Leeds poised to appoint former Watford boss who was sacked too soon

Now Javi Gracia is set to return to English football as manager of Premier League Leeds United, a little less than three and a half years after he was sacked by Watford.

Gracia was, it must be said, a manager who arrived at Vicarage Road in January 2018 with many fans having to trawl Wikipedia to learn more about him.

He certainly wasn’t alone in that though, as the appointments of Beppe Sannino, Slavisa Jokanovic, Vladimir Ivic and Xisco Munoz either side of Gracia’s spell at the helm also led to a chorus of ‘Who?’.

However, if he was largely unheralded when he arrived, Gracia’s departure was lamented when it happened, and he is still very fondly remembered at Vicarage Road, both by fans and also by staff.

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There are many who felt that Gino Pozzo’s decision to dismiss Gracia four games into the 2019/20 season was one of his most unreasonable moves.

Having been in charge of Osasuna, Malaga and Rubin Kazan, Gracia arrived (from Russia to Hertfordshire) in January 2018 in the wake of the acrimonious departure of Marco Silva.

He then steered Watford to 11th in the Premier League, and it’s fair to say they probably would have finished a bit higher had there not been the obvious distraction of an FA Cup Final to look forward to.

Wins over non-league Woking, Newcastle, QPR and Crystal Palace set up that now unforgettable semi-final with Wolves.

Gracia left Gerard Deulofeu on the bench that day, bringing him on with less than half an hour to play and with Watford 2-0 down and seemingly heading out.

Deulofeu responded with one of the finest goals seen at the new Wembley and, after Troy Deeney’s epic penalty to take the game to extra-time, the little Spaniard then scored the winner.

While Watford were then beaten by a record-equalling scoreline in the final by Manchester City, the misery of the result was somewhat eased by the manner in which they reached the final as well as the way in which Gracia and his players conducted themselves.

The fans loved Gracia, and he clearly understood what the club was all about.

For him to then be sacked in September 2019 – albeit after only taking one point from the opening four games of the season – seemed premature even by Pozzo standards.

Gracia won 25 of his 66 games as head coach at Vicarage Road, and his departure was the start of a downward spiral still being felt today.

He was succeeded by the disastrous second spell in charge for Quique Sanchez Flores and then Nigel Pearson had a short but memorable stint in charge, with Hayden Mullins having spells as caretakers on either side.

Indeed, in the 1,263 days since Gracia left the club, Watford have had nine different head coaches (counting Mullins only once).

Gracia swaps a bottle of Sangria for a bottle of Newcastle Brown with Woking's Geordie boss Alan Dowson after the 2019 FA Cup Third Round tie (Image: Watford FC)

If, as looks likely, Gracia succeeds Jesse Marsch at Elland Road, his obvious immediate task is to keep them in the top flight.

They have not won a Premier League game since November 5, and the subsequent 10 league outings have garnered just four points.

Leeds are 19th in the table and Gracia will barely have got his branded kit before they face a ‘must-win’ game against bottom side Southampton on Saturday.

However, in Gracia, they will have a coach who saw Deulofeu’s potential out on the flank, and then helped him realise it – as well as pairing Etienne Capoue and Abdoulaye Doucoure in a midfield as good as any Watford have seen in recent times.

He is a man who can make a difference and can do so with style, care and humility.

Certainly plenty of people connected to Watford will be wishing him well and raising a glass of the popular red-wine based alcoholic beverage from Gracia’s homeland.

As the terrace chant went ‘Javia Gracia, he drinks Sangria . . . he came from Russia, to Hertfordshire’.