Boothroyd feels the Hornets sting

Watford parted company on Monday with manager Adrian Boothroyd, the English Championship club said in a statement.

The 37-year-old’s exit from Vicarage Road came just two days after a 4-3 home defeat against Blackpool which left the Hornets clear of the relegation zone in English football’s second tier on goal difference alone.

“It is with some sadness that we have taken the decision that the time is right for a new manager to take Watford Football Club forward,” club chairman Graham Simpson said in a statement on the team’s official website

“Both parties feel that his tenure at the club is simply at an end.”

Boothroyd was bewildered by his side’s defending after seeing them go in front three times against Blackpool yet still lose.

“I’ve never been so irritated,” he said. “At this moment in time, for whatever reason, there’s some absolute howlers taking place.”

Boothroyd, often described as one of the ‘brightest young managers’ in English football, took charge of Watford in March 2005 and saw the club into the Premier League 14 months later following a play-off final win over Leeds United.

Watford were relegated in the subsequent season but seemed set for a return to the top-flight last term when they established an eight-point lead at the top of the Championship table.

But a dreadful run of results after Christmas, combined with the sale of striker Marlon King, eventually saw Watford miss out on automatic promotion.

They grabbed a play-off place on the last day of the regular season but were then well-beaten by Bristol City.

Their failure to get back into the Premier League saw the exit of several players, including Nathan Ellington and Darius Henderson, before Simpson called a halt to the rebuilding of Vicarage Road because of financial concerns.

Pop star Elton John, a former Watford chairman, issued a statement last month warning the club was “in danger of plummeting freefall”.

Earlier Monday, shareholders Valley Green Salads called for a vote of no confidence in the Watford board and the immediate resignation of all directors.

Watford are away to Swansea on Saturday.