Watford announced the appointment of former boss Quique Sanchez Flores following the sacking of head coach Javi Gracia just four games into the season, the Premier League club announced on Saturday, with the Hornets sitting bottom of the table after a miserable start.
“Watford Football Club confirms the departure of Head Coach Javi Gracia,” Watford said in a statement, adding that the appointment of a new coaching team was “imminent”.
Flores returns to Vicarage Road, having guided Watford to a comfortable mid-table finish during the 2015/16 campaign – the club’s first season back in the Premier League.
He also led Watford to the semi-finals of the FA Cup during his year at the helm.
After leaving England, Sánchez Flores took Espanyol to an eighth-place finish in La Liga and also had a spell in China with Shanghai Shenhua.
Meanwhile, Garcia had been a popular figure at Vicarage Road – guiding the club to 11th in the Premier League and a first FA Cup final for 35 years last season.
However, his team were blown away 6-0 by Manchester City at the Wembley final, and the 32-year-old has paid the price for picking up just one point from the first four league games of the new campaign.