into the rough patch will be able to get them out on the other side with 17th place either in touching distance or below them.
Javi Gracia’s Time Suggest Xisco Munoz Should Not Be Complacent
The 2018/19 campaign for Watford was arguably their second-best season in club history. They finished 11th in the top flight, their highest-ever modern Premier League finish and reached the FA Cup Final. Javi Gracia was the man in charge and the person who the hierarchy tried to break the club philosophy of sacking managers on. He was handed a four-and-a-half-year contract in November 2018, with the option to extend three further years. By the September of 2o19, however, he was gone.
His sacking came four matches into the new season, with Watford picking up just one point from their opening encounters. The sacking seemed harsh, though the winless run in the league was at eight matches. The appointing of Quique Sanchez Flores – who Watford had already sacked once before – to replace Gracia was what felt unfair to the man who led Watford to the FA Cup Final for the second time in the club’s 140 years.
Even though Xisco Munoz’s winless run is only at three matches, no goals being scored and the same mistakes being made each match means uncertainty about his future exists. The powerful, smart, over-achieving Gracia got the boot after a poor start to the season, regardless of his recent accomplishments. Even though supporters and players love Xisco Munoz for his positive vibes and what he accomplished last season, the Watford hierarchy have shown countless times that no one is invincible. If too many (and, almost certainly, if all) points are left behind in the next two fixtures, it would not at all be a shock to see the manager shown the door, as unfair and cold-blooded as it may be.
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