Former Aston Villa and Everton star lands Championship manager's job after beating Birmingham City

Watford have made the decision to hand Tom Cleverley the reins on a permanent basis. 

He has been appointed as their new head coach after overseeing an interim period after replacing former West Brom boss Valérien Ismaël. Cleverley has overseen seven league matches, earning five draws and one win against five team’s in the top seven. His appointment represents a quick rise to the Vicarage Road hot seat.

His one win in charge came against Birmingham City. Emmanuel Dennis scored the only goal of the game at St Andrew’s in mid-March. It was a change that prompted Birmingham to bring in Gary Rowett after Mark Venus had been unable to register a win after taking over from Tony Mowbray. 

In his other result in the Midlands, he oversaw a 2-2 draw with West Brom. Edo Kayembe and Mileta Rajovic gave Watford a two-goal lead but Brandon Thomas-Asante pulled one back and the Darnell Furlong rescued a point for the Baggies.

The Hampshire-born midfielder started at Manchester United and spent several years there, winning the Premeir League title. He had loan spells at Leicester City, Watford and Wigan Athletic. Cleverley spent the 2014/15 campaign on loan at Aston Villa and was part of the side that reached the FA Cup final. He departed Old Trafford for Everton in the same year, spending two years at Goodison Park before returning to Watford.

Cleverley retired from playing last summer through injury, bringing to an end a 15-year playing career. He was named manager of Watford’s under-18s team and took them to second before the role with the first-team came calling.

The Hornets have two final fixtures left in their 2023/14 campaign. Sunderland are the opposition at home on Saturday before they round off their season against Middlesbrough on Saturday, May 4.

Watford are currently fifteenth and have an outside chance of finishing in the top-half. They are six points behind 12th-placed Bristol City and would have to hope that the Robins don’t win any of their remaining games.