Troy Deeney has come in for some heavy criticism in recent days, with the former Watford striker hammered for his comments he made about one of his players in his role as manager at Forest Green.
The 35-year old has been in charge of the League Two club since December, having joined at the start of the season as a player-coach. However, the team have failed to win any of the six games he has taken charge of since then and currently sit bottom of the English fourth tier.
They would lose once again over the weekend, falling to a 2-0 defeat at home to Harrogate Town. In the aftermath of that game, Deeney would take the rather unorthodox move of berating right back Fankaty Dabo when speaking to the media.
Seen a fair few people share the transcript of what Troy Deeney said about Dabo, here's the audio for those interested - sounds even harsher hearing it. You're meant to support your players, not publicly shame them. What happened to the importance of mental health @T_Deeney?? pic.twitter.com/dW9wOnVAvU
— Debajyoti Choudhury (@TDC1991) January 14, 2024
Dabo was poor and awful again. I just told him, he won't be playing on Tuesday...
He's not been good enough for five, six, seven, eight, nine weeks, why do you think he was dropped at the start? This is the point.
I just told him in front of everyone. Six months ago that kid had a kick to go to the Premier League, now he wouldn't get a game in the National League. Is that me or him? It's a simple question.
He's faster than everybody, purely on ability. But he gets ran every game and never makes a tackle. Anytime the ball comes to him, he looks like he kicks it with his shin pads.
Those comments have not gone down well in many quarters, including among some of the more experienced managers in the game.
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Martin O'Neill calls out Troy Deeney for crazy comments
Martin O'Neill has a huge amount of experience in top level management and he could hardly believe the comments that he heard from Troy Deeney over the weekend.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said that this was the worst possible approach a manager could take in trying to get the best out of his players.
“Absolutely not the public!” 😡❌
“I think it was pretty poor. Your job is to try and improve this player. You’ll lose respect!”
Martin O’Neill slams Troy Deeney for savagely calling out Fankaty Dabo in his interview. 😱 pic.twitter.com/xNgVnAZL1Z— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) January 15, 2024
He can say what he wants to him in the dressing room if the player can take it and the other players are listening and he makes his point, but not to the public.
He said 'I told him', you haven't just told him, you've told us all about what he hasn't done in the last eight or nine weeks, although seemingly you've still continued to pick him in some of these matches that he hasn't performed well in.
I think it was pretty poor...
I would have made it a policy that what I said to the players in the dressing would stay in the dressing room, if that's the case. It's the only way.
You will lose a lot of respect for coming out and criticising some player. That player may be able to handle it, he may not be at all. Your job is to try and improve this player, you're certainly not going to improve him if you're publicly hammering him.
Troy Deeney is clearly already feeling the pressures of management, with the Englishman lashing out at his players as he struggles to improve results on the pitch.
If he is to have a career in management, he needs to radically change his approach in handling his players.
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