Ighalo Happy To Score For Watford Against Lorient In Pre-Season Friendly

Super Eagles striker, Odion Jude Ighalo was delighted to find the net as the Hornets closed out their pre-season schedule with a 2-2 draw at home to FC Lorient.

Speaking to watfordfc.com after full-time, Ighalo who scored for the Hornet’s in the 58th minute said: “As a striker, goals breed confidence, and I always try to give my best. “I’m happy to score, but most importantly it’s about the team performance. We have new players and we are still trying to understand what the manager wants. We’ve put in enough work over pre-season, with new tactics. We can’t wait for the season to get started now so we can get moving.”

Also, former youth international and Ighalo’s compatriot, Isaac Success came on in the 27th minute for Craig Cathcart, and got substituted again in the 74th minute for Jerome Sinclair.

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Watford Reject Shanghai SIPG's £38m Bid For Odion Ighalo

Watford Reject Shanghai SIPG's £38m Bid For Odion Ighalo

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Odion Ighalo gets new coach at Watford

The 54-year-old Italian who has been out of job since leaving Inter Milan in 2014 has spent parts of the last past two years in England, learning English. 

He has been confirmed as the new manager to replace Quique Sánchez Flores who departed Vicarage Road at the end of the 2015/2016 season after leading the Hornets to a 13th place finish at the just concluded 2015/2016 season. A statement on Watford's (@WatfordFC) twitter handle reads;

OFFICIAL: #watfordfc confirms it has reached agreement with Walter Mazzarri to become Head Coach from 1st July 2016. pic.twitter.com/ExNAAxYnHK

— Watford FC (@WatfordFC) May 21, 2016

 Mazzarri who is to resume his new position from July 1st has a rich coaching experience already with four years at Napoli, where Valon Behrami and Miguel Britos, now at Watford, played for him.  Also he had spells at Pistoiese, Livorno, Reggina and Sampdoria. His preferred formation is the 3-5-2 system.  

He will be the fourth Italian coach in the English Premier League next season, joining Claudio Ranieri (Leicester City), Antonio Conte (Chelsea) and Francesco Guidolin (Swansea).

Expect to see a dramatic coach when the season begins as we present you pictures of some of his touchline antics and celebrations below.

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Odion Ighalo wants to play against Aston Villa to pay tribute to late father

Odion Ighalo has told boss Quique Flores he wants to play for Watford on Saturday to pay his own tribute to his late father.

The Nigerian, 26 did not fly back home after the death of dad Paul in his sleep in the early hours of Monday.

Ighalo’s heartbreak came only a day after his side had lost to Crystal in the FA Cup semi-final but he has agreed to stay with Watford and will be included against Aston Villa.

‘I asked Ighalo what the mood is for this week,’ said Flores. ‘He wanted to stay here training and at the end of the season he wants to go to Lagos to see his family.

‘His father passed away. He is sad but focused on the game.

‘I said do you want to train and do you want to be here? He said “yes I want to be here and I want to train. At the end of the season I want to go to Lagos but now I want to be here.”

‘He wants to dedicate the match for his father.’

Flores paid tribute to his 16-goal top scorer although the striker has only scored once since January.

‘This is the kind of player who doesn’t need extra motivation,’ he said. ‘He is an amazing player, scoring goals for us at the start of the season.

‘He is always very clever, very positive so the only thing I can say about Ighalo is amazing work.’

Watford are not yet safe but Flores is confident his side can assure their Premier League status despite being concerned with the match against Villa at Vicarage Road.

‘The difference between Aston Villa and Watford isn’t too much,’ he said. ‘They are in the relegation zone and we are in a good position but they have very good players who are in the bad moment.

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Watford picks five of Ighalo goals for goal of the season

Odion Ighalo has seen five of his 14 Premier League goals nominated for the Watford 'Goal of the Season'.

His goals against Everton, Newcastle United, West Ham United, Norwich City and Liverpool have all been put alongside some goals scored by his teammates during the course of the season.

The 26-year old has had an impressive debut season in the Premier League, with his 14 goals making him the Hornets leading goal scorer so far.

It followed his impressive campaign in the English Championship last season, where he scored 20 goals to help propel them back to the Premier League.

However, he has hit a lean spell in front of goal in recent games, as he is yet to score in his last 11 Premier League games.

Meanwhile, the former Granada of Spain striker is also expected to have a busy summer as he has been included in Nigeria’s provisional list as one of the over-aged players to the Olympic Games.

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EPL Preview: Watford v Stoke City

The statistics suggest there are unlikely to be many goals when Watford welcome Stoke City to Vicarage Road in the Premier League on Saturday.

Team news

Watford striker Odion Ighalo, who has a muscle problem, is one of “three or four” players set to undergo late fitness tests, according to Quique Sanchez Flores. Miguel Britos and Joel Ekstrand definitely miss out.

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