The Italian stood at a Friday press conference and refused to confirm his own sacking, because he had not been sacked. Reports had surfaced during a 5-1 loss at Cardiff on Tuesday night that his dismissal was imminent, and by the time he met reporters at the training ground, Watford were still bottom-three in the Championship.
“There is good news, bad news or fake news probably. In this case for the moment, it is fake news,” Dionisi told BBC Three Counties Radio, before adding that the decision was not his to make.
A second line, delivered in the same session, was more revealing of the week he had just had. He was asked about Sir Elton John, the club’s honorary life president and former owner, who had posted and then deleted a public rebuke of the team’s form.
“I have a lot of respect for everyone. For Elton John, I am sorry because I don’t know him,” Dionisi said.
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Elton John’s deleted post
The 4-0 home defeat to Burnley had drawn the singer out. In a now-deleted Instagram post, he described himself as “upset and disappointed” by the club’s form.
By the time Dionisi faced the press, that post was gone, but the two scorelines were not: 4-0 to Burnley at Vicarage Road, 5-1 at Cardiff three nights later. Nine goals conceded in two games had dropped Watford into the relegation zone.
12th head coach in five years
Dionisi was appointed in June on a two-year contract, the 12th head coach the Pozzo family has hired at Vicarage Road since the end of the 2020-21 season, excluding interim appointments. The owner, Gino Pozzo, has run through managers at a pace few clubs in English football can match, and the Italian is well aware of the backdrop.
“I speak with my owner every day and I have a good relationship with him, but this is football and I know that last season Watford changed four coaches,” he said.
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Charlton win eases the pressure
On Saturday afternoon, 24 hours after the press conference, Watford beat Charlton Athletic 2-0 at Vicarage Road. Luca Kjerrumgaard broke the deadlock in the 58th minute and Jordan Zemura added a second in stoppage time, as Sky Sports reported. It was Watford’s first clean sheet in 210 days, and only their second win in three months.
“I’m very happy because it was not easy this week for everyone at the club,” Dionisi said afterwards. “We lost two matches after the international break, but we believe in this team and we stayed together.”
He then added a line about the night ahead: “This result is important and tonight I will drink a glass of red wine.”
Watford next travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 24 October.
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