Watford have confirmed that Valerien Ismael has been appointed as the club's new head coach.
Having suffered relegation from the Premier League in 2021-22, the Hornets had ambitions to secure an immediate return to the top flight through promotion from the Championship.
Instead, Watford endured a turbulent campaign, going through three head coaches in Rob Edwards, Slaven Bilic and Chris Wilder, the latter on a short-term contract until the end of the season.
To Wilder's credit, he ended the season by collecting four points from matches with Sunderland and Stoke City to ensure that the Hertfordshire-based outfit finished in 11th position in the table.
Nevertheless, the decision had already been made to not hand him an extension to his terms, Watford instead choosing to bring in Ismael.
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The 47-year-old is best known in English football for his time at Barnsley as he guided the second-tier minnows to the Championship playoffs in 2020-21 against the odds.
Since then, however, Ismael has endured underwhelming spells with West Bromwich Albion and Besiktas, his stint with the Turkish giants lasting just 19 games.
Despite taking on his fifth role since May 2019, Ismael's stock remains relatively high, and he is now tasked with transforming Watford in what is expected to be somewhat of a transitional period for the club over the summer.
Speaking to the club's official website, technical director Ben Manga said: "Being able to appoint a new coach so soon in May means we can prepare very well together for next season.
"To be able to welcome someone of Valerien's experience to Watford is good news for our club. We are all looking forward to working with him."
Ismael has a strong record at Championship level, accumulating a combined total of 119 points from his 68 matches with the Tykes and Baggies, and that ratio would have been enough to earn Watford a top-four finish during 2022-23.
Darren Plant
