Valerien Ismael’s Watford future could be saved by EFL decision
Valerien Ismael has struggled at the Watford helm in recent weeks but he could be reprieved by the EFL
Watford’s attempt at reaching the play-offs hasn’t been how Valerien Ismael will have envisaged after taking over the club in the summer – but the EFL have seemingly offered him a final chance to fly up the table in a bid to return to the top-flight.
The Hornets sit seven points outside of the top six picture with one-third of the season left to go, but sitting on just 41 points at this stage in the Championship, they will need to make a more valiant attempt at picking points up if they are to crack the code.
Two poor runs of form have more than cancelled out a strong spell around the Christmas period, but with four consecutive games against teams in the relegation picture, the EFL have been kind to them with the fixture list and it’s upto the Hornets to seize their chance – and it could save Ismael his job.
Valerien Ismael’s season so far
It’s been an odd season for Watford.
After failing to make a dent in the play-offs last season despite boasting the likes of Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr, the Hornets eventually sold their star duo – though there hasn’t been much money reinvested into the club’s playing squad.
Georgian attacker Giorgi Chakvetadze was arguably their marquee signing, alongside solid purchases in Jake Livermore, Rhys Healey and Mileta Rajovic, with the latter producing the goods with nine goals in just 29 appearances for the Hertfordshire-based side.
Yet results and form have varied for Watford. A 4-0 win over QPR on the opening day of the season looked to be a good marker, but it took the Hornets until their 12th game to register three wins, by which point they were flirting with relegation.
Then a turn in form saw them climb to 7th by Christmas, and they seemed like a team who had finally clicked – but another horror run of just one win in eight has seen them fall back down the standings. Now seven points off the play-offs with just 14 games to go, it’s going to take a minor miracle to qualify for the top six by the end of the season – but the EFL fixture list could be Ismael’s saving grace with much pressure falling on the boss as he risks falling under the axe.
