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Watford sack their manager with two games remaining of season

Watford sack their manager Nigel Pearson with two games remaining of Premier League season, it has been confirmed on Sunday afternoon.

Sportsmail reports that the defeat to West Ham United left club officials infuriated and put the manager’s job in serious jeopardy.

Hayden Mullins and Graham Stack will take charge for final two games against Man City and Arsenal, the players have also been informed.

The Hornets could still get relegated this season, sitting just three points above the drop zone after 36 matches played.

Victory for strugglers West Ham helped them open up a three-point margin on Watford, in what was a huge fixture for Pearson’s side.

The Hornets’ two remaining games see them face the huge task of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at home, before ending the season away at Arsenal.

Pearson said after the defeat on Friday: “First half we let the game pass us by. We had passengers which is disappointing at this stage of the season. The second-half performance was much improved – very competitive. It’s annoying. Very disappointing. It means now we have got to find another one or two good results.

“There’s no getting away from the fact this result is bitterly disappointing. I’d expect better from our players – that’s not to say everybody. What I say stays in the dressing room. It’s not self preservation, it’s making sure we take responsibility. We didn’t in the first half, we did in the second half.

“It’s a really poor result for us. It’s a case of finding solutions. I’ll look at it again and players will get honest feedback. There isn’t time to dwell on it. The players will go home tonight and think ‘wow we’ve let that one drift past us’. It wasn’t good enough.”

He said via the club website on the result: “One of the things we will all do tonight, we will get home and think about it, and it will be annoying because we’ve missed an opportunity,” said Pearson.

“We haven’t done what we talked about doing, what we’ve worked at doing, and that is difficult. We have to get over it and make sure we bounce back.

“Whether that’s the pressure of the situation, who knows, but now we have to find good performances in the last two games to give us chances of winning those games.”

The Hornets improved after the break and pulled one back through Troy Deeney but were unable to capitalise on a period of pressure and eventually ran out of steam.

“There’s not much point talking about taking the positives from the second half, even though they were, when we weren’t in the game often enough before half-time,” said Pearson.

“It’s a poor result for us, a game which has passed us by somewhat in the first half. Performance wise, it’s not what I would expect from us.

“It’s not easy to deal with, I didn’t think we were resilient enough collectively. We had some spirited performances out there, but we were not what I would expect from us.”

The Head Coach was in no mood to publicly blame individuals for the manner in which the goals were conceded, insisting what’s said in the dressing room will stay there.

“The players and staff, we’re in this together so I’m not going to be looking now to be overly critical, especially on an individual level. The players know themselves we’ve let an opportunity pass us by,” he said.

“Players don’t deal with pressure in the same way, so I’ll be looking to those who can handle the situation to go into Tuesday’s game.

“I like to protect my players and keep things that I say internal and I’m not going to change that now.”

It comes after the shock decision that Huddersfield Town made just hours earlier to get rid of the Cowley Brothers.

Fans gave their reaction after hearing that Watford sack their manager Nigel Pearson…

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