Mazzarri to leave Watford post after final match of season
Watford manager Walter Mazzarri will leave his position as manager following Sunday's final match of the season against Manchester City, club chairman Scott Duxbury announced Wednesday.
The Italian was handed the reins in Hertfordshire last summer, and has guided Watford to its current placing of 16th in the Premier League - three spots lower than its finish under his predecessor Quique Sanchez Flores last term. That downturn in fortunes, coupled with ambitions that don't align with those of the board, led to Mazzarri getting the boot.
"After the board discussed with Walter Mazzarri the club's future goals and aspirations, it was decided he will be stepping down from his position as the club's head coach after the final game of the 2016-17 season," Duxbury said in a statement.
"We thank Walter and his staff for the contribution they have made to Watford Football Club over the past year."
Growing discord between the players and coaching staff is another reason for Mazzarri's departure, reports The Mirror's John Cross. The popular Troy Deeney's demotion to the substitutes' bench rankled with his colleagues and the Vicarage Road faithful, and his intense training sessions are believed to have perturbed the squad - partly because Mazzarri is a smoker, and continues to bark instructions in his native Italian.
The early days after his arrival on a three-year contract apparently saw him scribble tactical plans on the back of a cigarette packet.
The Watford hierarchy prefers annual turnover rather than continuity if its recent record of hiring and firing is taken into consideration. Since the 2012 takeover from the Pozzo family, eight different managers have been at the helm. That includes Slavisa Jokanovic, who couldn't broker an agreement to remain in charge despite overseeing Watford's promotion to the Premier League in 2015.
With Mazzarri's ousting, the bookmakers are now compiling odds over who will next be hired at Watford. Hull City manager Marco Silva, ex-Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini, and former Russia handler Leonid Slutsky are early names linked with the hot seat, according to Cross.