Watford, Pozzo family *finally* sack Ismael, Mowbray-less Birmingham City set for relegation?

The Championship Spotlight is on Watford *finally* reverting to type and sacking their manager, while Birmingham City’s relegation fears intensify.

POZZO FAMILY *FINALLY* PUSH WATFORD SACK BUTTON

The Pozzo era at Watford has certainly been a rollercoaster for their supporters but it has largely been a success. Since their takeover in 2012, a significant portion of their seasons have been spent in the Premier League and they also reached an FA Cup final.

This has been achieved despite Watford’s owners adopting a cut-throat sack policy, with 19 permanent managers hired and fired in 12 years.

In the process, Watford have been reduced to being a meme despite this method working for the large part.

With their Italian owners seemingly sick of being purely known for their trigger-happy approach to manager sackings (along with their dodgy-looking deals with family-owned Udinese), they have altered their approach this term and stuck with Valerien Ismael for much longer than they would have done previously.

Doubling down on their U-turn, Ismael was even given a new three-year contract during the early weeks of this season. At the time, this was hardly deserved as Watford had made a poor start to the campaign and sat in the relegation zone.

This felt like the first time that the Pozzo family were giving their full backing to a Watford manager and this bore fruit, to begin with. Ismael’s contract announcement preceded an upturn in form which saw the club flirt with a play-off challenge.

Opting for a new contract bounce instead of a more familiar new manager bounce, the eventual result was the same as the pixy dust eventually ran out before more disappointment came their way. Injuries, a lack of investment and an underperforming head coach have contributed to a severe decline in form, which has only been topped by Rotherham United, who are likely to be relegated before this month is out.

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Now 13 points adrift of the top six, Watford’s hopes of a return to the Premier League are over for another season and the results at the bottom have dragged the Hornets into an unexpected relegation scrap.

Watford and Ismael would have hoped to crawl to the end of the season unscathed so they could reassess their respective futures in the summer, but with the club likely requiring at least a couple more wins to secure safety – only seven points currently separate the Hornets and the relegation zone – a change had to be made.

The interim appointment of Tom Cleverley immediately made everyone feel old. Still, it is a sensible move as, according to a report from The Athletic, the former Manchester United midfielder is a popular figure at Vicarage Road and his work as their under-18s coach has left a positive impression.

Will the good vibes provided by Cleverley’s appointment be enough to save Watford from relegation? Probably. But more serious questions and choppy waters lie ahead with this being the final season of them benefitting from parachute payments following their drop from the Premier League.

MOWBRAY-LESS BIRMINGHAM CITY SET FOR LEAGUE ONE?

A team far more likely to drop down to League One is Birmingham City. During their breathless season, they were initially in contention for a shock play-off push under their new American owners before their brainless decision to replace John Eustace with Wayne Rooney kickstarted their freefall.

I have given Birmingham’s owners and Rooney a lot of flak in this column this season (and rightly so), but the decision-makers at St Andrew’s wisely parted company with the Manchester United legend before his brief reign as manager could do *even more* long-lasting damage.

Opting for a safe pair of hands to guide them to Championship safety for another season, Birmingham drafted in the experienced Tony Mowbray to replace Rooney shortly after the veteran followed Eustace in being a victim of a harsh sacking at Sunderland.

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The 60-year-old masterminded a much-needed upturn in form at Birmingham City as they won four of his first eight games in charge to ease their relegation fears.

But just as you thought the Blues were cruising to an uneventful end to the season, an unforeseen spanner was thrown into the works as it was announced after back-t0-back wins over Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland that Mowbray would be stepping down from his role temporarily to undergo medical treatment.

At the time of the announcement on February 19, the club indicated that Mowbray would be away for six to eight weeks so he *should* be able to make a return at some point in April.

The F365 team wish Mowbray a speedy recovery and Birmingham’s faithful will certainly be hoping for a rapid return as the club’s five-game winless run leaves them just a point clear of the bottom three.

Of the teams in the bottom half, Birmingham are one of the worst-performing sides at the moment and their relegation fears are intensifying with each game that passes.

Their home match against Watford this weekend (which precedes a six-pointer at QPR) is as big as it gets for the struggling side, who desperately need the return of Mowbray and a scrappy win to halt their slump with Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday breathing down their necks.

Relegation is something Birmingham’s owners would never have envisioned when Rooney was drafted in, but this is now a more than realistic outcome to this season.

While they have taken the appropriate steps to right the wrong of sacking Eustace, they will be fortunate if they come out of this campaign without suffering relegation to League One.