Watford closing in on ex-West Brom and Barnsley manager to replace Chris Wilder | OneFootball

Watford are closing in on Chris Wilder's replacement as head coach as they are in advanced talks with Valerien Ismael, according to The Athletic.

The Frenchman has experience of English football with both Barnsley and West Bromwich Albion and was most recently in charge at Besiktas in Turkey, but has been out of work since October 2022.

It was revealed last week that Wilder would leave Vicarage Road when his short-term contract ended following the club's final match of the 2022-23 season on Monday, which they won 2-0 against Stoke City.

And he is now set to be replaced by Ismael if the two parties can finalise terms in the near future, with the report claiming that talks started late last week to try and bring the 47-year-old to the Hornets.

What is Valerien Ismael's managerial record like?

Following his 16-year playing career which saw him win the Bundesliga twice with Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich, Ismael became the manager of Hannover's reserve team in 2011 before heading to Wolfsburg to take charge of their 'II' team in 2013.

His first experience of either a top or second-tier league though came in 2014 when appointed at Nurnberg of the 2. Bundesliga, but after winning just four of his first 14 matches as manager, he was sacked after just five months in the job.

After returning to Wolfsburg to take charge of their second team once again, Ismael was given a chance in the Bundesliga with their senior side in 2016, but only lasted four months and 17 matches before being axed.

Next was a brief stint with Greek outfit Apollon Smyrnis, which only lasted one match after disagreements with the club hierarchy, but his career really started to take off on an upward trajectory once again at LASK of Austria.

Ismael had a 62 per cent win record there with 32 wins out of 50 matches managed, yet he departed in the summer of 2020 despite his good results - some months later though he would succeed Gerhard Struber at Barnsley and in less than a season he took the Tykes from relegation candidates to the top six of the Championship.

Ultimately they fell short against Swansea City but Ismael's good work did not go unnoticed as he was snapped up by Barnsley's Championship rivals West Brom - things did not pan out though at The Hawthorns as after just 12 wins from 31 matches he was sacked in February of last year.

In his most recent managerial spell at Besiktas, Ismael managed 19 matches but left at the end of October with eight wins to his name in that time.

Will Valerien Ismael be a good fit for Watford?

It's hard to say if Ismael will do better than the likes of Bilic and Rob Edwards earlier on in the 2022-23 season, but what we know from his time in England previously is that he has employed a pretty direct style of football.

If that is still is modus operandi then it might not be pretty viewing at Vicarage Road next season, but it got results in his singular campaign with Barnsley and supporters will surely take success however it can come.

Watford will have a new-look team you'd imagine though next season with Joao Pedro already confirmed to be leaving and Ismaila Sarr surely on the way out as well - the funds recouped for that duo will surely give Ismael something to play with should he be able to agree terms, and only then will we have a clearer idea of what to expect.