Roy Hodgson: Watford set to appoint former England boss as new head coach on deal until end of season | Football News

January 25, 2022 admin

Watford are set to appoint former England boss Roy Hodgson as their new head coach on a deal until the end of the season.

Hodgson is set to replace Claudio Ranieri, who was sacked on Monday after three-and-a-half months in charge, with Watford 19th in the table, two points from safety.

The 74-year-old, who is on his way to the Hornets to finalise his contract, has been out of work since leaving Crystal Palace at the end of last season.

All parties will assess Hodgson’s future at Watford at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Ranieri had failed to turn around the team’s fortunes since being appointed in October, with the Hornets dropping into the Premier League relegation zone for the first time this season after Friday’s 3-0 home defeat to fellow strugglers Norwich.

No wins, no clean sheets, no discipline – Watford struggles

Watford are without a win in nine games in all competitions (D1 L8), their longest run without a victory since December 2013 (10).

Norwich enjoyed their biggest margin of victory in a Premier League match since beating West Brom 4-0 in May 2013, and their biggest away from home in the division since September 1993, a 5-1 win at Everton.

Watford have now gone 30 Premier League games without a clean sheet (since a 3-0 win v Liverpool in February 2020), with only West Brom enduring a longer such run in the history of the competition (34 in 2011; Blackburn in 2012 and Wolves in 2012 both also on 30).

Since the start of 2016-17, only Arsenal (19) have picked up more Premier League red cards than Watford (18).

Asked about his future after the loss to the Canaries, the former Leicester and Chelsea manager said: “I don’t go away. I want to continue because I am a fighter. I’ve never given up in my career.”

Under Ranieri, Watford lost seven of their last eight league matches. Their most recent victory was the 4-1 defeat of Manchester United in November at Vicarage Road.

Ranieri’s departure means Watford have now sacked five head coaches since the exit of Javi Gracia in September 2019.

Quique Sanchez Flores, Nigel Pearson, Vladimir Ivic, Munoz and Ranieri have all left the club during that 28-month period, while Hayden Mullins has also had two spells as caretaker in that time.

If appointed, Hodgson will become the Pozzo family’s 15th permanent manager since they completed their takeover of Watford in June 2012.

Watford head coach exits since Pozzo family’s takeover in June 2012

Sean Dyche – June 2011 to July 2012
Gianfranco Zola – July 2012 to December 2013
Giuseppe Sannino – December 2013 to August 2014
Oscar Garcia – September 2014 to September 2014
Billy McKinlay – September 2014 to October 2014
Slavisa Jokanovic – October 2014 to June 2015
Quique Sanchez Flores – June 2015 to May 2016
Walter Mazzarri – July 2016 to May 2017
Marco Silva – May 2017 to January 2018
Javi Gracia – January 2018 to September 2019
Quique Sanchez Flores – September 2019 to December 2019
Nigel Pearson – December 2019 to July 2020
Vladimir Ivic – August 2020 to December 2020
Xisco Munoz – December 2020 to October 2021
Claudio Ranieri – October 2021 to January 2022

When is Hodgson’s first game if he is appointed?

Watford travel to Turf Moor to face Burnley on Saturday, February 5 at 6pm in their re-arranged fixture.

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