Cleverley was the first head coach to remain in charge for an entire season since Javi Gracia in 2018-19.
He was unbeaten at home in his first 15 league games as boss, but results took a downturn following a 2-1 defeat by Cardiff on 29 December and they only took five points from the next nine matches.
Reports in Spain earlier this season claimed former Villarreal head coach Jose Rojo Martin, known as Pacheta, had been in talks with Watford to replace him.
In January, the club dismissed that as «pure speculation» and owner Gino Pozzo later said of Cleverley: «We are committed to support him and look forward to the challenges ahead together.»
Speaking last week, Cleverley said that hopes of achieving a play-off place had been undermined by injuries, particularly among his forwards.
«There’s no difference in the number of goals we’ve conceded from pre-January to post-January, but the amount of goals we’ve scored has dropped significantly,» he said.
He promised to learn the lessons of the campaign and added: «We spent 10 weeks in the play-offs [places], we showed real positive signs before the turn of the year and I think we can clearly identify where and why we’ve run out of a bit of steam.
«We’ve got an incredibly young squad, the average age is boosted up by one or two individuals, but apart from that it’s largely under 25 and the majority under 21 at the minute.
«The experiences they will have had this year — some bad ones — to really develop and ultimately improve from is one of the really exciting positives from this season.»
No Watford manager or head coach has lasted an entire calendar year in the job since Malky Mackay in 2010.
Since being relegated from the Premier League in 2022, they have finished 11th, 15th and now 14th.
«There will be no further club comment until a new appointment has been made,» a statement on the Hornets website said.
