Watford owner Gino Pozzo releases a statement after huge backlash from fans to the sacking of head coach Tom Cleverley.
It reflects on 13 years of ownership of Watford Football Club, highlighting transformations, including the development of Vicarage Road stadium, and memorable moments like Premier League seasons and Wembley visits, alongside inevitable setbacks.
It emphasises the club’s enduring spirit and the owners’ commitment to its future success. Despite a challenging season with inconsistent performances, there is optimism about the squad’s young talent and potential for a play-off push next season.
The decision to replace the young coach, Tom, with a more experienced one aims to maximise the squad’s potential, acknowledging fan discontent but defending the choice as being in the club’s best interest.
The ownership reaffirms their strategy of developing young players while retaining experienced ones to ensure stability and competitiveness in the Championship, with a goal of returning to the Premier League.
Financial stability is assured, and all decisions are framed as being for Watford’s benefit, with continued dedication promised for the upcoming season.
📝 Owner Statement: Gino Pozzo
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) May 7, 2025
OWNER’S STATEMENT:
It is 13 years since we first invested in Watford and, in that time, this magnificent football club has changed enormously.
Vicarage Road is a home that every single one of us can be proud of and a fitting stadium for fans who deserve the best.
We have had some wonderful highs – seasons in the Premier League and several visits to Wembley – but of course, some inevitable disappointments, which are part of football.
But this is not meant as a history lesson. This is about the present and the future of the club under our ownership.
One thing that has never changed is the special spirit of this football club and, while there have been challenges, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on the season just gone and reaffirm our absolute commitment to Watford Football Club.
I realise we have a responsibility to make this club the very best that it can be and I am energised in my determination to make Watford competitive, successful and challenge for a return to the Premier League.
This is a responsibility we all take incredibly seriously. The Championship is tough because there is a depth to the competition which makes it one of the hardest leagues in the world.
But I have seen real signs this season that we have the talent within our squad to challenge for the play-off places next season and, hopefully, promotion.
Yes, there has been a lack of consistency at times which saw us drop away when I thought we could be in the top six, but we have a group of highly talented young players who will only have benefitted from the experience of this season and what it means to compete in the Championship.
Tom Cleverley speaks out after being sacked as head coach of Watford
Tom is a bright young coach who has a real future in the game, but he needs time to gain experience and in football time is a precious commodity. I felt, to achieve our immediate aims next season, we need a more experienced coach to get the best out of our squad.
Results and performances, certainly after Christmas, were those of a club in a relegation fight and we couldn’t allow that momentum to continue into the next campaign.
I have seen the reaction, and I accept that. I realise there will be some fans who, no matter what we say, are not going to agree with us. This is normal; it’s football and I respect that the game is all about strong opinions.
What I will say is that we believe we have made the correct decision for the good of the football club. That is the basis for every decision we take.
Going forward, we will do everything in our power to keep those more experienced players in our squad to help the younger members in their development.
We are not abandoning the model which has served us well over the years: identifying youth and developing it. But we recognise the need to keep this current squad together and build on it if we want to be successful.
The club will never be jeopardised financially, but we will do everything possible to provide stability and growth where the playing side is concerned.
To those who may not agree with everything that has happened, I can assure you we all recognise our responsibility to the football club, and we take every decision for the benefit of Watford.
That is what we strive for every single day, and we will continue to do so throughout the summer and into next season.
Thank you
The Pozzo Out Group tweeted: “A statement on Tom Cleverley’s sacking from us here at the PozzoOutGroup
“FIGHTING FOR A BETTER FOOTBALL CLUB, FOR THE FANS.
“TOM CLEVERLEY’S SACKING
“We are angry and confused with the news of the sacking of Tom Cleverley.
“We call on other supporter groups and fan groups such as The Pozzo Out Movement, The1881Movement, WD18Fans, The Watford Supporters Trust, and other notable figures in our small community such as podcasters, tiktokers and youtubers to come together and form a response to this abrupt and shocking decision made by the club.
“While making your voices heard online is good and we continue to encourage that, this anger must move into the stadium and we must show as a fanbase that we don’t stand for this. We must make our voices heard.
“Now is an incredibly important time in our history, if we don’t start fighting back it will only get worse.
“As a fanbase we must come together as one putting aside everything and fight for the same cause, being on the same page now is the most important thing ever.
“We will start laying the foundations for a peaceful protest and will continue to encourage fans to make their voices heard. Other fan groups hear this message, the time to work together is now.
“A letter will be sent soon to the club where we will be asking for more detailed reasons behind the sacking and the thought process behind it. We will publicly post this letter once its been written and will update you if there is a response to it.
“We are also angry that Gino and the club have waited till now to do it, they’ve waited till 12,500 fans have renewed season tickets to pull the trigger, that is not fair to the fans. We have all been tricked unfortunately and sold a project which wont happen.
“To the people still fighting for a better club, well done and please continue. We must not let our guard down as a fanbase as thats when Gino Pozzo will strike again.
“Our mission is to continue fighting for the future of this club and its fanbase, and nothing will change now.”
This is how Twitter users reacted as Watford owner Gino Pozzo releases a statement after backlash to sacking Tom Cleverley…
@HMWFC: Assuming because you say Tom was inexperienced, you will be bringing a coach who has had good experience in the Championship? Also if this is the case what was the logic behind hiring Xisco at the time?
@smith1475: Why did you employ Tom in the first place if you think we need a manager with experience. And if the new guy doesn’t at the least get us into the playoffs then he’ll be gone as well? You are going to need to invest in some decent players which you haven’t done in years!
@HJClarke95: Cleverley kept us up last year as interim head coach Cleverley received poor backing in the summer – goes 19 games at home UNBEATEN. Cleverley lost key players in January with no further backing, kept us amongst the top 10 for some time. Loads of experience gained…
@Becca_K_: Where, exactly, is this promotion chasing talent you speak of? The rest of us have obviously missed it. What we did see though was a squad that overachieved during the first half of the season – probably due to the very manager that you’ve just sacked!! Utter madness.
@F1W_1881: We’ve all heard your words before. Nothing changes. You have proven yourself unable to listen and change. Sell the club
@SteveBDF: “We won’t jeopardise the financial security of the club” sounds an awful lot like “no investment in the summer and we’ll sack the manager we bring in after 3 months if it doesn’t go well”. More of the same then.
@Paul_Wilson86: I see a lot of words…but no real substance. What are you going to do differently next season? Other than throw yet another new manager at the same very average squad.
@out_pozzo: Do you think anyone is believing a word of what you’ve said? Get out of our club
@watford_fcnews: Pretty pointless statement that. Announce the next manager who becomes victim of this ownership
@barnesy007: Was hoping that to say something along the lines of that you have sacked Duxbury and you’re selling up and going back home to Italy. The amount of incorrect decisions you all make as a board of directors is astonishing.
@ThomasJDesign: Where is this promotion worthy squad he talks about? I back this team, lots of hard workers in there and lots of potential but its not a promotion squad in my eyes. He’s set himself up for a lot of work this summer now as Tom’s hard work was providing him with a get out.
@AvroRedgrave: Just completely detached from reality. Nothing about the squad is set up for a top six push. Very little depth, no passable strikers, no core of 25-30 y.o. experienced Championship players. The fact that Tom had us in the conversation until January is a small miracle. #PozzoOut
@Richwfc2: Gaslighting of the highest order
1. you don’t sack a guy who has gained considerable experience this season & knows club
2. You will sell all the experienced or at least quality players ,no Louza,No. Chak probably no Baah
Sell up now
@WycombeDJ: You are not just a clown. You are the entire circus.
@louorns: Fella we went into the season with a strike force of Bayo, Doumbia and Jebbison, Bachmann as first choice, Ngakia and Larouci as full backs. Expecting promotion with that is like expecting Lewis Hamilton to win Monaco in Del Boys van
Every year we say we are pushing for the PL but end up mid table with seemingly similar tactics. I’d love to know what changes will be made for next season… pic.twitter.com/SFrDG5y6F8
— Frey 🙂 (@FreyaQuinton) May 7, 2025
