New Watford manager Slaven Bilic will know that he is likely to face the sack if he doesn’t get the club promoted this season.
That is according to pundit Simon Jordan, who was speaking on TalkSport about the managerial changes at Vicarage Road over the past few days.
Watford relieved former head coach Rob Edwards of his duties on Monday after just 11 games at the helm of the club, before swiftly announcing former West Bromwich Albion manager Bilic as his successor.
The Hornets will be looking to get promoted back to the Premier League at the first time of asking this season, but currently sit in 10th in the Championship table after 10 games – six points off an automatic promotion spot.
And Jordan suggests that Bilic will know what his task will be upon taking the Watford job, claiming that he doesn’t feel any sorrow for those who have been let go by the club, with the task at hand being very clear from the off.
“What you could say to Slaven is, ‘your job – very clearly – get promoted. If you don’t get promoted, you’re going to get your coat’.
“Isn’t that wonderful? Absolute clarity.
“There’s no ambiguity… ‘oh, what did he mean? I walked out the room, I didn’t know what he meant’.
“I’ve been employed with one focus in mind – get us promoted.
“If I’m in a room negotiating with Watford, I know that the sack is coming my way, so I will tailor my contract to that extent, or I won’t take the job.”
TIF Thoughts on Jordan’s comments…
We believe that Jordan’s comments are fair, though Watford’s hiring-and-firing process hasn’t particularly helped them with their intentions of staying in the Premier League over the past few seasons.
However, it is clear that the Hornets have a squad that should really be challenging for automatic promotion, and the club may have panicked that they were going to slide further down the table under the management of Edwards.
Therefore, we think the next few months under Bilic’s control have the potential to be very interesting and we are intrigued to see if his appointment inspires a turnaround in results.