Birmingham City never got what Watford did with Gianfranco Zola: View | OneFootball

Despite Gianfranco Zola's success at Watford, the Italian manager was never able to replicate his achievements at Birmingham City.

There is no doubt that Gianfranco Zola was one of the Premier League's greatest imports, but as a manager he faced mixed fortunes during his spells at Watford and Birmingham City respectively.

The path from player to manager is never a straightforward one and while some find the swap seamless, others struggle.

In 2018, Zola was given the prestigious job as manager of West Ham United, but he lasted less than two years.

Following a successful spell at Watford, the Italian was given the opportunity to manage Birmingham, but after what was a torrid spell in the West Midlands, the former player called time on his nine-year managerial career.

Zola's reign at Watford had sting in tail

When Zola was appointed as Watford manager in July 2012, the club had finished in a comfortable mid-table position the season before under his predecessor Sean Dyche.

Shortly before Zola was appointed, the Championship club had been taken over by Udinese and Granada owners, the Pozzo family. The Italian family acquired the club from Laurence Bassini, who had only purchased the club himself 15 months prior.

Little did he know, but Zola was to be the first of 15 managerial changes in ten years under the Pozzo regime, as per Express & Star. After Javi Gracia, the Italian was the Hornets' longest-serving manager between 2012 and 2022.

During his first season at Vicarage Road, the Italian was a roaring success and guided the club to a third place finish. Indeed, the 79 points acquired by the Hornets were just two short of Hull City's 79, who finished in 2nd.

Watford's play-off route was as chaotic as Pozzo's reign. Having lost the first leg of their semi-final match away to Leicester City, the Hornets turned the tie on its head in dramatic fashion.

With Zola's men leading the game 2-1, the game was set to go to extra time, but in the 90th minute, Leicester were awarded a penalty. Anthony Knockaert had his spot kick dramatically saved by Manuel Almunia before Watford went straight up the other end and scored through Troy Deeney to send Watford through to the final.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, they fell short at the final hurdle and lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace after extra time. As is so often the case in football, Kevin Phillips came back to haunt his former club with a 105th-minute winner from the spot.

The following season, Zola was given his marching orders in December, following a run of nine games without a win; he departed with the club in 13th place.

Zola embarked on two more managerial jobs at Cagliari Calcio and Al-Arabi SC before being appointed as Birmingham manager in December 2016.

Having secured a play-off spot with Watford with a points-per-game average of 1.52, the Blues were hopeful that the Italian could work the same magic at St Andrew's.

Birmingham were having a promising season before Gary Rowett was sacked and the West Midlands club were perfectly poised in seventh place. Surely, when Zola took over, the minimum expectation would have been the play-offs.

However, the Blues plummeted down the table at light speed, as the Italian won just two of his 24 matches in charge. After only four months in charge, Zola resigned from his post as Blues boss following a 2-0 defeat by Burton Albion, leaving the club in 20th.

Following his dismissal, he took a break from football before returning to Chelsea as assistant manager in 2018.

Zola enjoyed a successful spell at Watford, where he guided them to a third place finish in the Championship, before suffering an extra-time defeat in the Championship play-off final at the hands of Palace.

Following two short spells at Cagliari and Al-Arabi, the Italian was given the Birmingham job, but his time at St Andrews was disastrous, with the club plummeting from seventh to 20th in the space of four months.