On this day four years ago a brave new era was ushered in at Watford as the Pozzo family purchased the club from the much-maligned Laurence Bassini.

No-one could have imagined the impact the Italians have made on the Hornets in the four years since. Much has changed on and off the field and all for the better.

Watford have had seven head coaches and a manager, Sean Dyche, in that time. Vicarage Road is a four-sided stadium again. The training ground has been given a facelift. The club are in a position to turn down £25 million offers for their captain Troy Deeney, who is 28 today. And there’s the small matter of a second season in the Premier League for the first time.

And yet when Gino Pozzo, then the owner of Spanish side Granada and son of Udinese owner Giampaolo, arrived in WD18 he was met with scepticism. Watford fans had a right to question the arrival of a man they knew little about. After all, they had had their fingers burnt by his predecessor.

The difference was in the fact Pozzo had a track record of owning a football club. Under his stewardship Granada had gone from the fourth tier of Spanish football to regulars in the top flight before being sold to Chinese firm Link International Sports earlier this month.

Still, there were reservations about the way Granada had absorbed a number of Udinese players since becoming a sister club to the Italian outfit. Two of those players, Odion Ighalo and Allan Nyom, were loaned to El Grana for four and six years respectively.

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Fears over an influx of Udinese and Granada players were confirmed when 12 players arrived on loan from the two clubs in the first summer transfer window. New head coach Gianfranco Zola, brought in to replace the hugely popular Dyche following his sacking, admitted working with a squad of 40 in the first weeks wasn’t ideal.

However, the charismatic Italian somehow made it work and, after a sluggish start which saw the Golden Boys lose four of their first six Championship fixtures, they finished the season in third place to set up a play-off semi-final against Leicester City.

The Foxes won the first leg 1-0 before Troy Deeney wrote his name into Watford folklore. Having started the season at Her Majesty’s pleasure, the Hornets’ number nine crashed home the decisive third goal seconds after Manuel Almunia had saved Anthony Knockaert’s injury-time penalty to keep Watford’s Wembley dream alive.

In the event, the dream turned into something of a nightmare. Zola’s men froze under the Wembley arch and were denied promotion at the first attempt by Hornets old boy Kevin Phillips who tucked away an extra-time penalty to win it 1-0 for Crystal Palace.

The 2013/14 campaign started well but a laste 3-2 loss at home to Derby County in October sparked a run of ten without victory and, ever the gentleman, Zola resigned following a 1-0 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday.

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Italian veteran Beppe Sannino replaced Zola but the new man’s dogmatic style of management wasn’t well received. After closing the season with four consecutive defeats, culminating in a listless 4-1 loss at home to Huddersfield Town, he looked set to head for the exit door.

Sannino, despite speculation to the contrary, was granted a stay of execution to start the 2014/15 campaign. He took the Hornets to second place but, following a 4-2 win over the Terriers at the end of August, resigned amid further player unrest.

Oscar Garcia, the former Barcelona midfielder, was his replacement but oversaw just one game - a 1-0 defeat at Charlton Athletic - before serious health problems forced his resignation a fortnight later. Billy McKinlay lasted just a week before Pozzo took one of his most controversial decisions, sacking the Scot after a change of heart.

It was a call he had to get right. Watford were already something of a laughing stock having appointed three managers by October - albeit he was the first to be sacked. The fourth man simply had to make it work to justify the revolving door policy.

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And he did. Slavisa Jokanovic, the former Chelsea midfielder, was hired. After a wobbly start which saw four defeats in a row he took Watford back into the Premier League with an unforgettable win at Brighton & Hove Albion on the penultimate weekend of the season. The Hornets contrived to draw 1-1 with Sheffield Wednesday on the final day, missing out on the title to Bournemouth.

It mattered not though. Jokanovic, with his straight-talking no fools suffered brand of management would be taking Watford into the Premier League for the first time in 15 years. Except he wouldn’t. The Serbian left the Vic last summer after failing to agree a new contract.

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Yet again Pozzo drew criticism. But once more he was vindicated for his ruthless approach. In came former Atletico Madrid and Valencia boss Quique Sanchez Flores. The Spaniard oozed sophistication and class and that translated onto the field as the Hornets took the Premier League with surprising ease.

Safe from the threat of relegation with months of the season remaining, it became an open secret Flores would leave his post at the end of the season with his failure to integrate young players or change games tactically among the club’s concerns.

The news was finally confirmed by the Spaniard himself before the final game of the season against Sunderland. The popular head coach was afforded a rousing send-off by the Vicarage Road crowd who were split as to whether they were disappointed or relieved to see the back of him.

The decision to remove Flores had been taken weeks in advance and was yet another example of Pozzo acting against popular opinion in the best interest of the club. You suspect it won't be the last time either.