The new Watford? A look at the managerial merry-go-round at Forest Green

Troy Deeney’s sacking after less than a month as Forest Green manager leaves the club searching for their fifth permanent boss in less than a year.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the turnover in the Rovers dugout.

Revolving door

Rovers enjoyed stability in their early years in the EFL, with Mark Cooper in charge for five years as he took them up from the National League and Rob Edwards seamlessly continuing their progress.

Edwards was in charge for just less than a year but took the club up as League Two champions before being head-hunted by Championship side Watford. His 45 per cent win ratio, 24 out of 53 games, is the best of any Rovers manager in their EFL era.

His replacement Ian Burchnall lasted just under eight months in charge, losing more than half of his 37 games – but if his sacking on January 25 last year was intended by owner Dale Vince to stop the rot, it has had the opposite effect.

Duncan Ferguson took over but lasted only the remainder of the season, with 14 defeats in 18 games as Rovers were relegated back to League Two.

Hannah Dingley took interim charge for a pre-season friendly against Melksham, becoming the first female head coach of a professional men’s team in England, before David Horseman was named as Ferguson’s permanent replacement.

He was sacked in December after 28 games, winning just seven, with the club turning to Deeney, already registered as a player.

His winless six-game run – three draws and three losses – ended with a spectacular post-match rant after last week’s defeat to Harrogate, in which he bemoaned the “nonsense” and “babies” at the club and singled out Reece Brown and Fankaty Dabo for criticism.

Deeney was handed a four-match touchline ban on Thursday – equivalent to two-thirds of his managerial experience thus far – for his red card at Swindon and subsequent protests, before being sacked later in the day.

In 89 games since Edwards’ departure, Rovers have won 19 – just 21 per cent – drawn 18 and lost 52 (58 per cent). They had the worst points-per-game ratio of any EFL club in 2023 at just 0.51.

The Watford bug

Edwards, now impressing in the Premier League after taking Luton up through the play-offs, lasted just 11 games at Watford before being sacked and leading their rivals to success.

He was the 16th of 19 permanent managers appointed by the Pozzo family since taking charge at Vicarage Road in 2011 – current manager Valerien Ismael’s 29 games in charge is already the eighth-longest spell among those managers and seven games away from cracking the top five.

Deeney himself referenced that turbulent situation as he recently told his Football Firsts podcast on BBC Sounds: “I was at Watford for 12 years – I had 18 managers.”

Somewhere between Edwards’ departure and Deeney’s appointment, Rovers appear to have caught the same bug and their next boss faces the task of restoring stability.