Javi Gracia’s Watford record – and where he sits among the last 13 managers
Javi Gracia is set to make a surprise return to the dugout at Vicarage Road when Paulo Pezzolano receives his marching orders.
Watford sacked Tom Cleverley at the end of last season after a lacklustre 2024-25 Championship campaign in which they finished 14th, as he went on to take the Plymouth Argyle job.
The Hornets’ controversial owner, Gino Pozzo, moved to hire Uruguayan Paulo Pezzolano as their new head-coach, after he had guided Real Valladolid to promotion to La Liga last year, but things have not gone as planned so far.
Watford currently sit 11th in the second-tier, with three wins from their first nine outings, and Pezzolano has seemingly failed to meet the hierarchy’s lofty expectations, with his sacking now believed to be imminent [Sky Sports] after crunch talks.
Former boss Javi Gracia is reportedly due to replace Pezzolano in the Vicarage Road dugout, just over six years since he was sacked with the club sitting bottom of the Premier League, and Football Insider have looked at his Hornets managerial record compared to other head-coaches since his 2019 departure.
Javi Gracia’s managerial record compared to Watford bosses since his
Gracia led Watford to an 11th-placed finish in the 2018-19 Premier League table following his appointment midway through that campaign, which was their highest finish since 1986-87.
He also took them to the FA Cup final for the first time in 35 years and for only the second time in the club’s history, before then going on to be sacked in September 2019 after the Hornets had picked up just one point from their first four league games.
| Manager | From-To | Games managed | Wins | Draws | Losses | Win percentage |
| Quique Sanchez Flores | Sep 2019-Dec 2019 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 16.67% |
| Nigel Pearson | Dec 2019-Jul 2020 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 31.82% |
| Vladimir Ivic | Aug 2020-Dec 2020 | 22 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 40.91% |
| Xisco Munoz | Dec 2020-Oct 2021 | 36 | 21 | 4 | 11 | 58.33% |
| Claudio Ranieri | Oct 2021-Jan 2022 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 14.29% |
| Roy Hodgson | Jan 2022-May 2022 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 11.1% |
| Rob Edwards | May 2022-Sep 2022 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 27.27% |
| Slaven Bilic | Sep 2022-March 2023 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 40.01% |
| Chris Wilder | March 2023-May 2023 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 27.27% |
| Valerien Ismael | May 2023-March 2024 | 48 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 27.08% |
| Tom Cleverley | March 2024-May 2025 | 59 | 20 | 14 | 25 | 33.9% |
| Paulo Pezzolano | May 2025-present | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 30% |
Gracia was replaced by compatriot Quique Sanchez Flores, who only lasted three months in his second spell in charge, and they have subsequently been through another 11 permanent managers in the last six years.
No manager has overseen more games in a single spell at the club since Gracia’s 66 before his departure, and his 37.88 win percentage has only been bettered by one boss who took charge of over 30 games, Xisco Munoz, who led the club to promotion from the Championship in 2020-21.
Troy Deeney has backed Gracia to do well on his Watford return
Gracia has managed in England since he left Watford in 2019, with three months in charge of Leeds United in 2023 which saw him win just three of his 12 games in charge.
Leeds sacked Gracia with just four games of the 2022-23 season left in a desperate attempt to survive top-flight relegation, but they went down in 19th under Sam Allardyce despite the Spaniard leaving them in 17th.
Hornets legend Troy Deeney enjoyed a decent run under Gracia, with 14 goals and six assists in 53 games across his first spell in charge, and he praised the 55-year-old in an interview with talkSPORT following news of his imminent return.
Deeney (7 October) said: “[He is a] great, great guy. Great coach. He is also very good with man-management, understands people very well. It’ll be interesting to see who he gets to bring in with him as coaching staff. If they are the same coaching staff, they all complemented each other really, really well.”
Watford are clearly in need of a lift this season after a mixed start under Pezzolano, and it looks as if Gracia will be the man tasked with taking them back to the Premier League this season after four years away.