Watford to replace Ed Still with ex-Cardiff City boss? Fresh twist emerges | OneFootball

An ex-Cardiff City boss appears to be on the shortlist at Vicarage Road for Watford's latest managerial merry go round...

Known for their constant rotation of new managers, Watford FC are set to be ushering in a new era after the 2025-26 Championship season is done, if reports are to be believed.

The Hornets' Italian owner Gino Pozzo is far from conventional in his methods, and since his family took over the Hertfordshire outfit in 2012, a mammoth 23 new managerial appointments have been made at the club - with some individuals like Quique Sánchez Flores and Javi Gracia returning for a second crack later down the line.

Continuity doesn't appear to be a thing at Vicarage Road, and since relegation from the Premier League in 2022, Watford have gone through eight permanent managers in nearly four full campaigns, with the latest of those being Edward Still - brother of ex-Southampton boss Will.

Still's short time at the Hornets though seemingly has not gone to plan. Hired in February, the Belgian has won just three of his 15 matches in charge, a 20 per cent win record, and reports have claimed he will lose his job after the Championship season concludes this coming weekend.

Watford FC eyeing ex-Cardiff City manager Erol Bulut

So, what next for Watford and the increasingly unstable head coach role? Well, as per a report from Football Insider, a former Championship manager in the form of Erol Bulut is now said to be on the radar of the club's hierarchy to succeed Still.

The 51-year-old Turkish manager has worked almost exclusively in his home nation, having passed through Yeni Malatyaspor, Alanyaspor, Fenerbahce and Gaziantep before branching out in 2023 by heading to South Wales to take on the Cardiff City job.

In a solid yet unspectacular first year within the EFL system, Bulut led the Bluebirds to a 12th-placed finish in the Championship, which was a big improve on their finishing position of 21st the year prior, but after a poor start to 2024-25, where City won just one point from a possible 18, he was dismissed from his role.

Cardiff were relegated later on that season, with Omer Riza not being able to arrest the early slide, but Bulut has since had a short stint back in management in 2025 with Antalyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig - he could now return to the second tier of English football though if Watford decide to firm up their reported interest.

Watford FC's manager crisis is set to go on - who can arrest the Vicarage Road woes?

Gino Pozzo has decided to try a number of different avenues in recent years when it comes to appointing managers. He's gone for the inexperienced and untested in Tom Cleverley, the veteran English boss in Chris Wilder, a more lower league approach when taking Rob Edwards from Forest Green Rovers in 2022, the foreign yet EFL-experience route in Slaven Bilic and Valerien Ismael, and also the overseas route for Still and Paulo Pezzolano.

The common denominator over the last four years though is that no manager has seemingly been able to get to the bottom of Watford's on-field issues, where they cannot - no matter what kind of squad they have - end up challenging for the second tier play-offs.

Their best finish since 2022-23 has been 11th place in that very season, and given they cannot finish any higher than 12th in 2025-26, and that's with all results going for them on the final day of the campaign, it's been yet another underwhelming one under Pezzolano, Gracia and Still.

Bulut would possess some Championship experience, albeit for only a year and a bit, but it could be argued that he started Cardiff's slide into League One in 2024-25 (despite his successor Riza having plenty of time to turn their form around) with his management and recruitment that summer.

News breaking of Watford's interest in Bulut likely won't go down too positively, but he'll be looking for a redemption arc to prove himself somewhere after his last few jobs - some will probably argue though that he would be no better than what the Hornets currently possess in Ed Still.