Watford staff profiles
Pen pics of Watford's coaching, science, medicine and analytics staff. To see staff profiles for other clubs, click here.
FOOTBALL EXECUTIVES
CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Scott Duxbury
Nationality: English
Qualified as a lawyer and worked in that capacity for West Ham before becoming their chief executive. His time at Upton Park was controversial though, with the club fined £30m because of the Carlos Tevez affair, and he left in 2010 when David Gold and David Sullivan took over. Has been at Watford since 2012, when the Pozzo family took over, and is a key figure on both the football and business sides of the club.
SPORTING DIRECTOR
Cristiano Giaretta
Nationality: Italian
Appointed in August 2020. Knows the Pozzos well from his time as Sporting Director at Udinese. Was credited with discovering a young Bruno Fernandes when he was at Novara in Serie B in 2012.
COACHING
HEAD COACH
Claudio Ranieri
Nationality: Italian
Well known to English fans, having led Chelsea to second place in the Premier League and the Champions League semi-finals and, most famously of all, Leicester to the title in 2016. This is his fifth decade as a manager, having started out with Vigor Lamezia in 1986.
ASSISTANT
Paolo Benetti
Nationality: Italian
Has worked with Ranieri since 2007 - a run taking in 11 teams. Was part of the staff that won the Premier League with Leicester in 2016.
ASSISTANT
Carlo Cornacchia
Nationality: Italian
Played under Ranieri at Cagliari and Napoli. Joined him as his assistant at Nantes in 2017 and has been with him ever since, at Fulham, Roma, Sampdoria and now Watford.
GOALKEEPER COACH
Antonello Brambilla
Nationality: Italian
Joined Watford from Cagliari in September 2020, when Vladimir Ivic was manager. Became first-team goalkeeper coach, replacing Christos Kelpekis, when Muñoz was appointed.
SCIENCE & MEDICAL
HEAD OF MEDICAL
Dr Ian Hamilton
Nationality: English
Promoted to this new role in 2016.
HEAD OF PERFORMANCE
Jordi Garcia
Nationality: Spanish
Highly experienced, having worked for the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona in his homeland and then for some of the biggest clubs in China and the Middle East. Joined in June 2021 from Shabab Al Ahli, where he was Head of Performance.
FITNESS COACH
Carlo Spignoli
Nationality: Italian
Ranieri took him to Monaco in 2012 and Spignoli stayed there (even after the boss had been sacked) for a total of seven years. Rejoined him at Sampdoria in October 2019.
SPORTS SCIENTIST
Lee Stafford
Nationality: English
Joined the club as an intern in October 2015. Went full time with the U21s in July 2016 and promoted to the first team in July 2018.
S&C COACH
Jorge Abella
Nationality: Spanish
Also arrived with Muñoz in December 2020, having worked with him at Dinamo Tbilisi.
PHYSIO
Daniel Simm
Nationality: English
Was U23 physio for a year before becoming Head of Medical at Peterborough in June 2018. That role only lasted five months, before Simm returned to Watford as first-team physio in October 2018.
ANALYSTS
HEAD OF ANALYSIS & TALENT ID
Miguel Rios
Nationality: English
Joined from Opta Pro, where he was Head of Football, in August 2020. Highly experienced, having held senior recruitment roles with Fulham, Wolves and Brentford.
LEAD FIRST TEAM ANALYST
Woody Dewar
Nationality: English
Worked for Tottenham for three-and-a-half years, latterly as Head of Academy Analysis, before joining Watford in June 2021.
TACTICAL ANALYST
Miguel MUÑOZ
Nationality: Spanish
Brother of the Head Coach and also arrived at the club in December 2020, having previously spent a season with Valencia in La Liga.
