Roy Hodgson has confirmed he will leave Watford when his short-term contract expires at the end of the season, leaving the club looking for a new manager for the third time in eight months.
Adding that he wouldn’t be accepting “further sorties in the world of Premier League football”, the 74-year-old is expected to retire once the Hornets have completed their final four games of the 2021-22 campaign. They are all but mathematically relegated.
Sean Dyche, who was sacked by Burnley in April, has emerged as the early frontrunner, followed by ex-Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
Whoever takes the reins will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Xisco, who guided Watford back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
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i takes a look at the leading contenders as it stands.
Sean Dyche
Dyche’s Burnley dismissal was met with almost universal amazement, but chairman Alan Pace has been vindicated so far with interim boss Mike Jackson boasting the best points-per-game ratio in the Premier League right now. Even so, Dyche was well-respected for keeping the Clarets up for five years and he has previous with Watford too, playing for the club for three years and managing them between 2011 and 2012.
Nuno Espirito Santo
Nuno was sacked by Tottenham in October after a 3-0 defeat to Manchester United in which his side failed to have a shot on target. The former Wolves boss was an ill fit for Daniel Levy, who had pledged a “return to playing football with the style for which we are known” post-Jose Mourinho. Despite the reputational damage incurred in his three months in north London, Nuno is still held in high esteem for earning promotion with Wolves and then guiding them into Europe.
Fabio Cannavaro
The World Cup winning defender has been a head coach for eight years but is yet to break into the major European leagues. Aside from a short stint in Saudi Arabia, he has spent the entirety of his managerial career in China, both in the Chinese Super League and with the national side. He has been out of work since 2019.
Next Watford manager odds
- Sean Dyche: 3-1
- Nuno Espirito Santo: 4-1
- Fabio Cannavaro: 13-2
- Paulo Fonseca: 9-1
- Diego Martinez Penas: 10-1
- Gennaro Gattuso: 14-1
- Rafael Benitez, Sam Allardyce: 16-1
- John Terry, Lucien Favre, Marcelo Bielsa, Rudi Garcia: 20-1
Odds via Betfair and correct on 4 May 2022
Paulo Fonseca
Fonseca was close to being appointed Tottenham manager last summer before Nuno’s appointment. A deal fell through at the 11th hour, but the former Roma boss continues to be linked with Premier League jobs and was also in the running for the Newcastle gig before it was handed to Eddie Howe. He won three Ukrainian Premier League titles with Shakhtar Donetsk, but also once nearly had to forfeit a game at Roma after bringing on the wrong number of substitutes. Probably just about chaotic enough for Watford.
Diego Martinez Penas
Also linked with Watford when Claudio Ranieri was sacked in January. The former Granada boss is currently without a job, having also managed Osasuna and working in various capacities at Sevilla, including as reserve team manager.
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