Tom Cleverley was Watford’s head coach for just over a year before, on 6th May 2025, the club sacked him. The Hornets fell well short of making the play-offs and finished in 14th position in the table with 57 points from their 46 games. Given Watford’s record of managerial sackings in recent years, it’s perhaps a little surprising Cleverley wasn’t shown the door even sooner.
In this article, we’ll take a look back at the former Manchester United player’s short reign at Vicarage Road. Then we’ll compare his tenure to other recent bosses, most of whom didn’t last as long as he did, as well as taking a look at the man who has replaced him, Paulo Pezzolano.
Where Did It Go Wrong for Cleverley at Watford?
Watford FC confirms the departure of Tom Cleverley as Head Coach.
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) May 6, 2025
Cleverley got off to a decent start as interim Watford boss after taking over from the sacked Valérien Ismaël on 9th March 2024. After just a single defeat from his opening seven games in charge, the then-34-year-old was given the job on a permanent basis. With the goal of gaining promotion to the Premier League in the 2024/25 season, it soon became apparent that the Hornets’ only chance would be through the play-offs. At times throughout the season, this looked a distinct possibility, but an awful run of four defeats and a draw from their final five matches meant Watford finished 11 points shy of a play-off spot.
Given how trigger-happy the Watford board have been in the last decade or two, it came as a surprise to no one (including the man himself) that Cleverley was ushered out. Towards the end of the campaign, the side looked lost at times, lacking coherence and drive, and failing to take command of matches. Ultimately, the blame for that has to lie with the manager. But clearly, the lack of club stability couldn’t have helped matters.
As usual when sacking a manager, the club released a statement thanking the man they’d just put out of work. The club said,
It has been a privilege to work closely with Tom; to understand how he sees the game and his enthusiasm for everything here. He deserves to be recognised for this and I’m sure he will have a bright future in the game.
Meanwhile, Cleverley took to the socials to give his thoughts,
After nine-and-a-half years of my life – as a loanee, player, captain, academy coach and head coach – my time at the club has come to an end. After the sadness wears off, I will forever have a feeling of gratitude and happiness towards the club and the place and people of Watford.
How Did Cleverley Compare to Previous Bosses?
- Dates in Charge – 9th March 2024 to 6th May 2025
- Games – 59
- Wins – 20
- Draws – 14
- Defeats – 25
- Win Percentage – 33.9%
The fact that Cleverley lasted for 59 games puts him ahead of plenty of other highly regarded managers, including an England boss and a Premier League winner. Gianluca Vialli was only given 52 games in the dugout, while the following men were in charge for fewer than 50 matches: Sean Dyche (49 games), Brendan Rodgers (31), Slaven Bilić (25), Nigel Pearson (22), Roy Hodgson (18), Claudio Ranieri (14).
Of course, if you lose more games than you win, your time as a manager of almost any club is going to be limited. But Cleverley’s win rate of almost 34% was still better than the likes of Marco Silva, Walter Mazzarri, Chris Wilder and even club legend Graham Taylor (at least in his 1996 stint).
Paulo Pezzolano: The New Watford Manager
Watford FC are thrilled to announce Paulo Pezzolano as our new Head Coach.
Welcome to Watford, Paulo! pic.twitter.com/mfteC9JuJY
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) May 13, 2025
Given the high turnover of managers in recent times (Cleverley was the ninth permanent manager since Nigel Pearson was sacked in July 2020!), it is difficult to second-guess the board’s thinking on how they picked the latest boss. They had plenty of options and could’ve plumped for a steady pick in the form of someone like former Watford, Burnley and Everton boss Sean Dyche. But instead, they went for another young manager who has the potential to grow into the role but is essentially unproven, certainly in English football.
History as a Player
The man who’s been given the honour/poisoned chalice (delete as you see fit!) of becoming the next head coach of Watford FC is Uruguayan 42-year-old Paulo Pezzolano. As a player, he featured over 100 times for Liverpool… Liverpool Montevideo in Uruguay, that is. He also played in Brazil, Spain (on loan), and China, though he never won anything as a player or represented the Uruguayan national side.
His Time Coaching
He has won something as a coach, however. Interestingly, given Watford’s desire to move from the English second tier to the top-flight, Pezzolano’s three managerial successes have come when gaining promotion to the top division of Uruguay (with Torque as second-tier champions), Brazil (with Cruzeiro, again as champions), and Spain (with Valladolid, finishing second). The Watford owners will clearly be hoping he achieves the same with their club, though the Championship is a tougher division to conquer than the Segunda División in Uruguay or the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, and arguably the Spanish Segunda División too.
Pezzolano’s Stats
Pezzolano’s stats aren’t bad on the face of it, with an overall win percentage of 42.95%. Okay, that’s still way short of former Watford bosses Slaviša Jokanović and Xisco Muñoz, who both had win rates of 58.33% (with each winning 21 of their 36 games in charge). But Pezzolano’s 42.95% isn’t too far shy of the 46.3% win rate of Graham Taylor’s famous decade in charge from 1977 to 1987.
The problem is, if the Uruguayan wants to avoid the fate of most recent Watford managers (and get the boot before they’ve really settled into life in Hertfordshire, he’ll need to lead the Hornets to the play-offs at the very least. And with the likes of Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton falling into the second tier, and plenty of other sides vying for the upper echelons of the division, that will be no easy task.
