Javi Gracia
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50%Born
1970 (53 years old)
Birth Place
Pamplona, SpainPosition
Manager
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Free Agent
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1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
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SoccerTeam
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2nd Team
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Javier "Javi" Gracia Carlos (born 1 May 1970) is a Spanish football manager who is currently a free agent. He is also a former player who played as a defensive midfielder.
He played in 430 matches both major levels of Spanish football combined, during a 15-year professional career. After retiring he began working as a manager, going on to coach several clubs in Spain, Greece and Russia before being appointed at Watford in January 2018.
Playing career
Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Gracia started playing professionally with Bilbao Athletic, Athletic Bilbao's reserves, never appearing officially for the first team during three years. In the 1992–93 campaign, he scored a career-best 12 goals in all 38 games as UE Lleida returned to La Liga after an absence of more than 40 years, as champions.
Gracia spent the following six seasons in the top flight, appearing regularly for both Real Valladolid and Real Sociedad safe for his last year (15 matches, one goal). In 1999, he returned to Segunda División and signed for Villarreal CF, helping the Valencian club get promoted to the top division after one year and being regularly used in the following campaign – 1,765 minutes of action – as the team easily maintained their division status.
In February 2003, after being scarcely played in his last one-and-a-half seasons at Villarreal, 32-year-old Gracia joined Córdoba CF in the second level, closing out his career in June of the following year. He appeared in 229 Spanish top division games over the course of nine seasons, netting 17 goals.
Coaching career
After starting his managerial career with former club Villarreal (youth sides), Gracia spent in Segunda División B, with Pontevedra CF, finishing first and second with the team in the regular season, but always falling short in the promotion playoffs.
In 2008–09, still in division three, Gracia finally achieved promotion, now with Cádiz CF, but he was fired midway through the following season as the Andalusians were immediately relegated back. In the 2010–11 campaign, with Villarreal's reserves, he managed to avert a drop also in the second tier.
After one year in Greece, Gracia returned to his country, leading UD Almería back to the top flight in 2013 but leaving in June after failing to agree new terms. On 4 September of that year he was appointed at CA Osasuna, replacing fired José Luis Mendilibar.
On 30 May 2014, Gracia was named the new manager of Málaga CF. During his two-year tenure, he led the team to the ninth and eighth position, respectively.
Before the start of the 2016–17 season, Gracia joined FC Rubin Kazan. After only achieving a ninth-place finish in the Russian Premier League, he left the club by mutual consent.
On 21 January 2018, Gracia was named the new head coach of Premier League club Watford on an 18-month contract following the dismissal of Marco Silva. His first game in charge took place six days later, in a 0–1 away loss against Southampton for the fourth round of the FA Cup.
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