Mid-season report: Watford

Watford started the 2013-14 Championship season as one of the favourites to gain promotion to the Premier League.

Under the tutelage of Gianfranco Zola, the Hornets were expected to launch an attack on the top two automatic promotion places, but as the campaign unfolded, things got more and more convoluted and difficult.

Sports Mole now recaps how Watford have fared in the first half of the Championship season.

August

Watford commenced their campaign with a narrow but important 1-0 victory at Birmingham City in the Championship, thanks to an early goal from Troy Deeney.

Then came a 3-1 win at Bristol Rovers in the first round of the League Cup, before newly-promoted Bournemouth were dispatched 6-1 at Vicarage Road, Deeney with a hat-trick.

Zola's side got the better of Bournemouth again 2-0 in the second round of the League Cup following draws with Reading and Nottingham Forest in the Championship.

However, Watford ended the month on a bad note, suffering a 1-0 loss at Blackpool to head into the two-week break five points behind the top two after five rounds of matches.

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September

The month for Watford started with a 1-1 home draw with Charlton Athletic, but momentum soon swung their way. Doncaster Rovers went down 2-1 at Vicarage Road in their next league match and Barnsley were hammered 5-1 on their own turf, Deeney once again among the goalscorers.

However, the Yellow Army were at the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreline against Norwich City in the third round of the League Cup, although the defeat was confirmed only in the 25th minute of extra time when Gary Hooper scored his second goal of the contest.

Back to league action, and Watford edged past Wigan Athletic 1-0 in front of their own supporters to move up to fourth in the standings.

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October

The month of October would start the slide for the Hornets as they would lose two and win just one of their four league fixtures in the period.

A 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on the first day of the month was followed by a narrow 2-1 away win against Huddersfield Town.

Derby County would score a late goal at Vicarage Road to push their hosts to a 3-2 home defeat, while Brighton & Hove Albion would hold them to a 1-1 draw in the next Championship fixture.

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November

Watford's slide under Zola would continue throughout November, by the end of which they would slip down to 10th in the Championship table.

Leicester City scored three times at Vicarage Road to hammer their hosts 3-0 at the start of the month and then Middlesbrough restricted them to a point by holding them to a 2-2 draw, scoring a late equaliser through Daniel Ayala.

Bolton Wanderers, who are actually struggling in the bottom half of the table, beat Watford 1-0 on November 23, just seven days before relegation candidates Yeovil Town destroyed them 3-0 on their own patch.

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December

The cracks were already starting to appear, with Zola showing his frustration with his players for not being able to raise their game.

Burnley held his team to a goalless draw at home and then they played out a six-goal thriller with Leeds United, with both sides eventually sharing the spoils.

The final straw that broke Zola's patience came on December 14 when Sheffield Wednesday got the better of Watford 1-0 at Vicarage Road. It was the Yorkshire outfit's first away victory of the season and came courtesy of a Connor Wickham goal on 24 minutes.

Two days later Zola resigned as the club's head coach with Watford 13th in the league table, having lost their past five home matches and last winning in October.

Fellow Italian manager Giuseppe Sannino succeeded him a couple of days later and has since led them to two draws and a victory in his three Championship matches.

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