His final game as manager appears to have been a poor 3-1 defeat by relegation rivals West Ham, in which Watford trailed 2-0 after 10 minutes and 3-0 at half-time.
Watford are three points above Aston Villa and Bournemouth in the table but with Man City and Arsenal to play and goal difference between the three close they are not safe yet.
Hayden Mullins, assisted by Graham Stack, will again fill the role as caretaker manager for the Hornets’ final two fixtures – at home to Manchester City and away to Arsenal.
A brief statement on the club website confirmed: “Nigel Pearson has left the club with immediate effect.
“Hayden Mullins, with Graham Stack as his assistant, will take up the position of Interim Head Coach for the Hornets’ final two Premier League fixtures of the 2019/20 season.”
Pearson, 56, becomes the third man to lose the manager’s job at Vicarage Road this term following Javi Gracia and Quique Sanchez Flores, with Mullins given another spell as caretaker as one of Watford’s four different managers of the season.
Nigel Pearson’s Watford tenure
Pearson took over in December with Watford bottom of the table, and after a narrow defeat at Liverpool in his opening game the Hornets won four and drew one of their next five matches to open a gap between themselves and the bottom three.
But they have managed only three league victories since to remain in relegation danger.
Watford did win their two previous games before their poor showing at the London Stadium on Friday, but the first-half capitulation in east London appears to have sealed Pearson’s fate.
Javi Gracia (Played 5: Won 1, Drew 1, Lost 3)
Spaniard Gracia – brought in to replace Marco Silva in January 2018 – had guided the Hornets to the FA Cup final last season, where they were thrashed 6-0 by Manchester City. The former Rubin Kazan and Malaga boss, though, lost all three of the opening Premier League games in August, with the only victory being a Carabao Cup tie against Coventry. With the club bottom of the table, Gracia was sacked on September 7 – and Watford swiftly announced his replacement.
Quique Sanchez Flores (Played 12: Won 2, Drew 4, Lost 6)
Within half an hour of Gracia’s dismissal, former Hornets boss Quique Sanchez Flores was confirmed as the club’s 11th managerial change in just over eight years. Returning for a second spell at Vicarage Road, having left in June 2016, Sanchez Flores saw his side thumped 8-0 at Manchester City and lasted just 85 days before he was sacked following a 2-1 loss at Southampton.
Nigel Pearson (Played 22: Won 7, Drew 5, Lost 10)
Former Leicester boss Pearson was appointed as Watford’s new head coach, initially until the end of the season, in early December 2019 with the team still bottom of the table after two games under caretaker Hayden Mullins. Despite an upturn in fortunes – including a home win over Manchester United in a run which lifted them out of the relegation zone – the Hornets have slipped back into trouble.
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