Watford

Watford manager Roy Hodgson has named seven changes after his side's relegation from the Premier League was confirmed by a 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace at the weekend.

Jeremy Ngakia, Joao Pedro, Adam Masina, Ken Sema, Dan Gosling, Christian Kabasele and Samuel Kalu all start at Vicarage Road.

Craig Cathcart drops to the bench, while Kiko Femenia, Hassane Kamara, Tom Cleverley, Ismaila Sarr, Josh King and Emmanuel Dennis are not in the squad.

Teenagers Tiago Cukur, Adrian Blake, Jack Grieves are among the substitutes.

Watford XI: Foster, Masina, Kabasele, Samir, Sema, Ngakia, Gosling, Sissoko, Kayembe, Kalu, Pedro.

Subs: Bachmann, Etebo, Ekong, Cathcart, Sierralta, Morris, Çukur, Blake, Grieves.

Image source, BBC Sport

Everton boss Frank Lampard is forced into one change after his side secured a second successive league win at Leicester City on Sunday.

Defender Yerry Mina is ruled out because of a minor calf injury, and is replaced by Michael Keane.

Everton XI: Pickford, Iwobi, Coleman, Keane, Holgate, Mykolenko, Gordon, Doucoure, Delph, Gray, Richarlison.

Subs: Begovic, Kenny, Allan, Calvert-Lewin, Gomes, Davies, Branthwaite, Rondon, Alli.

Image source, BBC Sport

Mark Lawrenson takes on Tottenham fan Majestic and Arsenal supporter Joel Corry, in the latest round of Premier League predictions.

Lawro's prediction: 0-2

Everton are going for their third win on the spin.

If they get it, they would be very close to being sure of staying up - they are playing well anyway, and their application is completely different to how it was earlier in the campaign.

It's a good time for them to be playing Watford too.

We already know Hornets boss Roy Hodgson is leaving in the summer and it appears many of their players are thinking the same thing.

Watford have lost their past 11 home games and I'm not sure they will put up much of a fight.

Majestic's prediction: Funnily enough I fancy Watford here. Everton are on this great run but they have been so topsy-turvy and I think there is going to be another spanner in the works for them. 2-1

Joel's prediction: Everton need a win and I think they will get it - there will be some drama though. 2-3

Find out how Lawro, Majestic and Joel think the rest of the midweek Premier League fixtures will go

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"A unifying appointment, something that suggests a longer-term plan rather than a remedy to the last thing that went wrong, is badly needed to disrupt the poisonous negativity that pervades the club," wrote Matt Rowson of BHaPPy blog, external on Tuesday (below).

Will the appointment of former Forest Green Rovers manager Rob Edwards achieve that aim?

Is he the man to take the Hornets straight back to the Premier League?

Have your say on Edwards' arrival here

Watford full-back Hassane Kamara is suspended while Joao Pedro will be assessed after missing the Crystal Palace defeat with a groin problem.

Samir, Tom Cleverley, Ismaila Sarr and Emmanuel Dennis were all injured at Palace and could be missing - as might Kiko Femenia and Joshua King through illness.

Everton's Yerry Mina is out because of a minor calf injury but Vitaliy Mykolenko has recovered from cramp.

Donny van de Beek and Ben Godfrey could return at the weekend.

Who makes your Watford XI?

Pick and share your Toffees XI

• Watford won the reverse fixture against Everton 5-2 in October and are looking to pick up consecutive league victories against the Toffees for the very first time.

• Everton are looking to win three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since March 2021, while they last won consecutive away league games in May the same year. Indeed, the Toffees’ 2-1 victory at Leicester ended a 15-game winless run on the road.

• The Hornets have lost their past 11 home league matches, the longest run of home defeats in top-flight history. In Football League history, the only side to lose more than 11 in a row at home was Rochdale between November 1931 and August 1932 in the Third Division North, a run of 14 home defeats.

• Frank Lampard has won all three of his Premier League managerial meetings with Roy Hodgson by an aggregate score of 9-2 – it’s his best 100% win rate as a manager in the top-flight.

Image source, Getty Images

Roy Hodgson says Watford have an "injury crisis", with as many as nine first-team players doubtful for Wednesday's game against Everton.

The Hornets' relegation was confirmed after Saturday's loss to Crystal Palace, but tomorrow's match could have a huge impact in the fight for Premier League survival.

Tom Cleverley is likely to miss out taking a blow to the ribs against Palace, as are Ismaila Sarr and Emmanuel Dennis after also picking up knocks against the Eagles.

Kiko Femenia and Joshua King are both suffering from illness, Nicolas Nkoulou has a groin issue and Shaq Forde has sustained an ankle injury in training.

Joao Pedro and Samir could feature, but will be assessed later today.

These are all in addition to absentees Imran Louza (knee), Hassane Kamara (suspended), Kwadwo Baah (international duty).

Image source, Getty Images

Matt Rowson, BHaPPy blog, external

Watford, as you may have heard mentioned, tend to change the man at the helm quite often. This is a strategy a bit like appointing Sam Allardyce…everyone’s kind of happy with it until the instant it stops working.

Herein lies the most fundamental objection among the criticisms of the club’s conduct…on relegation two years ago, CEO Scott Duxbury went on record promising that lessons had been learned, a line that’s been used to beat him around the head with since.

Quite what lessons should have been learned – beyond stop losing football matches – isn’t entirely clear. But the instability borne of such regular changes is perceived as a problem, much as there are few questioning the decisions to dispose of either the likeable but floundering Xisco Munoz and a seemingly scarcely interested Claudio Ranieri. Perhaps the lesson to be learned is: appoint better head coaches.

Gino Pozzo will reach 10 years of ownership of Watford this summer. Of the intervening seasons, six have been spent in the Premier League, two getting promoted and another, the first, a loss in the last minute of a play-off final.

Such success is all but unprecedented, but with it comes expectation and impatience. Such analytical criticism as there’s been among the hysteria has called for a non-reactive appointment to replace Roy Hodgson, whose dour pragmatism is another thing that’s only fine as long as it’s working.

Such a unifying appointment, something that suggests a longer-term plan rather than a remedy to the last thing that went wrong, is badly needed to disrupt the poisonous negativity that pervades the club.

A win at Vicarage Road before the end of the season wouldn’t hurt either.

Image source, EPA

Geoff Doyle, BBC Three Counties Radio

It was another miserable day on Saturday for Watford fans. Relegation was sealed with a limp performance at Crystal Palace. The strategy appeared to be avoid getting beaten four or five nil.

The Hornets wouldn't have scored if they were still playing now. They had one shot on target and lacked any attacking intent. But that wasn't the talking point.

At the end of the game Roy Hodgson didn't acknowledge the Watford fans, who were admittedly on the other side of the pitch and in the corner. As he walked back to the dressing room he was in front of his old Palace fans, who were, of course, going to serenade him and he appreciated the gesture, waving and smiling back.

When he was questioned about it afterwards Hodgson said the Watford fans were 'too far away' to acknowledge and didn't see what the fuss was about. But on the day relegation was confirmed the Hornets supporters were never going to like this and it's caused another storm.

For me, of much more concern afterwards was how Hodgson viewed the game rather than 'wavegate'. Hodgson was 'proud of the team' and felt it was 'a really good effort', one of the better away performances.

This is worrying with three games still to go. It seems an acceptance that he doesn't expect too much from his Watford team and an admittance that the strategy now is damage limitation. I would understand if it was Liverpool or Manchester City. But this was a below mid-table Palace team who had won nine games all season.

Hodgson has nothing to gain in these last three games, starting with a resurgent Everton on Wednesday. He's 74 years old, unloved by the Watford faithful and more worrying for me unwell.

He has had shingles and has been in a bad way. On Thursday he told us that he had a constant headache and didn't feel right.

Why is he putting himself under more pressure when there is no need to? Watford are down. These games mean nothing now. He says he won't walk away but I hope he reassesses for his own sake.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts on where it went wrong for the Hornets this season after relegation was confirmed and who you want to see come in as manager.

Here are some of your thoughts:

Rob: Individually and collectively we just weren’t good enough. Huffed and puffed, but lacked the quality required to make a go if it. Sometimes you just have to accept that. Recruitment in the summer probably wasn’t good enough, and the team looked like what it realistically was, a team who hadn’t played together before.

Charlie: Dismal season, terrible managerial appointments and repeated mistakes. Whole club needs a clear out from top to bottom. Would love to see John Eustace as the next manager.

Nicholas: A shambolic season. Three managers, 11 home defeats in a row and a rudderless ship at the top. The Pozzo model no longer works and they are going to have to change their ways if we are to get back at the first attempt. The club is in a mess from top to bottom and a lot of fans have had enough of the same mistakes being repeated.

Rory: Our problem is long term planning. Constantly chopping and changing managers and coaches has led to disinterested players who are unmotivated - half of whom only arrived this year and might look to leave. They need to realise stability is necessary to build a squad and that for smaller teams, attitude and teamwork is more important than raw skill.

Ian: A tough season with no stability and a lack of leadership. We do deserve to be relegated and time for a good clear out. As managers go I believe we should invest in past players so I choose Sean Dyche. A true Hornet with the strength and leadership we need.

Let us know your thoughts here

Watford return to action on Wednesday when they host Everton in the Premier League.

With the Hornets only playing for pride after relegation was confirmed by Sunday's defeat at Crystal Palace,, who should Roy Hodgson start against the Toffees to avoid a seventh successive defeat?

It's time to pick your Watford side to face Everton

Image source, Getty Images

We want to hear from you after Watford's relegation was confirmed after Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.

Where did it all go wrong this season? And are you confident you can bounce straight back?

Looking forward to next year, who do you want to see succeed Roy Hodgson as manager?

Have your say here

You can now watch all the highlights and analysis from Saturday's six matches in the Premier League.

Stream the action now on BBC iPlayer

Image source, PA Media

Ex-Spurs and Fulham full-back Stephen Kelly admits he is "surprised" his former boss Roy Hodgson has been unable to make Watford tougher to beat.

The Hornets' relegation from the Premier League was confirmed by defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday and Kelly says he expected them to put up more of a fight under the former England bosss.

"I worked with Roy for a long time and I know exactly what he does," he said. "He is so drilled with team shape, it's monotonous but it works and makes you really hard to beat.

"It puts you in a situation to win games but for some reason he's not been able to cement it at Watford."

Hodgson was the third manager at Vicarage Road this season after Xisco Munoz and Claudio Ranieri and Kelly thinks the revolving door policy at Watford is beginning to backfire.

"When you're changing managers so often, at some point it comes back to bite you," he said. "When Roy came in, it was probably already too much to get them out of the mire they were in."

For more discussion on Watford's future, and their attempts to be promoted next season, listen from 12'55 on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

• This is the first time in his managerial career that Roy Hodgson will end a Premier League campaign in the relegation zone with a team.

• Crystal Palace have kept a clean sheet in four consecutive home games in the top-flight for the first time since a run of five between March and April 1992.

• Hassane Kamara became the first Watford player to both concede a penalty and be shown a red card in a single Premier League game since Christian Kabasele against Bournemouth in October 2018.

• The Hornets have been relegated in consecutive top-flight campaigns for the first time since a run of three seasons ending in relegation (1987-88, 1999-00 and 2006-07).

Image source, Getty Images

Matthew Gault, BBC Sport

In the end, Watford's latest Premier League relegation felt strangely low-key.

It is a bitter end to what is sure to be Roy Hodgson's last hurrah in management. Now 74, the former England boss said he is unlikely to return to top-level coaching having taken in spells at 17 clubs and four international sides across a 46-year stretch.

But Hodgson was always up against it at Vicarage Road. When he replaced Claudio Ranieri in January, the club sat 19th and hadn't won a game in two months. Hodgson says Watford's current crop are capable of securing an immediate return to the Premier League - like they did last year - but having mustered just two home wins all seasons, fans will certainly be sceptical.

Things are looking much brighter for Hodgson's former side Palace, of course. While the Eagles hit a sticky patch in April that included an FA Cup semi-final defeat by Chelsea, victory over Watford gave Patrick Vieira's team back-to-back league wins for just the second time this season.

Having secured a fourth successive home clean sheet, Palace now sit on 44 points and need just another six to secure their highest-ever tally for a single season.

Were they to continue this strong finish to the campaign, Vieira will feel as though he has seen more than enough in his first season in charge as he looks to take the club to the next level.

Image source, Getty Images

Watford manager Roy Hodgson speaking to Match of the Day: "It wasn't the result we wanted but I think we were rather hard done by because the players are convinced that Hassane Kamara was pushed in the back and that's what provoked the penalty decision.

"But I don't feel hard done by by the team's performance. I thought they did extremely well against a very good Crystal Palace team and we remained competitive right to the end. Given our situation, I think that's a sterling effort from the players."

On whether he felt relegation had been inevitable for a while: "I don't think so. I think after missing our chances in those three home games we realised we were making life extremely hard for ourselves.

"But anyone who'd like to say there was an inevitability about our outcome and that the players had resigned themselves to the fact that they're going to go down then they haven't watched today's game. It gave no indication of that whatsoever and we were fighting right until the last minute to try to get an equaliser.

"I still think today there are signs that the players have taken on board a lot of the work we have done. I think the structure of the team is now as good as we can get it. There are individuals in the team who can make a difference as well.

"Their confidence might not be at the highest but I still think this team and this club has a lot to offer in the Premier League, but they'll first have to go through the Championship to get back."