Watford FC should be targeting ex-Blackburn Rovers man for manager job - He’s the perfect fit | OneFootball

Watford should consider Jon Dahl Tomasson as a potential replacement for Javi Gracia

Watford are on the hunt for a new boss in the dugout at Vicarage Road following the sacking of departure of Spanish boss Javi Gracia, and could do a lot worse than move for former Blackburn Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson.

In typical Watford fashion, the Hornets are on the hunt for a new boss to take charge of the Championship top six hopefuls.

Javi Gracia has decided to depart the club after a disappointing five-game winless run, meaning Watford are now on the hunt for their 23rd different permanent manager since the Pozzo family took control of the club in June 2012.

Indeed, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them move for someone with prior experience at Vicarage Road, just as they have done previously with both Gracia and Quique Sanchez Flores.

At the moment, former Southampton boss Will Still has emerged as the outright favourite for the gig with the Hornets, with the Englishman having been dismissed from his duties at Southampton after just four wins in 16 games earlier this campaign.

However, should a deal with Still not come to fruition, Watford should move for former Blackburn Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson, with the Dane having been out of work since his dismissal from the Swedish men’s national team job earlier this year following his failure to guide the Nordic side to the World Cup group stage.

Watford should consider former Blackburn Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson as the next permanent manager

Tomasson, having previously guided Malmo to two Swedish top-flight titles, took the top job at Blackburn in June 2022, signing a three-year deal at Ewood Park, where he would guide the Lancashire-based outfit to a seventh-placed finish in his first season in charge.

He’d only miss out on the play-offs due to goal difference, and heading into the following campaign, the Dane was looking to go one better, but it wasn’t to be.

A serious lack of investment in the playing side saw Rovers tumble down the Championship table, and by February, he had left the club by mutual consent, being replaced by current Derby County boss John Eustace, who helped to keep the club afloat.

After leaving the club, he told The Mirror: “In my first season with Blackburn, we defied budget cuts and only missed out on the play-offs on goal difference.

“It was the best Rovers league finish in more than a decade, and we also had the best cup run in even more years. I loved the people in and around Rovers, but before my second season, the budgets were cut even more brutally, and suddenly it was not about building and developing.

“It was not the project anymore that I signed up to do and I asked to be allowed to leave. They did not want that, but finally, after the January transfer window they accepted it and I’m thankful for that.”

Whilst he clearly indicated that the lack of investment by the ownership was the crux of the reasoning behind his departure, Watford’s owners are not shy about investing, but possess an entirely different problem: they are extremely trigger-happy.

Their willingness to get through managers comes with a variety of pros and cons, with any manager walking into Vicarage Road knowing he is one bad spell away from the boot.

Whoever Watford decides to appoint must be the right person for the job, albeit they won’t know for sure until they prove that they are/aren’t.

Tomasson, despite his time with Blackburn ending under a dark cloud, left the club with a record of 41 wins, 13 draws and 36 losses in 90 games in charge at Ewood Park, and was merely just goal difference away from achieving a spot in the play-offs.

He has proven he can get the best out of talented players, as he did with the likes of Callum Brittain, Tyrhys Dolan, Sammie Szmodics, and Lewis Travis, with Watford possessing players of similar, if not higher degrees of ability.

Like anyone, Tomasson would be a risk for Watford, but given he has experience of guiding teams to the upper echelons of the second-tier table, he could prove to be a savvy option for the Hornets, with a point to prove in the second tier after the way his spell at Ewood Park ended.

Whoever does take charge will be tasked with guiding Watford into the top six, with anything else likely seen as a failure. Tomasson could be the man to do just that, and they should seriously consider him as an option.