Watford’s players had not seen it coming despite the downward trends over the previous 14
Premier League games and, even by the standards of the club owner, Gino Pozzo, the decision to sack Nigel Pearson was a brutal one. With only two matches of the season remaining, the idea was to jolt the players into action. If Pozzo felt that they were drifting under their former manager, then something had to change and quickly. Could they eke out something extra under the interim coach, Hayden Mullins?
The short answer against a
Manchester City team that showed an absence of pity was no and the manner of Watford’s capitulation after Raheem Sterling had opened the scoring on 31 minutes was a worry. Mullins had set up to contain and the pre-match feeling was that even a narrow defeat might not be the worst result if goal difference was to be a factor in Watford’s bid for survival.