Giuseppe Sannino claims ‘contact’ with Watford FC over manager position

Betting has suspended on Italian coach Giuseppe Sannino taking the reins at Watford FC. Zola stepped down as Hornets boss last night and Sannino appears in pole position to take his place after leaving Serie A side Chievo last month. Speaking to Radio Sportiva, the 57-year-old said: “Me to Watford? I don’t want to say too much, but there has been some contact and soon I will fly to England to analyse things and to understand if something can be born. I always want to be working in the field and I always want new challenges.” Steve Clarke, Ian Holloway, Francesco Guidolin and Paul Clement are among the bookies’ other favourites to succeed Gianfranco Zola as Watford FC manager. PaddyPower has Clarke at 5/1, while SkyBet are giving odds of 7/2. Outspoken Ian Holloway is a surprise pick at 5/1 with Coral, 7/1 with PaddyPower, 8/1 with Stan James and 15/2 with SkyBet. Holloway’s Crystal Palace ended Watford’s dreams of reaching the Premier League in May but the 50-year-old left the club by mutual consent after a poor start to the season. Holloway is an unlikely target for the Pozzos given an outburst in which he labelled Watford’s signing of 11 international loanees “ludicrous”. Current Udinese boss Francesco Guidolin is fancied by several bookies, despite a poor start to the season in Italy. Udinese have lost four of their last six games in Serie A, leaving them just four points ahead of the drop zone. BetVictor have Guidolin at 6/1 to be next Watford manager, while Stan James have odds of 9/1 and both Coral and Sky Bet place Guidolin at 10/1. Up and coming coach Paul Clement has also been linked with Watford in what would be his first spell as a manager. Clement rose from the background at Chelsea to work with Guus Hiddink and then Carlo Ancelotti, the latter then took him to Paris Saint Germain and then Real Madrid as assistant manager. Clement has odds of 8/1 with Stan James and 10/1 with Sky Bet, Coral and BetVictor. Outside picks include Champions League winner Roberto Di Matteo, former Fulham manager Martin Jol and Championship veteran Neil Warnock. Meanwhile Gianfranco Zola has been tipped to be appointed as West Brom manager following the sacking of Steve Clarke. William Hill have the Italian as 2/1 favourite, while William Hill have Zola at 5/2 to take the reins at The Hawthorns. BetVictor also has Zola at 20/1 to take the vacant manager’s position at Tottenham Hotspur.