Chris Wilder has fired a parting shot at “petulant” Watford players who turned his 63-day reign into a nightmare.
The former Sheffield United boss won only three of his 11 games in charge after being parachuted into Vicarage Road when Slaven Bilic was sacked. But like Bilic and Rob Edwards before him, Wilder, 55, failed to get a tune consistently out of a squad routinely flattered by rival coaches as the strongest in the Championship.
And Wilder, replaced by Valerien Ismael as the Hornets' 19th different boss in 11 years – and the 11th since September 2019 – admitted it had been “the toughest spell I’ve had as a manager.”
He said: “The Premier League with Sheffield United in the second season [when the Blades were relegated] was tough, but this has been right up there with it. I came in with my eyes wide open. I knew there would probably be some petulance at times, I knew there would probably be some indiscipline at times.
“But there were some bits that I found quite surprising in terms of where the players were at, and I should imagine that would have been the same for the two previous managers this season as well.”
Wilder read the riot act after a feeble derby defeat at arch-rivals Luton, but it didn't stop Watford 's tailspin to a mediocre 11th-place finish, six points outside the play-offs. Speaking to the Watford Observer, he admitted: “It was just so limp. We pretty much went out the back door that day.
“There’s a reason why Watford is in the situation it is - and I hope they come out the other side for the sake of the supporters.”
Wilder is favourite to take over at Reading, who suffered relegation to League One after a six-point deduction for straying off-piste while under financial restrictions.
Meanwhile, the Hornets' Under-21 coach Omar Riza is a contender for the managrerial vacancy at MK Dons, who sacked manager Mark Jackson after dropping into League Two.
