Watford have confirmed the appointment of former Leicester City and Fulham boss Claudio Rainieri.
The Italian, 69, replaces Xisco Muñoz, who was relieved of his duties yesterday after a 1-0 defeat to Leeds United on Saturday.
Ranieri has signed a two-year deal with the Hornets and returns to management after leaving Serie A side Sampdoria at the end of last season.
Claudio Ranieri Appointed Watford Manager
𝗗𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴…
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) October 4, 2021
Premier League Experience
Ranieri will be most familiar to Premier League fans for his stunning stint at Leicester from 2015 to 2017. He guided the Foxes to the Premier League title at odds of 5000/1, a moment that has since gone down in English footballing folklore.
He also secured Leicester’s passage through the group stages of the 2016/17 Champions League, but poor form in the domestic campaign led to his departure in February 2017 and former Watford assistant manager Craig Shakespeare took over for the rest of the season.
Ranieri has also recently managed Fulham during their relegation season in 2018/19. It was an unsuccessful spell by his standards, being hired after the season and started and fired before it had ended.
Back in 2000, Ranieri also spent four years in charge of Chelsea, while other notable teams on his list include Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Roma and Inter Milan.
Work to Do
On paper, Watford have had a respectable start to the season, but given their kind fixture list thus far, they would have hoped to have more points on the board.
With the international break now in place, Ranieri has a good chunk of time to get to know his new squad and implement what he wants to do.
They will need to be ready once the break is over as their first game back sees them welcome Liverpool to Vicarage Road for the early kick-off on Saturday, October 16.
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