WATFORD are ready to gamble their Premier League future by targeting a foreign boss to steer them away from relegation danger.
Marco Silva was this morning sacked by Watford after losing eight of his last eleven games in charge of the club.
And the Hornets are preparing to turn to Spain for his successor, with ex-Malaga and Rubin Kazan coach Javi Gracia the early front-runner.
The 47-year-old is a journeyman manager who has taken charge of ten sides since starting his career in the dugout in 2004 with the Villarreal youth team.
His biggest jobs have been the two years he spent in charge of Malaga, and a season spent in Russia with Rubin Kazan where he was sacked after only steering them to a ninth place finish.
The other name in the frame is Jose Gonzalez, who was only named Malaga boss earlier this month.
Like Gracia, the 51-year-old has rarely stayed in any role for a long period of time since beginning his coaching career in 2002.
He has three times managed Cadiz, and also enjoyed spells in charge of Albacete, Cordoba, Mercia and Grenada in that time.
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The longest he has stayed working with any club is in China, where he spent three seasons as assistant and then boss of Beijing Guoan.
And he was handed a short-term deal until the end of the season a week ago, tasked with saving La Liga’s bottom club from relegation.
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Watford are ready to make their move for a new boss quickly, fearing being sucked into the bottom three even though they sit tenth in the top flight.
The 2-0 defeat at Leicester leaves them just five points clear of the drop zone, and with their form so bad club bosses are worried they will plummet further down the table.
The Hornets have won just one Premier League game since November, collecting five points out of a possible 33.
Only an impressive start to the season has kept them from being slumped in the relegation zone before now.
But with sides below them continuing to improve, there is now a real prospect the second half of the season will become a frantic fight against relegation.
Their next match is the FA Cup fourth round tie at fellow Premier League strugglers Southampton on Saturday.
But much of the focus will be on making sure the team is in good enough shape for the crucial league clash with Stoke on Wednesday.
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