Watford Manager Set To Leave The Club At The End Of The Season
QUIQUE: #watfordfc Head Coach thanks the fans & says he’s looking forward to Sunday’s final game of the season.https://t.co/G10RuhVjG1
— Watford FC (@WatfordFC) May 13, 2016
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores will leave the club after Sunday’s final Premier League match of the season against Sunderland.
Quique Sanchez Flores succeeded Slavisa Jokanovic as the Watford manager in June 2015, following their promotion to the Premier League. He experienced a bright start to his Watford career, and not only did he steer the Hornets clear of relegation zone, but also led them to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, wherein his side defeated Arsenal before getting knocked out due to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace at Wembley last month.
Flores was also named the Premier League Manager of the Month in December, but the beginning of 2016 turned his fortunes for the worse as Watford saw a huge dip in their league form, winning only 4 games out of 18 in the second half of the season.
Watford officially announced the news of parting ways with the 51-year-old earlier today on twitter:
STATEMENT: #watfordfc confirms Quique Sanchez Flores will leave after the end of the season.
More to follow.— Watford FC (@WatfordFC) May 13, 2016
They also posted the following statement on the club’s official website: “Watford Football Club can confirm that Quique Sanchez Flores will leave Vicarage Road at the end of the season following the Sunderland game this weekend.
“We would like to thank Quique. He and the team achieved the target set them at the start of the season of staying in the Premier League for a second year.
“Quique leaves with all our best wishes for the future and the knowledge he is always welcome at Vicarage Road.”
Flores spoke at the pre-match news conference shortly after the announcement, in which he explained the reason behind the parting of ways between him and the club.
“Yesterday we had a meeting with the club to make a resume of the season and after that I confirmed that the club and me don’t have the same point of view about the season. So we don’t have the necessary conditions to renew the contract. My contact finishes in June and then I will leave Watford. This is the consequence,” he said.
“I’m very grateful to the players. They made an amazing effort. There was amazing behaviour and feeling with the fans. I felt completely happy with this year.
“I enjoyed this experience. We have a lot of reasons to be happy because we enjoyed this amazing journey. There are a lot of good memories of this season. It will be really, really emotional – really special in the last moment, on the last day with the Watford fans.”
The former Valencia, Benfica and Atletico Madrid boss was also asked whether or not he’d like to continue his managerial career in England, to which he replied: “I don’t rule out anything. I would be happy to stay in England. We will see.”
