Cleverley was appointed as Watford’s interim manager following the sacking of Valerien Ismael just over a year ago with the club releasing a short statement after a run of poor performances.
"This follows Watford FC terminating the contract of Valérien Ismaël after today's home defeat to Coventry City."
The club expressed gratitude towards Ismaël and his staff, stating: "The Hornets thank Valérien and his staff for their dedication and commitment, however the club's Board considers it an appropriate time to make a change in order to improve results."
His sacking came after a 2–1 home loss to Coventry City on March 9th, 2024 which was the club's third loss in their last four league games. Isamael was Watford's 20th different manager since the Pozzo family took over the club in 2020 in what has been a manager merry-go-round for a number of years.
Constantly hiring and firing managers comes at a price and the club's accounts have often been hit by termination payments for sacked managers. Owner Gino Pozzo was forced to pay £1.1M to Ismael and his staff when he dismissed him after 10 months in charge. He also forked out £7.8M in 2021-22 when Xisco Munoz, Claudio Ranieri and Roy Hodgson were all axed.
By comparison the club earned £6.76M in matchday revenue at Vicarage Road during that entire campaign which means Watford have lost money by their reckless decisions to sack so many head coaches over recent seasons which does not help financially especially when they are aiming to break back into the Premier League.
In terms of the number of games in charge, Zola (75) and Gracia (66) lead the way, while Quique Sanchez Flores (56) - who had two spells at Vicarage Road - currently has more than Cleverley, but he will surpass that figure before the end of the current season if he stays.
Cleverley has signed a three-year contract which was confirmed by Watford chairman Scott Duxbury in his programme notes ahead of their clash with Millwall on Friday night. Whether he will last the 3 years is unknown but if Cleverly can survive another year, it will be a major feat at a club that lacks the patience necessary to make real progress, especially in the Championship, where life can be utterly brutal.