Watford have fired manager Valerien Ismael after just winning one of their last ten league games, with Tom Cleverley taking over as interim manager.
Cleverley, 34, had been coaching their under-18 side since retiring from football last year.
The Hornets, who are now 13th in the Championship, said Cleverley’s staff will be “confirmed in due course”.
Ismael, who formerly managed Barnsley and West Brom, joins Watford in May 2023.
With the 47-year-old’s departure, the club is now looking for its 11th head coach since 2018, and ninth since the end of the 2020-21 season.
Since Sean Dyche left Vicarage Road in 2012, Gianfranco Zola, Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia, Billy McKinlay, Slavisa Jokanovic, Quique Sanchez Flores, Walter Mazzarri, Marco Silva, Javi Gracia, Nigel Pearson, Vladimir Ivic, Xisco Munoz, Claudio Ranieri, Roy Hodgson, Rob Edwards, Slaven Bilic, and Chris Wilder have all been in charge.
Ismael, who joined Vicarage Road from Besiktas, previously led Barnsley to the Championship play-offs in 2021.
He lasted only eight months at West Brom, leaving in February 2022.
Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Coventry was their third in four games and sixth in their last eight, with their sole win in the previous ten coming against bottom club Rotherham.
“The Hornets thank Valerien and his staff for their dedication and commitment,” according to a club statement. “However, the club’s board considers it an appropriate time to make a change in order to improve results.”
Cleverley, who was capped 13 times by England, finished his playing career with Watford, after joining from Everton in 2017.
He won the Premier League title with Manchester United in 2013 and helped the Hornets reach the FA Cup final in 2019.
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