Troy Deeney was dismissed from his position as manager of Forest Green Rovers after only six matches, a mere 29 days into his tenure. This was Deeney’s first experience as a manager and he faced backlash for publicly criticizing his players after their loss to Harrogate at home last Saturday.
The ex-Watford forward became a player-coach for Forest Green in League Two during the summer. He was later promoted to manager after the club’s owner, Dale Vince, fired David Horseman, the former assistant coach for Southampton who was also given his first opportunity as a senior manager.
Deeney received a four-game suspension from the Football Association on Thursday for using language that was deemed “improper and/or abusive and/or insulting and/or threatening” during his second game as manager against Swindon Town. This resulted in him being sent off.
Following their loss to Harrogate, Deeney, who was in his final game as manager before their scheduled match against Mansfield was cancelled earlier in the week, criticized his team. He stated that he would prefer to watch Antiques Roadshow rather than his own side. During his six league matches as manager, Deeney experienced three losses and three draws.
Deeney had accused Forest Green’s players of being “inmates running the jail” and said there were “too many babies top to bottom”. He hit out at Reece Brown for being late and Fankaty Dabo not being good enough “for five, six, seven, eight nine weeks”. Deeney added: “I have just told him in front of everyone – six months ago that kid had a kick to go to the Premier League. Now he won’t get a game in the National League.
This individual possesses exceptional speed but consistently gets outrun in every game. They rarely make tackles and when they do receive the ball, their kicks appear clumsy. This is the truth of the matter.
Following their loss to Harrogate, Deeney expressed to BBC Radio Gloucestershire, “We have yet to reach rock bottom, and that’s concerning.”
According to Vince, who purchased Forest Green in 2010, Deeney’s method of addressing his players was incorrect. Vince believes that this approach is not effective in uniting and coaching a team.
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Dan Connor, the coach responsible for training the club’s goalkeepers for a long period of time, is likely to temporarily take over as the head coach. On Saturday, Forest Green, a team struggling to avoid being demoted for the second time in a row, will be playing against Gillingham.
Vince stated that it was a difficult decision to remove Deeney from his role, but it was done in order to give FGR the greatest opportunity to achieve better results and move up in the league standings. He also wished Troy success in his future endeavors and expressed gratitude for his contributions.
Source: theguardian.com
