Watford need a reset with Sean Dyche as debts mount and relegation loom

Watford are going down, in a mess and need a complete reset.

A decade after owner Gino Pozzo took over a mid-table Championship club from discharged bankrupt Laurence Bassini, 15 head coaches later they are heading back to the brambles and nettles. Ten consecutive home defeats equals the top-flight record set flight set by Birmingham and Sunderland – and that sequence is a disgrace.

In the insect derby between Hornets and Bees, Brentford - promoted with Watford last May - were not very good, but they stung more in both boxes. Thomas Frank's side lost nine out of 11 games before Christian Eriksen's first start. Since the inspirational Dane's integration into the starting XI, they have won five out of six and they are now safe.

But among long-suffering patrons at Vicarage Road, the mood is turning sour, with executive chairman Scott Duxbury feeling the heat. Gross debt, including Pozzo's financial support, has climbed to £139 million. Senegal winger Ismaila Sarr and top scorer Emmanuel Dennis are unlikely to be around next season to keep the bean-counters happy.

And this is not Roy Hodgson's mess. If he had been appointed last October instead of Claudio Ranieri – a charming man and Leicester legend but a poor choice – it might have been a different story. Although there have been no formal discussions, the chances of seeing Hodgson, who only signed a short-term contract and turns 75 this summer, in the Championship next season are slim.

It would be kinder to hand the former England coach his carriage clock before the lid closes down and line up Sean Dyche or Diego Martinez to restore factory settings in the summer. Dyche, sacked by Burnley on Good Friday, was the Watford manager in 2012, when he knew he would be