Official: Watford appoint Claudio Ranieri as new manager

Claudio Ranieri is back in the Premier League, which means a manager is out of work.

The big question for many clubs is knowing the right time to pull the plug on a project. There has to be a fine balance, and the management has to be sure that a project will not thrive under its current conditions and find a man to steer the ship.

It takes courage to look at a man who has done a good job in the past and tell him he is no longer relevant in steering the club in thection it wants to go.

A few names pop up, but none like Roman Abramovich. He has fired the best the game has to offer. The list includes Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and even club legend Frank Lampard. That is what the game is all about, making the tough decisions at the right time. Perhaps, if Frank Lampard was still at Chelsea, the London club might not have won the Champions League.

Watford have opted to go the Chelsea way and choose a good time to fire its manager Xisco Munoz. In his place is former Chelsea and Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri.

The return of the ‘king’

Claudio Ranieri is not a strange name to Premier League followers across the world. The Italian is back in the Premier League after Xisco Munoz was fired. The Hornets surprised everyone when they announced they had fired their manager Xisco Munoz on Sunday.

More surprising was the announcement of Claudio Ranieri as the new man in charge. Ranieri’s last job in England saw him fired nine months into his second season with the Foxes. The Italian had led Leicester City to an unlikely league triumph the season before he got the boot.

Ranieri returns with a wealth of experience

As per the club’s website, Ranieri has signed a two-year contract to manage the Hornets. The Italian will mark his 70th birthday this month and becomes the 13th manager to manage the side since the Pozzo family assumed charge at the club in 2012.

Ranieri takes over from Munoz, who led the team to promotion to the Premiership last season. Watford currently sits in 15th on the log following an unsatisfying start to the season. The team has managed seven points from a possible 21. Ranieri has the tough job of keeping them afloat in the Premiership.

Ranieri arrives at Vicarage Road with the experience of managing top sides like Atletico Madrid and Valencia in La Liga, Juventus, Inter Milan and Roma in the Serie A. His last job was a two-year stint at Sampdoria.

The Italian’s first match with Watford comes up on the 16th of October in a home clash against second-placed Liverpool.

Watford have now built a reputation of sacking managers, and the odds even say Ranieri might not make it past the end of this season. We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out.