Watford have sacked Javi Gracia after four games of the Premier League season and rehired Quique Sánchez Flores as his replacement.

The club decided to act during the international break having collected just one point so far, scoring twice. They have not won in eight league matches – scoring five goals in that period – stretching back to April.

There were only 30 minutes between the announcement of Gracia’s exit and the appointment of Flores, who previously held the role of head coach in the 2015-16 season.

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It is a dramatic downfall for Gracia, who led the club to 11th in the Premier League last season, as well as to the FA Cup final. The Spaniard replaced Marco Silva at Vicarage Road at the start of 2018, originally signing an 18-month contract. Early success, though, led to an improved four-and-a-half-year contract, which would have taken him to the summer of 2023.

Last month’s draw against Newcastle was their first and only point of the season, having lost the previous three games against Brighton, Everton and West Ham – a disappointing return after some significant summer spending, which included a club record £27m deal for the Rennes winger Ismaïla Sarr.

Watford’s chief executive, Scott Duxbury, said: “Javi has represented Watford with great dignity and will always be deserving of our fullest respect for his achievements.”

Speaking before Watford’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle on 30 August, Gracia had backed himself to turn the side’s form around, having overcome a similar situation with Málaga four years ago.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Watford are bottom of the Premier League table, with one point from their first four games. Photograph: Christopher Lee/Getty Images

“I think we went six games at Málaga without scoring. But we improved and finished in eighth. If you are winning, you only need time to see when you are going to lose – and when you are losing, you only need time to see when you win. We want to win as soon as possible, and we need to. I did it in the past, and now I want to do the same again.”

When Watford let Flores go in May 2016 after a season in which they finished a creditable 13th and reached an FA Cup semi-final, the club faced a backlash from fans and pundits. Slaven Bilic slammed the move as “completely wrong”, “sick” and “nonsense”, while Ray Wilkins described Watford’s season as “a remarkable achievement … What more do people want? He’s been a breath of fresh air.”

Flores also suggested at the time that he was confused by the decision, saying: “The club and me don’t have the same point of view about the season. We don’t have the necessary conditions to activate the clause to renew my contract so I will leave Watford as a consequence. But I felt completely happy with this year. I have enjoyed this experience.”

The 54-year-old has coached across the world, including spells in Portugal and Saudi Arabia, and led Atlético Madrid to Europa League success in 2009-10. His most recent role was with China’s Shanghai Shenhua, who he joined on Christmas Day 2018, but left after six months with the club one point above the relegation zone.

Gracia’s backroom staff will also be leaving the club, it was confirmed, with Sánchez Flores expected to bring in his own coaching team.

The move is Watford’s 11th managerial change in just over eight years. Since the departure of Sean Dyche in July 2012 they have gone through Gianfranco Zola, Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia, Billy McKinlay (on a caretaker basis), Slavisa Jokanovic, Sánchez Flores, Walter Mazzarri, Marco Silva and now Gracia.