Troy Deeney is failing as Forest Green's new manager. Photo: Matt Lincoln
Troy Deeney has run out of patience. It's 9.30am on Friday at Forest Green Rovers' training ground and for the second morning in a row Reece Brown has been accused of being late. Deeney has already publicly criticized Brown for his performances in training, but he is now moving on. Much further.
Brown is in the manager's office, about to be sent home. “Come home on the weekend and decide what you want to do,” says Dini. “This is the second time in two weeks. There's nothing to argue about. I want you to leave the building.”
After the 27-year-old's departure, Dini is unequivocal. “That’s the problem with this place,” he says. “The prisoners run the prison. I said we need a line in the sand.»
The line has been drawn. The departure of Brown, a senior professional, shakes up the team, which later assembles in an impressive new £800,000 gym. It is currently based at Stanley Park near Chippenham and will then be moved to Forest Green's new training ground, Eco Park, when it opens ahead of the new 5,000-seat all-timber stadium being built next to the M5.
It has been less than four weeks since Deeney, 35, who arrived as player-manager last summer, was given his first managerial role with the immediate task of saving Forest Green from relegation from the Football League. The popular former Watford striker has become the club's fifth head coach in 18 months and is keen to provide the «stability» that owner Dale Vince has called for.Alfie Sparks, the lead performance analyst, comes into the office and they watch footage of Harrogate Town, Saturday's opponents, and drone footage of striker Matt Stevens' goal in training. Deeney wants to show it to the team.
Deeney with Alfie Sparks, Forest Green performance analyst ahead of the Harrogate match. Photo: Adrian Sherratt
This goal is an example of the kind of decisive counter-attack he wants. “AVTB?” Dini asks about the acronym Sparks uses. “After winning the ball,” comes the answer. “I need to learn this,” says Dini, adding, “I need five minutes tops to stick with the message. I'll make sure it's bright.”
It's a busy day. Forest Green needs change and Deeney is wasting no time. Three new players have been announced: promising 19-year-old goalkeeper Tommy Simkin, on loan from Stoke City, experienced midfielder Alex Gorrin from Oxford United and Dom Thompson from Blackpool.
«He's probably too good for this level,» Deeney says of Thompson. “I really want him here and he will raise the level of the group.” The 23-year-old, who can play as either a left-back or on the wing, is well known from his time at Brentford. “I know Ivan Toni,” says Dini. “He speaks highly of him.”
Dini works with her connections. There have been calls to Burnley manager Vincent Kompany and Robert Huth, Leicester City's loan manager, and Deeney is using the January transfer window to revitalize an underperforming side as they try to avoid embarrassing back-to-back relegations.
'Brownie has gone home' Deeney tells the players in a conference room next to the gym before a detailed video analysis by set-piece coach Andy Parslow begins. “We don’t feel sorry for him. I told him it would happen. We need to start moving together,” adds Dini. “There are some new guys. There will be more and more of them in the next few weeks. If you want to stay, you'll have to step up your game.»
He pauses before pointing to the trainers and technical support staff.
“Anybody in green—if he's talking to you, then I'm talking to you. Anyone who gets his hands on pussy will not be tolerated,” adds Dini.
Dini is charismatic and his frankness is one of his strengths. There is no malice in this; just a desire to be honest and do the right thing.
«I try to raise standards everywhere»
Harrogate will be Deeney's sixth match in charge. The results improved with three draws but a decisive victory remained elusive with Dave Horsman, his predecessor, taking two wins from 14 and Forest Green dropping to second place — and 91st in the football pyramid. They haven't won the league since October. They have won 19 of their last 95 matches in all competitions. The rot is very deep. This continued for two years — even winning just one of the last seven games of a season of promotion to League One under Rob Edwards, who soon left and is now manager of Luton Town. Something drastic is about to happen, and Dini is determined to see to it.
Dini has brought in a chef, and a nutritionist is coming to pick him up. There are discussions about whether to contact a sports psychologist. “I’m trying to raise standards everywhere,” says Deeney. One of his innovations is what he calls “Killer Tuesday,” a workout no matter how brutal it may seem. “It's designed to break you,” he says with a smile.
On Friday, first work in the gym; Then there's training with Deeney's assistant David «Ned» Kelly — the experienced former Newcastle United and Republic of Ireland striker — to organize «rondos», or intense passing exercises. The players split into three groups and Dini joins them. “Twenty passes and you stay [in the center],” he shouts. “Nutmeg and you stay home. One touch because we are good players. You are allowed to click it.»
Deanie is trying to raise standards at all levels, including teaching. Credit: Matt Lincoln
The pace is fast. “Everything is fine, below head level. Go,” Dini shouts before missing the chance. “It’s not a dig, but you have to score,” he says. “It's fun and I expect you to enjoy it. But I also expect there to be a standard. Give 100 percent.”
A quick handover and finishing session takes place while Kelly individually coaches strikers Matty Taylor and Tyrese Omotoye.
“Don't worry if you make mistakes, that's on me.”
Back at Deeney's office, we published a list of transfer targets. “It's not personal. We just want to win,” Kelly says, before he and Deeney discuss their working relationship.
“My first step into management was supposed to be a year later,” explains Deeney, who left Birmingham City last summer. , took four weeks off and turned down an expensive move to Saudi Arabia before joining Forest Green as part of his ambition to become a manager.
“I was asked to interview for a job in Walsall and I only did it for practice , but then made it to the final three,” he says. “I always had a rough idea of what I wanted it to look like. I have a short temper. I needed an older, wiser person, and then a younger, more analytical person. So, we have it all covered.”
He didn't know Kelly before they met, but the 58-year-old came highly recommended and the pair instantly hit it off and decided they would one day work together. That day came earlier than expected last month when Mount and his assistant Louis Carey, whom Deeney admires, were sacked. «Then it was, 'OK, we've got to go tomorrow,'» says Kelly.
Simkin and his agent Luke Rogers, a former Shrewsbury Town, Port Vale and Port Vale striker, enter Deeney's office. Forest Green.»
“You know yourself better than I do,” Dini declares, asking the teenager what area of his game he wants to improve.
“We can set that up with a video moment.” view, put a camera behind the goal and see how you move,” adds Dini after Simkin says he needs to “get to know the space better.”
“By the way, don’t worry if you make any mistakes,” says Dini. «It's my fault. Roll your shoulders back. This is part of your development. Be a little arrogant. It might not be your personality, but Daichi [Sean Dyche] calls it “putting on a mask.” And win tomorrow and you'll be a hero.»
Deeney returns to his office for another meeting, this time with Jay Williams, the Wales Under-19 international defender from Fulham, who is training with them. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not lying,” Dini says, explaining the options available. «Sometimes it gets me into trouble.»
Further meetings are held with Thompson, who is shown snippets of what is expected, and with reserve goalkeeper Jamie Searle, who is concerned about where he will be with Simkin's arrival. . “There's a lot of change going on and it's my job to manage it,” says Deeney, as goalkeeper coach Dan Connor nods. «All I want is to stay here and be number one,» says Searle.
At 3.30pm, Deeney heads into a nearby hut for a detailed meeting of the club's technical board, chaired by director of football Allan Steele, with head of recruitment Will Daniels and academy manager Hannah Dingley, who hit the headlines last summer when she briefly became the first female lead a professional English club as caretaker.
The meeting is exhaustive and deliberate. It covers topics as varied as the loan of academy players, the club's playing style, their approach to education and player recruitment strategy. “What is this legacy moment that we are leaving?” asks Deeney, revealing plans to bring in Jermain Defoe for shooting training and John Terry for full-back training.
The meeting turns into a meeting devoted solely to the pressing need to further strengthen the first team. . «If we get the central midfielder we want, we will be very solid at the core and we will be a game-changer,» says Deeney.
«No panic buying,» says Steele, and there is a nod of agreement before discussing whether Deeney could select himself if they can't find the striker they want. “Have you already decided on the team for tomorrow or are you still thinking about it?” Daniels asks. Dini will return to his office alone to think about his final choice. “Give me 20 minutes,” he says as he leaves. It's getting close to 6:30 p.m.
“If I were a fan, I'd ask for my money back.”
Saturday, 6.02pm, Forest Green Stadium Manager's Office, New Lawn. Harrogate won 2-0 and Forest Green debutant Gorrin was sent off early in the second half. The result takes them back to the bottom of the League Two table: 92 out of 92 in the pyramid.
Deeney holds a staff meeting. “Tonight I’m going to write something for each department,” he says. “Physics, recruitment, set pieces. We have a lot of work to do and we will have a full meeting on Monday. Tomorrow I will call you all individually.”
We walk across the pitch for his post-match interview with BBC Radio Gloucestershire, in which he explains why Brown is not in his team. “Nobody asked why Brownie isn’t here again?” Deeney says, and then the interviewer asks a question.
Deeney watched his 10-man team lose by 2 to Harrogate :0. City Credit: Adrian Sherratt 
And then gave a typically candid interview to BBC Radio Gloucestershire after the match. Photo: Adrian Sherratt
“Because all this nonsense, and he’s 27 years old and he’s my senior midfielder, but he can’t get to work on time,” Deeney says. “If someone was late twice in two days, would you include them in your lineup? Would you trust him to complete the game? That's all.
“Rhys is my senior leader in the pros in his age group and that’s what he does. So what do you think [young midfielder] Charlie McCann thinks he can do? What do you think Harvey [Bunker] should do? This is a continuation of the absurd, and this cannot be tolerated.”
Defender Fankati Dabo has been called up. He endured a very poor performance and Deeney reports he will not be in the squad for Tuesday's trip to Mansfield Town. This is a far cry from Dabo's Championship play-off appearance with Coventry City last May, where he missed the decisive penalty shoot-out in the final against Luton.
Deeney was firm in his views on Fankati Dabo's performance and later apologized to the player for his comments. Photo: Adrian Sherratt «He hasn't been good for five, six, seven, eight, nine weeks,» Deeney says. “I just told him in front of everyone: six months ago this guy had a desire to get into the Premier League. Now he won't get to play in the National League. So is it me or him? He has pure ability, but he runs every game and never makes a tackle, and when the ball comes to him, he looks like he's hitting it with the balls of his shins.»
The head coach is honest, sincere and consistent. and admits that he has at times gone too far in publicly criticizing players. He later apologized to Dabo and said, «Sometimes I let my emotions get the best of me.» No ill will, just the desire to win. “If I were Dale Vince, I would be interrogating me like he should. If I were a fan, I would ask for my money back.» With these words, Dini leaves the press box.
“I'd rather watch the Antiques Roadshow.”
The cool of the evening was a far cry from the excitement of the morning when staff from all departments of the club met for coffee and cake, an innovation introduced by the new head coach to attract everyone. closer. Steele praises Dini's influence and adds: «But it will take every person and everything we do now to get us out of this situation.»
Deeney says before heading to the other side of the stadium where the dressing rooms are, where players start arriving from 12:30. Wattbike central midfielder Ryan Inniss is suspended. He will be sorely missed against Harrogate, as Deeney feared. The head coach meets with his team at 1.40pm, watching detailed videos of what to expect from Harrogate. It drives home the point that they play in a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond midfield, so there is plenty of room to develop. «Any questions? Anyone not sure what they're doing? Then get ready to win,» he tells them.
Warm-up starts at 2:20 p.m., with loud music playing in the locker room at 2:48 p.m. At 2:54 p.m. the players will be called to line up in the corridor. Three minutes before this, Dini enters.
“Turn off the music, please sit down,” he says. “We have prepared this. We know what we are doing. I must take confidence in what we do. Every game I've asked for progress, and progress now means victory. We're all in this together and we're going to have a good day, right?»
Deeney speaks before the match against Forest Green at New Lawn. Photo: Adrian Sherratt
The score is 0-0 at half-time and Deeney is unhappy. As Coach Parslow reinforces the messages, the manager prepares what to say.
“I'd rather watch Antiques Roadshow instead,” he says, criticizing the muted reticence. the nature of the game, despite what is at stake.
“If you don't need the ball, no problem,” adds Deeney. “Come and sit next to me [on the bench]… do something. I’m not trying to jump down your throat, drive yourself, otherwise I’ll make three subs in five minutes. I have a feeling that we are heading towards victory with a score of 1:0 in their favor. Maintain standards.»
«I take responsibility and correct the situation»
They don't heed his warning. Three minutes after play restarts, Gorrin rushes for the ball in midfield and catches Odo. It's an exact replica of a late challenge the combative midfielder made in the first half that earned him a yellow card. Gorrin has been removed.
«We'll have to dig in now,» Deeney tells his staff, but three minutes later Harrogate penetrates their right flank and scores from close range. There is a flash of defiance from Forest Green but Stevens fends off their former goalkeeper James Belshaw before disaster strikes when substitute Callum Jones gives the ball away and the dangerous Odo finishes the game. Having made two changes after the first goal, Deeney is preparing for three more. «Can't we just put these three on too,» shouts a jokester in the crowd behind him.
It's 5.08pm and the only music is coming from the Harrogate dressing room. The door is wide open, loud celebrations are in full swing. The Forest Green door is tightly closed. The team is silent, defeat is recognized.
“They [Harrogate] play a 4-4-2 so all the space is on the outside. So what should we do? We play through the middle,” says Deeney incredulously, pointing to McCann and Jordan Moore-Taylor, who contributed to Gorrin's sending off by playing bad passes. “The removal is killing us, but to be honest, the other guys have patched it up,” says Deeney.
“I see a group of people doing their thing. Hiding. Frightened. I don't know why they're afraid, considering they've been losing for 18 months to two years. Hopefully this [defeat] will be the turning point and they will step up and have the career they can have, otherwise they will be relegated from the Football League.»
For Deeney, as he goes to meet his family halfway, the work will continue until Saturday evening and Sunday morning. With 20 games left and 60 points to go, there's no way he's going down without a fight; without taking out a sledgehammer.
“I take responsibility and fix it,” he says decisively. “This club is not at the bottom of League Two and we need to solve that problem. There is hope. We will change.»
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