Mansfield Town Watkiss remained at
Mansfield Town as youth team coach taking over from
Tony Ford, producing at least ten players who progressed into the first team during his three years in charge of the club's youth set-up. Speculation mounted that Watkiss would step up to assistant manager. Watkiss told the press
"I do feel that the job would be a natural progression for me. A lot of the lads who have come up through the club were with me and I would like the chance to work with them again." A few of weeks later, the club's official website revealed that ''"the worst kept secret in the club's history had been confirmed"'', and Watkiss was promoted to assistant manager. Due to his promotion success, he was then rewarded a three-year contract, but
Mansfield struggled in the
2002–03 season and by December 2002, following a 4–2 defeat away to
Port Vale, the Stags were bottom of
Division Two, Watkiss and assistant
Neil Richardson were sacked after a meeting with Mansfield chairman
Keith Haslam on the following Monday.
Kidderminster Harriers Watkiss became academy manager at Barnsley in September 2004, before his next port of call to manage
Kidderminster Harriers an 18-month contract between 2004 and 2006.
Grimsby Town Following his dismissal he became Assistant Manager to
Graham Rodger at
Grimsby Town, and took over team affairs briefly in November 2006 following the sacking of Rodger, but he was overlooked for the job, which was given to
Alan Buckley instead. Watkiss continued in his role as Assistant Manager for the 2006–07 and 2007–08 campaigns, signing a new one-year contract in June 2007, he said ''"I'm absolutely delighted to be staying and I can't wait for the season to begin, I've learned so much from Alan in such a short time and I have really enjoyed working with him."'' He was once again given the role of Caretaker Manager Grimsby appointed
Mike Newell in October 2008 and Watkiss re-took his former position as Assistant Manager. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Watkiss was relieved of his duties at the club, and replaced by the club's Chief Scout,
Brian Stein.
Hull City He was appointed as Development Coach by
Phil Brown at
Hull City in July 2009. Subsequent to the appointment of
Steve Bruce as team manager, on 8 June 2012, Watkiss and fellow first team coach
Steve Wigley left the club.
Stockport County On 28 January 2013 Watkiss was appointed assistant manager of
Stockport County on an initial three-month deal, working under
Darije Kalezić.
Return to Grimsby Town On 11 September 2013 Watkiss rejoined
Grimsby Town as the club's new youth team manager following the resignation of Adam Smith.
Bharat FC On 4 November 2014 it was announced that Watkiss would become the first ever head coach of the
Bharat FC for the
2014–15 season.
Third spell with Grimsby On 26 October 2016 Watkiss returned to Grimsby on a temporary basis as joint caretaker manager with
Dave Moore. Watkiss and Moore oversaw the club's 0–0 draw with
Yeovil Town and 1-0
FA Cup defeat to
Bolton Wanderers. In January 2017 Watkiss signed for the club on a permanent basis as a Development Coach.
Naxxar Lions In September 2017 Watkiss was appointed manager of
Maltese Premier League side
Naxxar Lions in
Malta. He resigned for personal reasons from the position in November 2017.
Bangladesh In 2018, Watkiss was appointed assistant coach of the
Bangladesh national football team under
Jamie Day.
Jamshedpur In July 2022, Watkiss moved to
Indian Super League club
Jamshedpur as an assistant to head coach
Aidy Boothroyd.
Eastbourne Borough In January 2024, Watkiss returned to coach in England, being appointed assistant manager to
Adam Murray at
National League South club
Eastbourne Borough. Watkiss left Eastbourne in November 2024, in order to spend more time with his family. ==Managerial statistics==