Former England manager Roy Hodgson will take over as Watford’s next manager. The team is eager to schedule a speed date after Claudio Ranieri’s firing on Monday, which left the Hornets inside the bottom three of the Premier League. Hodgson, 74, hasn’t played since quitting Crystal Palace at the end of the previous campaign.
After Claudio Ranieri was fired on Monday, Sportsmail knows that just a few other paperwork must be filed before Hodgson and his deputy Ray Lewington are appointed. Players and staff at Watford are aware that Hodgson will soon arrive. Within the following 24 hours, the transaction should be completed.
He claimed he intended to vacation from the game at the time, but he didn’t rule out coming back eventually. Before a critical Premier League trip to Burnley on February 5, Watford wants to give Ranieri’s replacement the most time to train with the group.
The Pozzo family owns the Vicarage Road side, and Hodgson worked for them during his brief tenure as Udinese’s manager. Hodgson, who held charge of Palace from September 2017 until his departure, is the oldest manager in the Premier League.
After the Eagles’ bottom-seeded Premier League team lost their first four games of the 2017–18 campaign without scoring a goal, he took over as manager in Frank de Boer’s place. On Monday, Watford asked Hodgson whether he would be interested in taking over for Ranieri, and since then, the process has rushed.
After leaving Crystal Palace at the end of the last campaign, the 74-year-old has been debating whether to play again. Ranieri earned just seven points during his command at Vicarage Road and left the team ranked 19th in the Premier League.
The decision has been made following the 3-0 home loss to Norwich City, as Sportsmail reported on New Year’s Eve that the Italian was coming under growing pressure at Vicarage Road due to concerns over his suitability as head coach.
Watford released the following statement: “The Hornets’ Board acknowledges Claudio as a man of tremendous integrity and honor, who will always be regarded here at Vicarage Road for his efforts to manage the squad with dignity.”
The Board believes that a change in the Head Coach job will provide a new appointment with enough time to work with an excellent group to achieve the immediate aim of maintaining Premier League status as there is still nearly half of the Premier League season to play in.
After the Pozzo family, who controls Watford, fired Xisco Munoz on October 3, whoever succeeds Ranieri will be their third manager of the current campaign. Watford was in 14th place in the league when Munoz departed, but since Ranieri took over, they have been in free decline.
After the humiliating loss to Norwich, Ranieri, 70, apologized to the supporters. Since taking over for Munoz in October, he has over 11 losses.
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