Plymouth Argyle boss Tom Cleverley throws subtle dig at Watford FC | OneFootball

Cleverley was sacked by the Hornets in May.

Tom Cleverley has fired dig at his old club Watford in his first press conference as the new Plymouth Argyle boss.

The decision taken to get rid of Cleverley after the end of the 2024/25 season was a surprising one for many. Even with their poor end to the season that saw them take just four points from a possible 21 in their last seven matches of the campaign, Watford only finished 11 points off the top six with a squad that, despite having a couple of top talents, isn't really close to that level.

Still, the Pozzo family felt that a change needed to be made, and the former Hornets and Manchester United midfielder was relieved of his duties. Uruguayan boss Paulo Pezzolano soon came in to Vicarage Road to replace him.

Just over a month later, Cleverley was back in management as the successor to Miron Muslic at Plymouth. Argyle weren't expecting to lose their Austrian boss this summer, but he was poached away by German side Schalke after they had already made some summer additions.

Tom Cleverley fires shot at Watford in first Plymouth press conference

Cleverley is yet to make a signing of his own since signing a three-year deal at Home Park, but, in his first outing as Plymouth's new boss, he did take the opportunity to fire a sly shot at his former club's trigger happiness when it comes to managers. Pezzolano became Watford's 11th manager since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic when he was appointed in May.

"Having met with David [Fox, Head of Football Operations] and then subsequently with Andrew [Parkinson, chief executive] and the board, and then finally with Simon [Hallett, club chairman], I got a really good feel for the people running the club," Cleverley said.

"I felt that my next move in management had to be a really stable one, going to a really good environment who see longevity in a project. I felt all those things and it made my decision really easy about coming to Argyle."

There may be some bumps in Tom Cleverley's Plymouth road

The 35-year-old is Plymouth's sixth boss since Covid hit, so it could be argued that they aren't too much more stable than the Hornets, but their turnover of head coaches has been more down to the success of them, which led to them being poached by other clubs, or just poor choices, rather than the pure impatience that Watford have exhibited under the Pozzo's.

It is a drop in level for Cleverley, who showed in his year-plus at Vicarage Road that he is a Championship-level manager, despite being initially thrust into the role on an interim basis out of sheer necessity rather than because of any form of track record.

Argyle presents him with new challenges. It's a club and a fanbase that he isn't familiar with, so that could cause some growing pains. Luckily for him, he should have one of the better squads in League One, even with the loss of star striker Ryan Hardie.