It’s never dull, is it, this ‘being a Watford fan’ lark? You could say the Zolacoaster that kicked off the Pozzo ownership has never really stopped.

As soon as that first notification pops up on your phone with the news one head coach has departed, you know better than to let your phone out of sight, as the announcement of their replacement is imminent. 30 minutes, if we’re being precise.

Watford fans are well-accustomed now to fending off poorly researched opinions on Head Coach departures and the supposed “merry-go-round” that is portrayed in the media about the club. We all know that is simply not the case and we’ll continue to educate those who are willing to listen.

With previous sackings I have tended to be on the side of the owners and have seen sense in their reasons behind their decision. Silva and Mazzarri were easy decisions to get behind, McKinlay although very harsh did make sense. On this occasion though I find myself, probably for the very first time in the Pozzo’s ownership, feeling like I’m leaning more towards Javi’s side, rather than Gino’s.

It’s incredibly difficult though, because there is a clear case for both sides of the argument. On the one hand our form had been, in a word, crap. 33 points from our last 32 league games, our last two victories in the league coming against Fulham – who were relegated that night – and already-relegated Huddersfield. Our last clean sheet was way back in February, there was a clear drop in form towards the end of the season and that seems to have carried on into the new campaign. A persistence to use under-performing players and a formation as stale as the mouldy loaf of bread in my cupboard. All perfectly valid arguments for change at the top.

And yet I can’t help but feel Javi’s been treated unfairly. We knew the rumours around Javi’s sacking had been rumbling on since the West Ham game and given the history of the Pozzos it was safe to assume if Javi was going to be sacked after the Newcastle game, they were going to do it on the Monday morning and just get it over and done with. However, Javi was allowed to take the training sessions throughout the last week, which made me think he’d be given more time to sort it out.

When I received the notification on my phone on Saturday evening, a whole week since we’d played Newcastle, my initial reaction wasn’t that of surprise that he had gone, more that I was surprised at the timing of the announcement. It was very un-Pozzo like, we can only assume that personal terms had not been agreed with his successor, Quique Sanchez Flores until then.

My main argument with his departure though is that I don’t believe Javi received sufficient backing defensively over the Summer. Overall our transfer business was good, the additions of Sarr and Welbeck and holding on to keys players like Doucoure and Deulofeu made it a decent window, but I just can’t get my head around the fact our only defensive signing was Craig Dawson, from an unsuccessful Championship West Bromwich Albion. We all knew our defence was our major weakness last season, it was there for all to see and it’s no surprise that we haven’t kept a clean sheet since February.

We’ve seen what a good defender can do for a team, look at Liverpool and Virgil van Dijk. Granted, we’re a way off competing in a Champions League Final, but the point remains, solid defenders give you a good foundation to build upon. We don’t have that and haven’t done for a while. We don’t have defenders who tower above everyone else and win everything in the air, the last person to do that was probably Sebastian Prodl against Manchester United back in 16/17. This summer was always going to be crucial. With the likes of Leicester, Everton and Wolves all improving on their squads in positions they needed to, we have fallen away from that ‘best of the rest’ pack by not making additions to key positions that we were crying out for.

Which brings me nicely onto our new, yet old, but still technically new head coach, back in the dugout for his second spell at the club Quique Sanchez Flores.

Firstly, forget the notion that Managers or Head Coaches returning to their former clubs doesn’t work. Graham Taylor famously did it with us in 1997, Jose Mourinho did it with Chelsea as recently as 2013 and won the league.

Quique’s sole job when he arrived at Vicarage Road for the first time was to keep us in the league and he achieved it and it feels very much like it’s the same task this time round, just with better players at his disposal.

Whilst Watford had the deadly duo of Deeney and Ighalo firing at the start of the 15/16 season, our strengths lay in being able to dig in and remain competitive in games and not let them slip away from us. We only conceded three goals or more in just four games that season, we’re already halfway to that total in this campaign. Furthermore, we were never really rolled over by the teams in the ‘Big Six’ and even top of the table Leicester City at the time. Our heaviest defeat that season was 4-0 away at Arsenal and that came just a couple of weeks after beating them in that famous FA Cup Quarter Final on the same ground.

My flatmate asked me whether I was now excited to go to games following Quique’s appointment. I had to think about that for a second, I’m always excited to go to games but obviously after our start to the season I was filled with trepidation ahead of our September fixtures of Arsenal, Man City and Wolves. The honest answer? Whilst I’m not foolish enough to now suggest we’re nailed on for three points in any of those game, I feel more confident that we’ll be able to at least compete. Arsenal at home is always a close game, City is a guaranteed defeat with either Javi or Quique and given Wolves’ start to the league season, three points is now a big possibility.

And so in all honesty I’m still torn about this one. There’s part of me that sees complete sense in it all and yet another part of me that still disagrees. I get that Watford head coaches have a short shelf life; it wouldn’t surprise me if we have a new head coach next season, but I don’t think that means we should stop ourselves getting attached whilst they’re here.

Javi was the closest head coach we’ve had to GT, since well, GT. And whilst no one will ever come close to doing what GT did at our club, there were certainly numerous similarities that could be drawn between the two.

Javi was one of us and I took great pride in him representing Watford, we all did. Whilst I can reminisce all I like, there is very little room for emotion in football, but that little room we have for it is so precious. We all got unashamedly caught up in the emotion of reaching an FA Cup Final and Javi gave us that moment, that day to savour and enjoy.

Gino and Scott have done and will continue to do what they believe is best for the club, who am I to question them after all they’ve done for us? Chances are they will be right about this one too, it just might take me a bit longer to move on this time.

Thanks for everything, Javi.