Watford's decision to sack Vladimir Ivic may have boiled down to his 'stern character', according to Don Goodman.

The Hornets only appointed the 43-year-old over the summer following the club's relegation from the Premier League.

It's been far from a disastrous start to the season with Watford currently sitting in fifth position in the Championship after 20 fixtures.

However the decision was made to sack Ivic as head coach and replace him with Xisco Munoz.

Some quarters of the football world have claimed that the decision to sack the Serbian was a little bit harsh, but according to Goodman it could well be down to a mix of a personality clash and the heightened expectations at Vicarage Road this term.

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Speaking on the Sky Sports EFL Podcast, Goodman said: “The bottom line is that he was a stern character. He was very intense, very deep and the kind of guy that dressing rooms might find it hard to relate to.

“From the noises that are coming out it doesn’t sound like he ever really had the dressing room.

We know that these owners make quick decision – not always the right decisions – but they stand and fall by the decisions that they make.

“They’ve moved very quickly and have had enough of the football which was a bit on the pragmatic side.

“Anything less than automatic promotion is failure with that squad and it came to a point where the powers at be were losing faith in the head coach and when that happens with Watford it’s all over.”

The Verdict

It was hardly a surprise to see Vladimir Ivic sacked as Watford head coach.

While things have gone relatively well so far this term there's no escaping that the Hornets need to be challenging for the automatic promotion spots.

The Pozzo family love a managerial change and they'll be hoping that this move will be enough to see them go up automatically rather than facing the lottery of the play-0ffs.