Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit drops claim on Paulo Pezzolano's Watford FC future | OneFootball

Don Goodman has spoken to FLW about the future of Hornets boss Paulo Pezzolano after a poor start to the campaign.

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman has advised the Watford hierarchy to be “patient” with boss Paulo Pezzolano after a dismal start to the 2025-26 Championship campaign.

The Hornets currently sit just outside the relegation zone after six league matches, taking only five points from a possible 18 on offer and failing to taste victory in their last four matches.

The club has lost back-to-back matches for the first time this term too, most recently being edged out 1-0 by Millwall last Sunday in a game that had very little opportunities.

Watford’s next run of fixtures are games they must be targeting maximum points out of. They host Hull City this weekend before traveling to Portsmouth in midweek, while another home game follows against Oxford United.

It could be a defining period for Pezzolano, particularly given Gino Pozzo’s short fuse when it comes to sacking managers, with the club overseeing 12 changes in the dugout over the last six years.

Some Watford supporters have also been calling for a change of management after their defeat at The Den, with the club enduring another bleak phase in the second-tier.

There is potential for the statistic to be added to if fortunes aren’t transformed, and with this in mind, ex-West Brom and Wolves footballer Don Goodman has commented on the situation at Vicarage Road, and whether it can be turned around.

Don Goodman backs Watford to find creative spark

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman believes Watford have been on the losing side of very tight games so far this season, and backs them to rise up the table provided they can find their creative spark in the final third.

Goodman said: “Yeah, it's been a tough start for Watford really.

“I honestly do think that they’ve probably played a little bit better than the points that they've got, but they've just been involved in really tight games where they’re keeping things relatively tight, but they’re just not, in the final third, creating enough clear goalscoring opportunities really.

“The Millwall game pretty much epitomised it. They get undone by a free kick, a brilliant free kick, that the goalkeeper probably should have saved, and they end up losing 1-0 in a game where there wasn’t a lot in it, so I hope the hierarchy are a little bit patient. All Watford need to do is find that creative spark in the final third, and they’ll be fine.”

Watford have time on their side to turn the tide

While there is a lot of doom and gloom around Watford right now, the positive thing they can take is that there is still plenty of time left to turn their season around.

As alluded to above, the next few fixtures will be critical to how the Hornets’ term may play out, with Watford facing off against Hull, Portsmouth and Oxford in their next three matches, all sides who could well be involved in a relegation battle come the end of the campaign.

Stringing a couple of victories together can make the picture look a lot rosier, so Don Goodman’s calls for patience do seem justified.

All of Watford’s defeats so far this season have been by a solitary goal, so it’s very fine margins, and hopefully these kinds of results can go for them over the next few weeks to keep Paulo Pezzolano in the Watford hotseat, as the club desperately needs some continuity.