Watford chairman Duxbury refuses to apologise for managerial tunover

Watford have no reason to apologise for their reputation of hiring and firing managers, according to chairman Scott Duxbury.

Walter Mazzarri departed Vicarage Road after just one season and takes the tally of managerial exits to six in three seasons.

But Duxbury defended the club’s policy and said that Watford were not happy with just surviving in the Premier League.

He said: “I don’t think we’re different in the sense that we simply have aspiration and ambition. I think there’s been certain pundits recently who said we should be happy just surviving with the crumbs from the Premier League table.

“I’m sorry, but we want more than just to survive. We want to be a club that is progressive and has ambition. You can see what we’ve done off the pitch with the stadium and development that we’re a club that works really hard to try and move forward.”

Picture: Getty

Duxbury refused to be drawn on whether Mazzarri had failed in his one season at the club – but
said that the next manager must be more in line with the club and the supporters.

He added: “Last year we had 45 points and we survived. This year we really hoped we would push on. We’re not saying we want to conquer the Premier League but we do want to be more than just surviving.

“For a variety of reasons, our goals and our philosophies weren’t aligned. So it’s time to move on and look in a different direction forward. But as I say, that doesn’t mean upheaval.

“Changing a head coach for us isn’t perhaps as dramatic and doesn’t have that upheaval that at other clubs it would. I still think commentators, pundits, still have a hard time to understand and evaluate how we operate.

“With Walter specifically, there’s been a lack of connection with our supporters, with the press and media.

“We’re looking for somebody who embodies the ethos of the club, who is the ultimate ambassador of the club who can communicate the development of this football club.”