Birmingham City and West Brom's rivals sack manager and immediately replace him with ex-Man Utd star

One of Birmingham City and West Brom's rivals have sacked their manager with just two months remaining of the season. We have seen a number of sackings across the Championship this season, with plenty of changes in hotseats around the division.

The latest comes at Watford, a club known for regularly changing bosses, and Valérien Ismaël is the latest to get the boot. Watford are currently 14th in the table, and they will have wanted to compete for a top six spot this season, currently no less than 13 points from the playoffs and with no chance of landing a top six berth.

Frenchman Ismael has been in charge since last May, but after his side suffered defeat to Coventry City over the weekend, he was immediately relieved of his duties. Watford had won just one of their last 12 games across all competitions.

His interim replacement has already been confirmed, with former Hornets and Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverly getting the gig. A statement from the club read: "Tom Cleverley will assume the position of Interim Head Coach at Vicarage Road. This follows Watford FC terminating the contract of Valérien Ismaël after today's home defeat to Coventry City.

"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. Tom Cleverley's staff will be confirmed in due course."

Cleverly, who is still only 34, is yet to build experience in management, with this being his first official coaching capacity at senior level. He retired as a player only last year after returning to Vicarage Road, where he had previously spent time on loan. The midfielder made 137 league appearances for the club ahead of retiring.