Watford make a significant decision on the head coach position ahead of 2024/25 season in appointing Tom Cleverley permanently.
In July 2023, Cleverley announced his retirement from professional football as a result of injury and that month, Watford then said Cleverley would take up a position in the club’s academy helping to coach the under-18 side, while also taking on ad hoc club ambassadorial responsibilities.
Following the dismissal of Valerien Ismael on the 9th of March 2024, Cleverley was then named as interim head coach and has since won 1, drew 5 and lost 1 of his 7 games in charge.
Our Tom. ???? pic.twitter.com/Vea6Q3AFx9
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) April 24, 2024
ℹ️ Watford FC is delighted to confirm the permanent appointment of Tom Cleverley as the Hornets’ Head Coach.
Congrats, Tom! ????
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) April 24, 2024
CLUB STATEMENT:
Watford FC is delighted to confirm the permanent appointment of Tom Cleverley as the Hornets’ Head Coach.
Since taking the role on an interim basis last month, the 34-year-old has guided the team through a run of seven Sky Bet Championship fixtures – five of which against teams in the league’s top seven.
The Hornets have lost just once during that period, keeping four clean sheets on the way to five draws and one win.
Having retired from playing through injury last summer, Cleverley made his first move into coaching with the Watford FC Academy in July, guiding the Under-18s to second place in the Professional Development League table – as well as two cup semi-finals – prior to taking up the first-team Interim Head Coach position in March.
As a player, a 20-year-old Cleverley lifted the Hornets’ Player of the Season trophy after a stand-out 2009/10 campaign on loan from Manchester United, with whom he would go on to win the Premier League three years later.
The ex-England international returned to Vicarage Road in 2017 and became a key member of the team during four-and-a-half Premier League seasons, also contributing towards the run to the 2019 FA Cup final and automatic promotion from the Championship in 2020/21.
Club Captain during his final year on the playing staff, Cleverley hung up his boots with 182 games and 19 goals on his Watford record.
A full first-team staffing structure for the 2024/25 season will be confirmed soon.
Senior figures at the Championship club, who currently sit 15th with 53 points from 44 games, are seeing the impact Cleverley is having.
“There is a lot of unfinished business from my playing career,” he said in an interview with BBC Sport. “That drives me forward with my coaching. It motivates me every day.
“I didn’t achieve anything in the Champions League with Manchester United. The title we lost to City. I came to Watford when they were in the Premier League. I retired as a player with them in the Championship. None of it sits right.
“I left a few out there as a player. I probably lacked ambition. But as a coach I am very ambitious.”
Cleverley was given the Watford Under-18s job, with boss Sir Alex Ferguson helping him out.
“He gave me a couple of great pieces of advice about on-field coaching, but the main thing I take away from him is man-management,” said Cleverley. “Football is not just about 11 players. You need harmony from a full squad. He was a genius at doing that.”
He also got a call from Honorary Life-President Elton John following Watford’s Good Friday draw with Leeds.
“Elton is great,” he said. “He said how much he enjoyed it and how much he enjoyed a Watford man being in charge. He knows how passionate I am about the club.”
“I love the feeling of working towards something every day, whether that is a result, a relegation battle, a title charge,” he added. “Football has been my life since I was a kid. I like being on the inside of a club, having real impact, doing the nitty-gritty on the grass, taking the tactical aspects of training, enjoying the little game of chess football is becoming now.”
On the travails currently being experienced at Old Trafford: “I go back to environment. Look at the dressing rooms of Liverpool and Manchester City.
“I don’t think they [United] are that far away in terms of quality, but when you look at how people react to mistakes, to going behind, to poor form, it is chalk and cheese. They are a long way behind the other two.”
Cleverley knows just how limited time wise it can be to impress and make an impact at Watford.
“I approach it with an incredible amount of self-belief,” he said. “I feel like I am the guy who can get it right, I am the one who can take it forward.
“I don’t know it all, far from it, but we have a clear vision about where we can improve the team and we have a longer-term plan, if needed, for where we can get to.”
With Cleverley ‘the first of the new breed, totally conversant with the social media age,’ he knows managerial techniques of the past on their own will not work any more.
“That is where my time in the academy really helped,” he said. “Even the younger generation below the first-team players don’t seem to respond to fear as much as they did in my time.
“For me it was respect, scared, react, do the business, in that order. Now you lose people a bit more through fear. You need to show players you want to help. That is how you get a response. That is my style. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but it is my way and I will stick to it.”
Tom Cleverley: I̶n̶t̶e̶r̶i̶m̶ Head Coach ???? pic.twitter.com/DKe5i23gLc
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) April 24, 2024
This is what fans said as Watford make significant decision on it’s head coach position ahead of 2024/25 season…
@briangoldsmith: Well done Tom, congratulations, you deserve this, you came in and stabilised us just in time, at the toughest part of the season. I couldn’t feel happier about our future. Roll on next season. #WatfordFC
@WfcHJames: And here come the “sacked in October” comments. Ismael had 11 months, which 90% of clubs don’t give these days ????
@swedishhornets: Excellent decision. Now listen to his advice & get his input as to what he needs to develop this team. He’s done a great job transforming the performances with plenty of attack. He needs to fix that as a priority imho.
@TomMaverickPKR: Absolutely deserves the chance after performing well. This summer is massive and we need to get rid of all the passengers, invest in youth and get a couple of hardened championship players.
@DanHarvey74: Has probably earned the opportunity, performances have been decent on the whole, the players are playing for him and he knows the club / owners better than most. Can start preparing for next season now but’d be nice to finally WIN a home game on Saturday! Good luck TC! ????❤????????
@nairobiny: Though “permanent” doesn’t really mean the same thing in Watford as it does in the rest of the country
@wolvesphil: Well, you say ‘permanent’, but…
@AvroRedgrave: Excellent! One win in seven tells nothing of the full story – he’s done brilliantly in the circumstances. We’ve made every mistake under the sun in recent summers, I hope they get it right with Clevs ???? #WatfordFC
@ole_was_right: Wouldn’t have bet on this in a million years. Hopefully, he can build a bit of a reputation, and then dip out before Watford’s batshit ownership structure dismisses him.
@Watford_Douglas: No point feeling either way about this because we won’t back him with the players he needs and he’ll be sacked just like the rest of them. Another season of Bachmann being our number 1 keeper. #PozzoOut
@azatampswfc: Clevs is everything Watford Football Club is about, there’s no better person to be the leader and face of this team. Now it’s on us as fans to continue to get behind him and the board to give him the support he needs ready for next season. Well deserved Tom ???? #watfordfc
@JakeAGriff: Another one to keep an eye on. Class this. Good luck Clevs! ????❤️
@HJClarke95: For the love of God, please back him in the summer. Fucked it with Edwards and Val. 3rd time lucky… with a Watford man at the wheel #watfordfc
@WFCAidan: So deserved! I haven’t wanted a coach to succeed at the club as much as Clevs for a very long time. Just praying he’s properly backed in the summer and isn’t subjected to Pozzo puppetry like many of our recent coaches. Tom Cleverley’s Yellow Army ????… #watfordfc
@WFCHenry: You have one job lads. Don’t you dare screw him over like you have the last few
@AdamVessey: good luck, Tom… You’re gonna need it.
