Wolves blog: Will Wolves replicate the Watford model?

Watford have announced Walter Mazzarri is leaving the club after just one season.

Since their takeover by the Pozzo family in 2012, they have had seven head coaches in charge.

Having been mired in mid-table Championship for the four previous seasons, they finished third in the first season under new ownership.

They lost in the playoff final and had another mid-table season before finally getting promoted in 2015.

There seem to be a lot of similarities between Watford and Wolves in terms of their new ownership. The – thus far – trigger-happy nature of Fosun suggests Watford’s model is a path Wolves will also go down.

There are plenty of similarities between the two clubs following their respective takeovers. Watford signed 16 players in the summer of the takeover, with 14 joining on season-long loans.

The majority of these players had never played in England before, with the bulk signing from Udinese or Granada, clubs also owned by the Pozzo family.

They dispensed with Sean Dyche soon after the takeover and replaced him with Gianfranco Zola. Since they took over, they have hired three Italians and two Spaniards, with only Zola and Oscar Garcia having had previous experience managing in England.

Since the takeover, Watford reverted to using the title of Head Coach rather than Manager, a system also used by Wolves.

Of the 16 most used players in their promotion-winning season, only five were British.

Watford’s last five seasons certainly have a familiar feel to what is happening at Wolves. Although Wolves have not had as successful a season as Watford in their first post-takeover campaign, Wolves were taken over very late into the summer last year.

Fosun soon dispatched with Kenny Jackett, replacing him with Walter Zenga, Rob Edwards and then Paul Lambert, who looks sure to be on his way out.

Wolves signed 13 players at the start of the season, with five on loan. Of the 13 players, Helder Costa, Joao Teixeira and Ola John came from Benfica. Silvio moved from Atletico and Ivan Cavaleiro came from Monaco. All three of these clubs are considered to be within the Jorge Mendes network.

Ola John was moved on to Deportivo, another club within this network. Like Watford and their links with Granada and Udinese, players within Mendes’ network freely move between clubs. There is little doubt more signings will come from within this network in the future.

Wolves still have a largely British core to their squad, but this could all change over the next few transfer windows.

Many still believe in the need to have a British manager with Championship know-how in order to succeed in this league. However, the four teams who made it to the play-offs all have foreign managers.

Of the four, three had never managed in England before. Reading’s Jaap Stam had played in England, but Huddersfield’s David Wagner and Sheffield Wednesday’s Carlos Carvalhal had not. Fulham’s manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, was the man who took Watford over the line in 2015.

Like Watford, Wolves are likely to try to hire and fire their way firstly into the Premier League and then to safety. It took Watford, who finished third in their first season, three attempts to secure promotion.

Fosun will need to ensure every decision they make, whether hiring or firing, buying or selling, is a progressive one.