Marco Silva: Specialist in failure or victim of expectations?

In a disheartening setback for football’s progressives and a resounding moral victory for Sam Allardyce, Marco Silva’s Watford reign has come to an ignominious end. “If you look at my record, why wouldn’t I be here irrespective of Marco Silva?” Big Sam asked after it was suggested that he was second-choice to Silva for the Everton job back in November. “I have every respect for Marco Silva and I am not criticising Marco Silva, but Marco Silva’s track record has got no comparison whatsoever with mine because he got Hull City relegated.”

While the idea that Silva “got Hull relegated” is probably a bit unfair given that he was given 22 games with an abysmal team and won eight of them, his momentum at Watford has certainly dropped off in recent months. The Hornets have won one of their last 10 Premier League games since late November, roughly coinciding with Everton’s rebuffed approach for the Portuguese coach, despite having previously soared high into the top ten. Watford have openly blamed Everton for Silva’s sacking, saying in an official statement: “Had it not been for the unwarranted approach by a Premier League rival for his services we would have continued to prosper under his leadership.”

Ultimately, Silva’s stark rise and fall is a reminder of how quickly a coach can go from flavour of the month to ashes in the mouth of the football fraternity. Modern management is a transient and fickle business, as we’re sure Frank de Boer, Craig Shakespeare, Ronald Koeman, Slaven Bilic, Tony Pulis, Paul Clement and Mark Hughes would agree.

Victory for the British old guard?

Big Sam’s certain delight aside, Silva’s demise is not entirely a victory for old-school British management. While Paul Merson may feel vindicated in his suspicion of slick Europeans (“Why has it always got to be a foreign manager… what is this geezer?”), Watford’s recent collapse seems like a special case – on account of Everton’s clumsily timed intervention – as opposed to a refutation of Marco Silva’s methods.

READ MORE: Silva tripped over his own ambition at Watford

David Moyes and Roy Hodgson may be defying expectations with late-career revivals at West Ham and Crystal Palace, but Premier League clubs should not be afraid to appoint young, ambitious trailblazers from overseas. Not so ambitious that an approach from Everton derails their relationship with the club and ability to motivate their players, necessarily, but certainly with the same hunger to Silva if not his particular temperament.

READ MORE: Watford hire Javi Gracia as Marco Silva successor

Despite reports that his relationship with the Watford hierarchy broke down in emphatic fashion, the man himself is likely to get another job in the Premier League this summer. Considering Everton’s dire form in recent weeks, who knows, Silva could still be a target for the Toffees.

Watford woes?

Meanwhile, for Watford, Silva’s sacking is another throw of the hundred-sided dice. While the club has shrugged off managerial departures with remarkably little fuss in recent seasons – Javi Gracia is their tenth head coach since 2012, in which time they have been promoted from the Championship and attained a form of Premier League security – the team are now in a precarious position.

Though they remain 10th in the table, they are only four points above Southampton in 18th place. Productive chaos may have served Watford well up until now, but their fickleness when it comes to managers is teetering on the brink of the extreme.