Beppe Sannino walks out on Watford after growing tired of club infighting

Sannino leaves with Watford second in the table after a 4-2 win over Huddersfield

Beppe Sannino’s time at Watford had been dogged by rumours of unrest in the dressing room (Getty)

Beppe Sannino last night became the third managerial casualty of the new season in the Championship as he resigned at Watford after just nine months in charge.

Unlike Mark Robins and David Hockaday at Huddersfield and Leeds respectively, Sannino was not responsible for a struggling side but leaves with Watford second in the table after a 4-2 win over Huddersfield with just 10 men 24 hours earlier. However, the Italian had been dogged by rumours of dressing-room unrest at Vicarage Road and decided he had gone “as far as I can” in the job.

“I took over a very talented squad when I arrived – but they were boys in many ways,” Sannino said. “I’m proud of what we have achieved and I have no doubt that the squad now, who look very much like men who know exactly what they must do, are very capable of getting promotion.

“However I feel I have gone as far as I can so, for the benefit of me and the club, I feel the time is right for me to move on.”

Under the ownership of the Pozzo family since 2012, Watford have had successive Italian managers, first Gianfranco Zola, who took them to the Championship play-off final last year but left in December, and then Sannino.

Fulham, who picked up their first point of the season with a 1-1 draw against Cardiff, have offloaded their expensive misfit Kostas Mitroglou back to his former club Olympiakos on loan after the £12.4m striker failed to save them from relegation last season.

Ipswich got a 1-1 draw at Derby without striker David McGoldrick, who is mulling over an £8m move to Leicester. “A Premier League club comes in for you and you can go back home and live in your own house, with more money, it would distract me as well,” said manager Mick McCarthy.