Javi Gracia

Gracia led Watford to the second FA Cup final in their history in 2019, but was sacked later the same year.

In the 2018–19 campaign, Gracia again coached the team to domestic league safety, also taking them to the final of the FA Cup for the first time in 35 years, and for only the second time in the club's history. He was sacked on 7 September 2019, after a poor start to the season saw them bottom with just one point.

He played in 430 matches in both major levels of Spanish football combined, during a 15-year professional career. After retiring he began working as a manager, going on to coach several clubs in Spain, Greece and Russia before being appointed at Watford in January 2018.

On 21 January 2018, Gracia was named the new head coach of Premier League club Watford on an 18-month contract following the dismissal of Marco Silva. His first game in charge took place six days later, in a 0–1 away loss against Southampton for the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Before the start of the 2016–17 season, Gracia joined FC Rubin Kazan. After only achieving a ninth-place finish in the Russian Premier League, he left the club by mutual consent.

On 30 May 2014, Gracia was named the new manager of Málaga CF. During his two-year tenure, he led the team to the ninth and eighth position, respectively.

After one year in Greece, Gracia returned to his country, leading UD Almería back to the top flight in 2013 but leaving in June after failing to agree new terms. On 4 September of that year he was appointed at CA Osasuna, replacing fired José Luis Mendilibar.

In 2008–09, still in division three, Gracia finally achieved promotion, now with Cádiz CF, but he was fired midway through the following season as the Andalusians were immediately relegated back. In the 2010–11 campaign, with Villarreal's reserves, he managed to avert a drop also in the second tier.

In February 2003, after being scarcely played in his last one and a half seasons at Villarreal, the 32-year-old Gracia joined Córdoba CF in the second level, closing out his career in June of the following year. He appeared in 229 Spanish top division games over the course of nine seasons, netting 17 goals.

Gracia spent the following six seasons in the top flight, appearing regularly for both Real Valladolid and Real Sociedad until his last year (15 matches, one goal). In 1999, he returned to the Segunda División and signed for Villarreal CF, helping the Valencian club get promoted to the top division after one year and being regularly used in the following campaign – 1,765 minutes of action – as the team maintained their division status.

Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Gracia started playing professionally with Bilbao Athletic, Athletic Bilbao's reserves, never appearing officially for the first team during three years. In the 1992–93 campaign, he scored a career-best 12 goals in all 38 games as UE Lleida returned to La Liga after an absence of more than 40 years, as champions.

Javier "Javi" Gracia Carlos (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxaβi ˈɣɾaθja] ; born 1 May 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and a current manager.