I spent most of Tuesday trying to make sense of Watford’s decision to replace their head coach after only eight days. The logic behind it, whether it was the right or wrong decision – my opinion changed several times throughout the day. But one belief remained the same, one view didn’t alter; the treatment of Billy McKinlay was unacceptable.

Four head coaches in 37 days grabbed most of the headlines and that is why Watford will almost certainly be mocked by supporters of other clubs for some time to come. But, with three of those four changes almost inevitable, it has somewhat masked the real story; which is that someone has been removed from their job after just over a week in charge because their employer has seemingly had a change of heart.

Stories evolve as more information comes to light and opinions change accordingly. But unless there is more to this story than what is currently available in the public domain, handing a hugely-respected coach his first managerial position, after working ten years to reach this point, only to then take it away from him a week later because you have changed your mind, is simply not right.

If McKinlay was in the wrong - for example if he had applied for another job, ie the Fulham manager’s position, or had a training ground bust-up with someone - then fair enough. Even if McKinlay was not the right fit for the Pozzos’ sporting director-head coach model and he didn’t want to continue, then that could be understandable.

However, for the club’s reason to be that he was not experienced enough, eight days after he was deemed to be ideal, is a farcical situation which portrays the club and its owners very badly.

But it is the complete disregard for the club’s public image and the audacity of owner Gino Pozzo to replace a head coach a week after hiring him because the owner believes it is the right thing to do which, bizarrely, is the overriding positive to come from this incredible situation.

It is this point which had me questioning my own outrage at McKinlay’s treatment.

Pozzo has been incredibly brave. He has accepted he will be ridiculed by the national media and that his actions on Monday and Tuesday will hang over his head for the foreseeable future. But he did what he thought was right for the club, regardless.

So was the decision to replace McKinlay the wrong one?

If the owner believes it will increase the club’s chances of promotion and avoid problems at a more crucial time of the season then you could argue no.

So was the decision to employ McKinlay the wrong one?

When you look at his CV and what had been wrong at the club previously then you could argue no.

And in those few paragraphs you can see the dilemma which was swirling around my head as I jumped from one phone to the other on Tuesday; each time hearing a different insight which clouded the matter even further.

After much deliberation and several re-writes of this article, I came to a conclusion (which could well be outdated by the time it is published). I believe the club’s owner and/or senior staff must have seen something during McKinlay’s first week which concerned them and had them worried their automatic promotion chances may be hampered.

I use the word 'them' because in Pozzo’s statement on the club website he said: “I fully support and endorse the view from our technical staff” that a more experienced head coach was needed, which suggests he had received advice that McKinlay should be replaced from others.

Pozzo’s explanation that “an experienced head coach with a winning pedigree is of primary importance to help ensure the success we are all striving for” may well be the reason the former Fulham coach was replaced by Slavisa Jokanovic but it seems too simplistic.

Pozzo has stood by his head coaches in the past at Watford. Gianfranco Zola had not won in nine matches and had lost his last five consecutive home games before he resigned and Beppe Sannino was allowed to continue over the summer despite the club’s horrific finish to the season and some off-field problems.

So Pozzo has shown himself to be a patient and rational thinker in the past. The idea that he just had a change of heart is difficult to accept, unless he has seen or heard something which had him worried.

McKinlay was someone Watford suggested to Oscar Garcia when he, and the club, were looking to hire a British coach and the Hornets’ hierarchy deemed him to be a worthy replacement for Oscar should he decide to resign further down the line due to his health concerns, which he did on Monday, September 29 – shocking everyone at the club.

The announcement McKinlay was to be promoted from first team coach to the top job came just hours after Oscar had resigned. The 45-year-old then addressed the media that afternoon. It seemed incredibly rushed and that isn’t the Pozzo style. They almost always have replacements for their head coaches lined up to try to minimise disruption when they do depart.

So I believe the logic was they had considered the prospect of McKinlay taking over in the future whilst Oscar was recovering from his health problems and when Oscar did stun the club by resigning just hours after appearing in the team photo at Vicarage Road, it was a simple decision to promote the then first-team coach.

The idea that last week’s appointment of McKinlay was just a quick, rash decision seems unlikely considering the personality and track record of Pozzo.

With one win and a draw in his first two matches in charge, results could not be blamed for the Scot being replaced.

Of course there is a chance Pozzo simply changed his mind but, even with automatic promotion being paramount this season, personally I don’t see it.

Pozzo is a man who was educated at one of the world’s most prestigious universities, Harvard. He is a hugely impressive individual and, by all accounts, is a very level-headed and thoughtful person.

The idea that he would just change his mind on a whim is very difficult to believe. Everything he has done in the past has been based on logic, even if it has not worked out eventually. The decision to hire and replace McKinlay in the space of eight days is the first significant chink in his armour as far as Watford are concerned.

Which is why I believe something must have triggered the decision. A disagreement on how the club will move forward, McKinlay’s contract (which hadn’t been agreed), player recruitment, tactical decisions made during the two matches he was in charge, an unwillingness to conform to the Pozzos’ all-inclusive model - the list of potential reasons is endless.

One thing which isn’t in any doubt is that Watford are in a much stronger position on and off the field following the Pozzos’ takeover in 2012. They have earned a level of trust.

Gino Pozzo has made his decision based on what he believes is best for Watford in the long-term –rightly or wrong - and if promotion is secured in May then you could argue he will be vindicated.

But unless more information comes to light which alters the landscape considerably, what won’t change is my view that Billy McKinlay was treated disgracefully by Watford Football Club.