Watford were “sad and disappointed to confirm the resignation of Javi Gracia” earlier this afternoon.
This news comes after a 2-0 defeat to Swansea City yesterday afternoon, where Gracia called for talks with the club’s hierarchy.
The hornets were happy to keep him as they felt he was “The right man for the job”; however say that Javi “felt he no longer had the motivation and was not the right man to continue coaching this exciting group of young players”.
With Owner Gino Pozzo again looking for a new manager, here are 4 managers Watford FC could consider.
Recently sacked by Leicester City, Cifuentes is the top of the betting odds at 5/1; he has plenty of Championship experience with QPR, before leaving to join Leicester City in the summer.
The Spaniard plays with a 4-2-3-1 formation or a 4-3-2-1 formation with an emphasis on fluid and counter-attacking football. His formation allows the use of wingers, which could be useful to the hornets due to the quality of Baah, Irankunda and Maamma in those positions.
Not as a permanent manager, however, Charlie Daniels, alongside 2 former Watford players, Adrian Mariappa and Dan Gosling, could be a strong option on an interim basis until the end of the season due to their past and present connections towards the club.
The trio all work within the academy ranks at the Hornets, with Charlie Daniels and Adrian Marriappa the main coaches for the U21’s and Dan Gosling the lead coach for U18’s.
This could be a perfect option to allow the Pozzos to re-group and find a new manager ahead of the 26/27 season.
The hierarchy highly valued Piminenta before the appointment of Javi and was lined up to be the manager to take over from Paulo Pezzolano until Scott Duxbury, Watford’s chairman, suggested the re-appointment of Javi Gracia to Gino Pozzo.
Pimienta played with a 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 formation when at Sevilla, and has a strong emphasis on his side building up from the back.
We could definitely see this appointment as it very much aligns with a lot of Pozzo’s criteria.
The former Southampton head coach is someone who could come through the door at Vicarage Road as Javi Gracia’s replacement.
He is a very direct manager, which plays into the hands of Kwadwo Baah and Nestory Irankunda, as well as favouring a back 3 in defence, which favours our potential new centre-back signing this Deadline Day, Saba Goglichidze.
There are plenty of other options alongside the four, with the likes of Russell Martin and Diego Alonso also towards the top of the betting odds.
