How one wild misunderstanding and a Troy Deeney ultimatum cost former Watford manager his job in 15 minutes of chaos

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Troy Deeney was a terrific servant for Watford over the years, so much so that the club didn’t hesitate in backing him all the way when a former manager tried to make him a scapegoat.

Watford have had their fair share of managers in recent years, but rarely have they had a player like Deeney.

The big striker was a goal machine for the Hornets, especially in the second tier, where he is among the all-time top scorers in the Championship.

Deeney has helped Watford gain promotion on more than one occasion, helped them stay in the Premier League, and stuck by the club when they were relegated in 2020.

But, while that first season back in the Championship may have been successful on the pitch for Watford in the long-run, there was chaos behind the scenes.

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Vladimir Ivic threw Troy Deeney under the bus, and paid the price

Speaking on the Under the Cosh podcast, Deeney recalled how things turned sour for him the moment Vladimir Ivic was appointed as Watford manager when the Hornets were relegated back to the Championship for the 2020/21 campaign.

He said: “We played Huddersfield away. He hadn’t even said the team, but he asked to see me and this kind of got misconstrued in the paper. So, on the Friday, he hadn’t asked to see me directly, somebody said the manager wants to see you, so I’ve gone to his office, but he’s not in his office.

“I thought, ‘Alright, no problem, go get a cup of tea, I’ll speak to him on the bus.’ I get on the bus, he’s sat there but he’s like fuming. I asked if he wanted to speak to me and he said, ‘When we get to the hotel.’ Then he did the same at the hotel. He pushed it off, pushed it off, pushed it off.”

Watford ended up losing 2-0 to Huddersfield the next day. Ivic used all five of his substitutions on the day, but, you guessed it, Deeney was left on the bench.

Deeney continued: “All the boys are going, ‘Oh, Troy’s gonna go.’ We got into the changing room anyway, sat down and… He comes round and shakes everybody’s hand. I’ve gone to shake, and he’s just walked past me.

“Anyway, it was my daughter’s birthday so I’ve jumped in the car… talkSPORT is on, and there’s [Ivic] talking to the press after the Huddersfield defeat. And he says it was all my fault. He’s hammered me. I didn’t even play.

“He blamed the club and the poor foundations. He says the captain doesn’t come and speak to me when he needs to see me. Says I’ve got the worst discipline.”

Deeney’s agent was on the phone immediately asking what had gone wrong. Explaining the situation, the former Watford striker told his agent to get the club to resolve the matter and put the record straight, or he would take to social media and do it himself.

“I told them, ‘You figure it out. And 15 minutes later, there’s a statement from the club that he’d been sacked and they backed me,” Deeney added. “Everyone thought I got him sacked, but my stance was just 15 minutes to figure out what he’s gonna say, cause I’m gonna say a lot of things. And then he got sacked and it was again, now it’s all my fault.”

But, as Deeney explains, he feels it was just a case of him and his manager suffering a miscommunication and things getting out of hand without Ivic actually taking the time to talk to him about it.

Turns out, that lack of pragmatism and the failure to open a dialogue would ultimately cost Ivic his job after just four months at Vicarage Road. Watford replaced him with Xisco Munoz — officially the worst Sheffield Wednesday manager of all time — and got promoted by finishing second in the league.

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Are Watford finally finding some stability with Tom Cleverley?

Watford have a bad reputation for changing managers pretty hastily. Even in just the five years since Ivic was dismissed, the Hornets have had eight permanent managers, including current head coach Tom Cleverley.

In fact, Cleverley has defied the odds by sticking around for more than a year, and he should end up making it to the end of the current season at least.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
6	West BromWest Brom	38	13	18	7	48	34	14	57
7	Bristol CityBristol City	38	14	15	9	49	41	8	57
8	MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough	38	15	9	14	57	48	9	54
9	BlackburnBlackburn	38	15	7	16	42	40	2	52
10	WatfordWatford	38	15	7	16	47	51	-4	52
11	MillwallMillwall	38	13	12	13	37	39	-2	51
12	Sheffield WednesdaySheffield Wednesday	38	14	9	15	53	59	-6	51
13	NorwichNorwich	38	12	13	13	60	54	6	49

He’s a Watford icon from his playing days, which likely gets him a little more patience from the trigger-happy board, but how far that goodwill stretches remains to be seen.

Watford are still outsiders among the play-off candidates this season. They are five points (and a few goals) off the top six right now, which is not an impossible gap to chase down.

But, even if they fail, it would seem there is a bit of stability around the club with Cleverley at the helm, and keeping faith in the young manager could be the key to success next season.