Championship club Watford just made it easier for Wrexham to gain playoffs spot with their latest announcement.
With 16 league games to go, Wrexham’s hold on the Championship top 6 seat is growing firm as every matchday passes. Right now, the Reds enjoy a two point cushion over nearest rivals Derby County who are sitting at seventh place.
The journey ahead isn’t a cakewalk for Wrexham by any means, but most of the expected playoffs rivals have started running out of steam at the moment. Just a few weeks ago, Bristol City and Preston North End used to be a step ahead of the Reds despite Phil Parkinson’s men storming into form around the festive period.
Now, the Robins have put their promotion hopes at risk by selling multiple star players including Zak Vyner to Wrexham. Preston North End’s form has gone south with only one point from their past 4 Championship evenings.
Add Watford to this list as well. The Hornets were keeping pace with the Reds late-December surge and until last week, had enough games in hand to comfortably overtake Wrexham on the leaderboard. All of that has taken a backseat with Watford’s latest announcement.
Watford boss Javi Gracia parts ways with the club
In their own words, Watford announced this strange decision saying: “The club is sad and disappointed to confirm the resignation of Javi Gracia as Head Coach.”
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Parting company with managers while being just outside of the playoffs zone is quite a risky call. In only six months of the Championship season, Watford have already seen the back of two bosses with Paolo Pezzolano getting sacked in October and now Javi Gracia vacating his role just hours before the January transfer window slams shut.
No wonder, the Hornets are often hailed as coach-changers more often than promotion challengers ever since they dropped down to the second tier in 2022.
Javi Gracia is a Watford legend
Losing Javi Gracia will sting Watford more than any other manager, because he established himself as a club legend there. Under Gracia, Watford saw their best 11th-placed Premier League finish in recent memory. Not only that, the Spaniard inspired them to an unexpected FA Cup final showdown where they were humiliated 6-0 by Manchester City.
This time also, Gracia set out on a strong note at Watford in the early days of his second spell. Ignore the last 4 results, and it’s safe to say the Gold and Blacks had a good shot at reaching the playoffs knockouts with Gracia in the dugout. Unfortunately for Watford, their promotion charge looks all but over.
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Any coaching replacement will need some time to adapt to the playoffs race which isn’t left in abundance in the first place. Unless the Hornets new gaffer springs onto a 3-4 game winning streak in February, it’s almost certain they will fall below QPR and Stoke City and perhaps outside the top half of the table.
Keeping that in mind, Wrexham can gradually dismiss Watford as their playoffs rivals. Of course, a couple of slip-ups from Phil Parkinson’s men will invite unnecessary competition but atleast the fans can trust the Reds not to hit a sloppy patch again.
When will Wrexham play Watford?
Wrexham played Watford at the Racecourse in a last-minute 2-2 draw back in mid-December. Ollie Rathbone turned up as an unusual hero, and his importance to the Reds has grown leaps and bounds since then. Regarding the return fixture, Wrexham will take a long trip to Vicarage Road in the first weekend of March.
That away fixture is still 5 league games away for Wrexham who have to lock horns with top 6 sides Millwall and Ipswich Town in crunch Championship meetings. If the Red Dragons pocket enough points here, the Watford game won’t become a tense one with respect to the standings.
Let’s see how does Wrexham get on from here and also, how better the new Hornets boss does at Watford.
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