Troy Deeney is happy to be moving up the management ladder. Photo: Matt Lincoln
Troy Deeney talks about moving from Premier League to League Two and, as always, doesn't hold back.
“I spent a bit of time in Dubai over the summer and saw a few of the lads (footballers) ), I won’t name names who can’t get a stick, who have been out for two years, in my opinion, due to their ignorance,” he explains.
“They are used to making a certain amount of money; I'm used to playing at a certain level. Everyone thinks they quit. They were offered to clubs and they thought: “I’m too good for this.” But this is ignorance. Ignorance. We are so into ourselves now, footballers.
“People think we are entitled. We have no right. I think we've become so comfortable with the luxury of the Premier League and now the Championship that we thought: «Oh, I'm not going to League Two.» Well, think about it, when did you start? This was your dream. You would do anything to say that football is your job.”
Deeney is living the dream. A distinguished 11-year career at Watford, mostly as captain, mostly in the Premier League, was followed by two campaigns at his beloved Birmingham City and – now – player-manager at Forest Green Rovers and the start of his “ travel» to, one day, I hope, I will become a top-flight coach or even coach of the England national team.
“I want to become a manager and get as high as possible,” says Deeney, now 35. “The main thing is to be an international manager, whether it’s England or Brazil. Whether you can get there is another matter. But you don't want to say, “You know what? My ceiling is second league.” That's the goal, and I want to use these hard yards to figure that out.»
«There are guys taking ice baths in trash cans.»
The hard yards are in Forest Green, where Deeney has coaching badges. , who is studying Spanish to be able to work in a more international dressing room, has teamed up with head coach David Horsman, whom he first met at Watford but who took over at the relegated club in July following the sacking of Duncan Ferguson .
“I will be forever grateful to Dave,” says Dini. “Coming here has really strengthened my love for football.
“Everyone says you have gone to the dark side (management). But I see it differently. If you win, you will have a huge thrill, and if you lose, the question is: “How can we fix this?” So it's like an endless puzzle. It's back to basics. There, the guys take ice baths in a trash can.
Dini has no illusions about how hard it will be. Photo: Matt Lincoln
And, as if on cue, a few yards away, young Forest Green player carefully lowers himself into a black bin filled with ice and water at the club's training session.
But management can be like a shock from cold water, and Dini is under no illusions. And he, as a famous player, does not expect to reach a high level. As some former players do.
«But why?» says Dini. “That's the question I ask myself. Either you're afraid of the challenge or you're not supporting yourself enough because you feel like you need X amount of money, X amount of coaches, X amount of players, certain types of players, but the challenge is to figure it out.
“Everyone criticized Phil Parkinson for his trip to Wrexham. Now everyone wants to be Phil Parkinson. Mark Hughes plays for Bradford in this league, so if he can do it… I'd be stupid if I thought, «I'm too good for this.» No, absolutely not. You have to show that you are good enough.”
“I asked myself: what is my purpose?”
Deeney was a free agent. The striker was out of contract at Birmingham and although they wanted him back, the call from Horsman came at the right time, especially as he could continue to play as well as coach and learn his way into coaching.
«I had a bit of free time and it happened on the Monday before I signed the contract,» explains Deeney. “The woman came out. The kids were at their summer clubs and there was me and the dogs. I got up at 11am and thought, “What do I do now?” The dogs and I looked at each other, and I thought: “Then you better go for a walk.” When I returned, I asked myself: what is my purpose? I still love football, I love training, and I thought, “I’m not ready to quit yet.”
The obvious route for Deeney would be the media. «It's funny because everyone thinks I'm some kind of person — 'Oh, you work in radio now?' “But I need a real purpose,” he says. “Do I like watching football? Yes. Do I like talking about football? Yes. But let's be honest, the Sky pundit doesn't give a detailed explanation of why the team is playing the way they are. It's like a 30-second sound bite. On a radio show, it's all about the headlines. Here we talk about football and the intricacies of a player's abilities or qualities and how we can get the best out of them? This is what really excites me.”
Deeney tells the story of taking his children to Arsenal's final home game last season against Wolverhampton Wanderers. While they watch Bukayo Saka score in the warm-up, he studies Martin Odegaard. “I pay close attention to the warm-ups. It all depends on the game, and for five minutes he was alone. And I say to my children: “Are you watching this?”, and they are like: “Of course, dad, but Saka scores goals there,” he says.
Dini advises his children to watch Martin Odegaard (center). Photo: Chloe Knott/Getty Images
But management is a tough business.
“Of course,” says Dini. “And let's call it what it is — the statistics for black managers are low. But that shouldn't scare me. I don’t look at it and think, “I’m going to break through and bring everyone with me.” If I'm going to get it, I'm going to get it what I deserve. This season I will train 200 hours.
“On the other hand, look at Neil Warnock – is he in position 24 or something? We played Shrewsbury the other day and Matt Taylor was sacked from Walsall and ended up in the league above. So why not? Why should I go play golf? I'm the shit at this. I see it as a challenge.
“I just have the drive to be number one. Everyone wants to be a manager in the beginning, but can you handle all that pressure? Can you take on all the media? I already have a mental plan of what it will look like.”
“I can’t stand Mazzarri, but he’s a tactical genius.”
Dini, of course, had been preparing for years and tells another cautionary tale about how he started his first diary. “Remember Manuel Almunia? We finished the Leicester game — that Leicester game — and it was a bit surreal,” he says, recalling the incredible Championship play-off win when the former Watford goalkeeper saved an injury-time penalty as Deeney raced in to the other side and scored a goal. winning goal in 2013.
“Afterwards I was sitting with Manuel in the locker room and he asked: 'Do you have a diary?' — says Dini. «I was about 23 or 24 years old and I said, 'No, why do I need this?' Who does this?» and he said, «I promise you, you need to write everything down,» and he pulled out his diary and he saved it from the 2006 Champions League final against Barcelona.
» He wrote down all his thoughts and feelings and spent 20 minutes that night in his hotel doing it. And he just told me, “I can get back to this.” It reminds him of what he did.
“A week after that, I started writing down what I liked, what I didn’t like. At the time, I didn't have the emotional intelligence to write down my feelings. But it was like, “I loved it when (Gianfranco) Zola did that in training,” so now the shooting drills I do with Ty (Forest Green forward Tyrese Omotoye) are the same as with Zola. And I haven’t worked with Gianfranco since 2012. But they are still relevant today.
“Daichi (Sean Dyche) made me a man. He made me realize how far I could go and take that mentality and put it into it. I didn’t even like the managers – Walter Mazzarri. I couldn't stand this guy, he couldn't stand me. Tactically? An absolute genius.”
Deeney is now writing his third diary, full of detailed plans and feelings that helps shape his own approach to football. He is also looking to add to his knowledge by meeting Gareth Southgate and scheduling meetings with Vincent Kompany, Ange Postecoglou, Marco Silva and Enzo Maresca in Leicester.
“I spoke to John Terry about it and asked him what the best thing to do was, and he said, 'Go to as many clubs as you can,'” Deeney explains. “It won't change my personality, but it will either confirm something I already believe or open my eyes to something I didn't even know existed.”
“Going forward, I'm going to seek help from (former Birmingham midfielder) Jude (Bellingham) and move to Real Madrid. I'm also going to Mercedes (Formula 1 team) and see how they work. This is a team of 900 people and competition day is just one thing. Everyone throws out this buzzword 'culture', but how do you actually create it?
“It's given me an incredible platform. People will say: «Ah, but this is the second league.» I'm in league two but we're trying to get promoted, we've got a new training ground coming up, I just worked on transfer deadline day for the first time, I understand the new generation.
Deeney helps his players succeed. Photo: Matt Lincoln
“When I spoke to Gareth (Southgate) he asked the same thing: why? And I said there are about eight answers. The biggest and truest is seeing someone improve. When you have a life as varied as mine — and I'm only 35 — if someone like me had told me at 18 or 19 what it would be like, then I might not be sitting here now. Perhaps I'm already doing something even better. If you can help, even one percent.
“My wife and I were talking about this the other day: what happens if it doesn’t work out? Well, I tried it. How many people do we know who sit around and complain about it, but don't want to build those hard yards?
“If it doesn't work, I can look at myself in the mirror and say I did everything I could . When football is over with me — as a player or coach — I will give everything. You saw how I trained today. I don't cut corners, I just do my best to stay in it for as long as possible. I do my best, and that’s my whole job.”
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