At the start of current Premier League season, there were four Italian coaches plying their trade in the competition.

Francesco Guidolin, however, soon became the first managerial casualty in the English top flight in the wake of Swansea City’s poor run of results.

The former Udinese trainer was sacked on October 3 (his 61st birthday) at a time when the Welsh side had already lost five of their first seven matches. Overall, Guidolin’s stint with Swansea lasted less than nine months.

Up to a month ago, there were rumours that former Italy national team coach Antonio Conte could also be sacked by big-spenders Chelsea following defeats to fellow title contenders Liverpool and Arsenal.

Last summer, Conte became the fifth Italian coach to take over at Stamford Bridge in the last two decades, following in the footsteps of Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo who led Chelsea to their only Champions League triumph in 2012.

Fast forward five weeks and Chelsea are back in real business following five victories from their last five league outings, scoring no fewer than 16 goals and conceding none in the process.

Conte’s team have suddenly emerged among the main challengers for the ultimate accolade that English football offers.

At present, they are second in the standings, one point behind Juergen Klopp’s free-scoring Liverpool side.

It seems that after an initial transitional phase, Conte has found an ideal 3-4-3 playing module which has rejuvenated players like Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, both star players among the biggest underperformers in Chelsea’s 10th-place finish last season.

The fact that Chelsea do not have any European commitments this year, makes them more and more favourites to claim their sixth Premier League success.

If Conte, formerly of Atalanta and Juventus, was to lead Chelsea to the title, he would become the second Italian coach in the club’s 111-year history to achieve the feat following the double attained in season 2009/10 under Ancelotti.

Other Italian coaches to claim the ultimate prize in England were Roberto Mancini (Manchester City) and Claudio Ranieri (Leicester City).

Mazzarri’s task

Watford, under the guide of former Napoli and Inter mentor Walter Mazzarri, currently sit in a trouble-free eighth place with 15 points from 11 games.

Watford, owned by the Pozzo family, are coming from a 6-1 battering at the hands of in-form Liverpool. Still, the Hornets were good enough to beat Manchester United 3-1 on September 18 as they seem to have enough quality within their ranks to extend their stay in the Premier League by another year.

The same cannot be said of Ranieri’s Leicester. The Foxes are currently 14th and just two points above the relegation zone.

In their title-winning season, the Foxes only lost three times but so far they have already conceded five defeats from 11 matches.

Leicester are a true Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde combination as they’ve found solace for their poor showings on the domestic scene by claiming 10 points from four Champions League Group G matches to practically make sure of their place in the last 16 of the tournament for elite teams on the continent.

Last season, Leicester did an impossible job to defy 5,000-to-1 odds and claim the first ever Premier League title in the club’s 132-year history. No-one can really figure the picture if they were to make more inroads in Europe but, at the same time, get relegated to the Championship next year.

In the meantime, two other Italian coaches have already lost their jobs in the Championship.

Walter Zenga was appointed by Wolverhampton Wanderers’ new Chinese owners as their head coach in July.

However, the ex-Catania and Palermo mentor lasted less than three months in charge as he was shown the backdoor late last month after managing just four wins in Wolves’ first 14 outings.

In summer, Di Matteo got the manager’s job at fallen giants Aston Villa with a view to helping them win immediate promotion to the Premier League.

However, Di Matteo’s reign at Villa Park came to an abrupt end after 12 games.

He was sacked on the same day that Guidolin was fired by Swansea, following Villa’s 0-2 defeat to Preston North End leaving the former European champions anchored in the drop zone of the standings.

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