Can Javi Gracia succeed at Watford where so many have previously failed?

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There were mixed reactions on Sunday morning when Watford announced the sudden departure of popular manager Marco Silva from the club.

In the early part of the season, Silva transformed the Hornets from relegation battlers to European candidates with a mixture of positive attacking football and shrewd signings.

The club’s away form was particularly impressive, with convincing wins over Southampton, Newcastle United and Swansea, as well as defeating Arsenal at home.

Richarlison arrived from Fluminense and immediately set the Premier League alight, with Kiko Femenia, Will Hughes and Nathaniel Chalobah also enjoying strong starts.

If it wasn’t for a serious knee injury suffered in September, Chalobah would surely have gone on to be one of the stars of Watford’s season, with the ex-Chelsea midfielder already having achieved England honours.

Former Derby midfielder Hughes also impressed before he suffered injury, having scored in consecutive games against West Ham and Newcastle.

Watford conceded plenty, though, and defence has been an issue all season. Nonetheless, the huge number of goals scored meant that Watford looked set to establish themselves as a secure top half outfit.

That all changed in October, when Everton sacked Ronald Koeman and quickly identified Silva as their replacement.

The Portuguese remained quiet on rumours linking him away from the club although, crucially, he never made a concrete statement that he wanted to stay.

One of the reasons Watford gave for Silva’s sacking was “the unwarranted approach by a Premier League rival”, which they clearly believed was a major factor in the club’s downturn in form – they have only won three games in 13 since that approach in mid-November.

After Silva’s sacking, Watford quickly acted, bringing in former Malaga coach Javi Gracia as his replacement.

The Spaniard, who signed a 18 month contract, has gained a reputation for taking points off big teams, with one of his most famous results being a win over Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

Gracia’s Malaga went unbeaten against Real Madrid home and away in the 2015/16 season, and also beat Atletico, recording consecutive top ten finishes from 2014/15.

When Malaga were struggling at the foot of La Liga earlier this season, many fans were calling for Gracia to return to the post he held until May 2016, before he joined Russian giants Rubin Kazan.

His defensive coaching is sound, a quality which he will need to employ on a Watford side who have shipped plenty of goals this season.

Only Stoke in 17th have conceded more goals than the Hornets.

He also speaks good English, meaning he will not need a translator – something which Walter Mazzarri consistently used when talking to his players and the press, to the disappointment of the Watford board.

Gracia is entering a club which is not known for sticking with managers, and he has never stayed at a club longer than two years, but his track record in terms of results is positive and if he can get off to a good start, Watford could finally be set for a spell of managerial stability in the Premier League.