Premier League English

Former Valencia winger Xisco could be Watford’s new boss in the next 48 hours after the sacking of Vladimir Ivic

Former Valencia winger Xisco has been tipped to be the leading candidate to replace sacked Vladimir Ivic as the new Watford manager.

This development could well happen within the next 48 hours as Xisco has apparently been in talks to take the vacancy at Vicarage Road, with the 40-year-old former winger ready to stand down as Dinamo Tbilisi boss to take the Watford job.

Ivic was given the axe on Saturday night – amid tensions with captain Troy Deeney, who was dropped for the loss against Huddersfield – with the former coach saying in his post-match press conference that the reason Deeney was not introduced off the bench was due to ‘disciplinary issues’.

However Sportsmail reports that assertions of any misbehavior from club captain Deeney has frustrated club officials, who are now considering publicly backing their star striker instead.