Forest Green Rovers haven't had the best start to this season, languishing at the very bottom of League two. It was for this reason that last month the Gloucestershire side appointed Troy Deeney as the new manager, giving the former Watford striker his first ever job in management. One month, several bad results and a controversial outburst later, Deeney has been handed his P45 by the club.
As a player, we knew Troy Deeney to be an aggressive, bull-like striker, who enjoyed a successful career navigating his way up the football league. Of course, he will always be best remembered for his goal against Leicester City in the 2013 Play-off semi final to send Watford to Wembley. However, while his no-nonsense approach made him successful as a player, it seems as if as a manager, it has had the opposite effect.
Deeney had been a player coach at Forest Green since the start of the season, but was offered the role of top dog following the departure of David Horseman, who left the club by mutual consent. With no previous managerial experience, appointing Deeney was certainly a risky move from the club's board.
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Unfortunately for Rovers' fans, the risk didn't pay off, as they still find themselves bottom of League two, with Deeney only managing three points from six games in charge. A 2-0 defeat to Harrogate at home looked to be the final nail in the coffin and Deeney didn't do himself any favours in his post-match interview.
Following the defeat, Deeney went on a rant about his players, implying that they will never get to a higher level and that his team are a bunch of "sulkers" who "lack humility." Not only this, but he seemed to single out right back, Fankaty Dabo, who he said was "awful", even adding "if he's (Dabo) going to play right back, we're going to play out from the opposite left."
Deeney was heavily criticised for his comments, most notably by pundits Chris Sutton and Shay Given. He later apologised to Dabo and the rest of the Forest Green players for publicly shaming them. However, it is clear that the damage was already done as he was sacked days later.
We all like to see managers be honest and show personality, but an inexperienced Troy Deeney took this to the extreme and looked out of his depth in discussions with the media. While in his interviews he said he took personal responsibility for their defeats, the way he would subsequently lambast the players show that it was in fact him who was devoid of the humility he accused his players of lacking.
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