Adrian Boothroyd was dismissed by Watford last night, little more than a year after being heralded as one of the most promising managers in the game. He paid the price for the club’s poor start to their Coca-Cola Championship campaign, with the 4-3 defeat at home to Blackpool on Saturday, despite leading on three occasions, proving to be the final straw. After garnering only 15 points from 15 matches, Watford are 21st in the league table, above the relegation zone only on goal difference.

“It is with some sadness that we have taken the decision that the time is right for a new manager to take Watford forward,” Graham Simpson, the club’s chairman, said. “Both parties feel that his tenure at the club is simply at an end.”

Boothroyd, 37, carved his reputation by leading Watford from the brink of relegation to League One to rubbing shoulders with the big boys in the top flight, little more than 12 months later, in 2006. They were relegated immediately and have won only 12 of their past 48 matches.

Darren Ferguson, Steve Cotterill, Gustavo Poyet and John Ward, a former Watford player, who was dismissed as Carlisle United manager yesterday, are expected to be among the names considered as a successor. Boothroyd’s success was built on the “science” of Watford’s direct game, but as his squad changed and their tactics were better countered, he moved to a more expansive approach this season. It has been more entertaining, but they have also conceded 27 goals, almost two per match.

Boothroyd has worked with limited resources, having had to sell his most effective players, such as Marlon King, Hameur Bouazza and Darius Henderson, and he spent £10 million less than he received in the transfer market during his 3½years in charge. The club are believed to have been looking for new investment and their parachute payments will end this season.

Boothroyd took charge with no managerial experience and steered the team in his first season to survival by two points, in the Championship. A year later, he was celebrating the club’s promotion to the Premier League for the first time in six years. He soon brought his own methods to bear with team-bonding missions that included building snowmen and walking across hot coals.

Boothroyd kept faith with the same nucleus of players, but despite his confidence and positive thinking, Watford could not get to grips with better opposition in the Premier League. They won their first league game after 11 matches, in November 2006, and finished bottom, despite improving during the latter part of the season and reaching the FA Cup semi-final, losing 4-1 to Manchester United.

They looked certain to bounce back at the first attempt when they led the Championship by nine points after 12 games a year ago. But after winning only one of their last 14 matches, they could reach only the play-offs, losing to Hull City in the semi-final.

Boothroyd could be followed by Alan Pardew, the Charlton Athletic manager, widely acclaimed when he was seconds from leading West Ham United to a Cup Final triumph against Liverpool in 2006, but under intense pressure with his team 22nd in the Championship.

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England's finest?

Adrian Boothroyd is the latest managerial rising star to suffer a downturn in fortunes.

As Chelsea assistant manager, Graham Rix was credited with playing a huge part in the successes of Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli and was expected to thrive on his own, but he fared badly at Portsmouth and Oxford United and has been out of the English game for four years.

Mike Walker transformed Norwich City from relegation contenders into title challengers but failed to revive Everton and, after an unsuccessful second spell at Norwich, who had been relegated in his absence, his managerial career ended in 1998.

Bryan Robson was viewed as a future England manager when he guided Middlesbrough into the Premier League, but such speculation dried up when Terry Venables was brought in to assist him. He has since had undistinguished spells with Bradford City, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United.

Words by Bill Edgar