One of the first to go was Leicester’s Paulo Sousa, on 1 October. The club’s board—consisting of Thai investors and Milan Mandaric—appointed Sven-Göran Eriksson, and results have since picked up. Sensing an opportunity, several clubs followed. All these clubs sacked their managers while in 19th in the league or lower, with the exception of Burnley, who sacked Brian Laws whilst in 9th. Of these clubs, only Leicester could claim to have dramatically improved their league position (24th when Sousa was sacked, 12th now), with Bristol City making a modest rise up the table (23rd to 17th). All others have either dropped further into the mire or remained where they were.

WATFORD'S Head of Football Business & Development John Stephenson is leaving to take up a new challenge at Brighton & Hove Albion FC.

However a story can be easy to tell, and still be told badly. Another trot through the events, however breathtaking these events and however comprehensive the description, would have served no purpose; that’s been done before and done well, not least in the club’s Centenary Book. Where this book really triumphs is in identifying a new angle, a compelling angle, and pursuing it doggedly. Whilst Lionel provides a skeleton of detail that would permit those unfamiliar with the narrative to follow what’s going on, the joy is in the reflections, anecdotes and memories provided by the key players. So comprehensive is this coverage indeed that, other than Elton John, the most significant names not to have interviewed are the likes of Iwan Roberts, Worrell Sterling and Rick Holden. Everyone else is there, including occasional glances from the other side of the fence.

RT @RookeryMike: Well worth a read RT @telpierce check out my latest piece for @FourFourTwo on #Watfordfc next generation of Golden Boys ...

Pupils, who must live within 90 minutes of Harefield and are bussed in for the start of school at 8.15am, have training sessions during the day three times a week. When school shuts at 2.30pm, they catch up on lessons they have missed and complete their homework before participating in further training sessions between 4.30pm and 6.30pm, this time with members of Watford's academy who are not students at the school.

Here Anthony, who was present as Watford met Leicester City in the Championship at the weekend, analyses the game and brings us a tactical breakdown of the match.

The @football_league finally have a iPhone App. http://bit.ly/dAQRmw No commentary subscription yet, but here's hoping! #watfordfc
– From The Rookery End (RookeryJon) http://twitter.com/RookeryJon/statuses/22873353721

Stonking Championship preview by Matt Rowson. http://bit.ly/9wRRDK /cc @drbillyo - do you think WFC will sign Deeney after his transfer req?

Football: Observer Fans' Forum club-by-club preview of the Championship season ahead: http://bit.ly/cvYtRV
– Guardian sport (guardian_sport) http://twitter.com/guardian_sport/statuses/20058866965

"Firstly, and most importantly, the site that you’ve decided to “regularly monitor” is no longer being updated. Had you taken the trouble to look further than the one page that seems to have attracted your attention, you would have noticed that there have been no updates to the site since as long ago as 2006; the address that you cite quite clearly lists the Watford FC fixtures for the 2005/06 season rather than anything more recent. As far as we are aware, neither NetResult nor Football DataCo Limited make any claim to copyright over past events, nor have any legal basis for preventing absolutely anyone from displaying such information; we eagerly look forward to any attempt to claim ownership of universally-available historical facts with great amusement."

The investment into English academies and under-18 setups appears to be paying off: The U-17s win the first age group tournament in over 15 years. It will be interesting to see how many players from Watford start to be included in younger England teams now that their well-regarded Harefield academy is starting to produce first-team players.

"It’s logical if you think about it. Try to use a parachute as a trampoline and you won’t get very high, and Watford Football Club appear to be the latest ex-Premier Leaguers to have discovered the dangers of life in the Football League Championship without either. Much of Watford’s year-long dalliance with administration, which has finally hit the national headlines, is a familiar tale of football-finance woe. An over-ambitious pantomime villain risks everyone’s money but his own on an unachievable dream and blames fans, press, and global financial crises when it all goes horribly wrong. Then he sods off before the discovery of buried bodies, leaving a successor to pick up the mess and either start the whole process again, after a short honeymoon period of renewed over-ambition, or desperately scrabble around in the hope of skin-of-the-teeth salvation."