I couldn’t say no if Watford asked me to take over... I love the place!
SAYS PLAYER-COACH TROY DEENEY
TROY DEENEY has a dream. And, in that dream, he returns to Vicarage Road... as Watford boss.
The 35-year-old is currently learning his managerial trade as the player-coach with League Two outfit Forest Green Rovers, but his heart is still with the Hornets.
Deeney said: “If Watford phoned me today and went, ‘Troy, do you want to take over?’, you can’t say no.”
The striker was recently critical of Watford on a podcast appearance and claims both he and the club are trying to build bridges.
“Things have been said, but, fundamentally, I love the place,” he admitted.
“I’d like to think the owner Gino Pozzo and Scott Duxbury (the CEO) know what I’m truly about.
“I wish them nothing but the best and if that opportunity comes around, hopefully we’ll be grown up enough to have a conversation.”
Deeney has previously described his Watford exit as like “losing a family member”, but admits his past criticism of the club does not tarnish the way he feels about it.
Right now he has a mammoth task on his hands as Forest Green are struggling and he openly concedes he is “getting old”.
He said: “Mentally, I’m still 23. Even this morning I was hiding under the stairs pranking my missus.
“But the things I’ve been able to do for a long time are catching up on me.
“If I didn’t have confidence in myself, I’d have quit a couple of years ago.
“I’d be sitting on a beach and not in Gloucestershire.
“Football is on a different stratosphere here.
“It’s nothing like the Premier League or Championship. Every penny counts.”
Deeney is a compelling and fascinating speaker, a selfconfessed student of the game and determined to forge a successful coaching career.
Post-discussion, the bullish centre-forward, who left Birmingham City last summer, has pencilled in a meeting with a top Premier League boss as he continues to carefully craft his managerial blueprint. In the next four months, he is also due to visit table-toppers Tottenham, Vincent Kompany at Burnley, his old boss Sean Dyche at Everton and Harry Kewell at Celtic.
Deeney added: “I might even go back to the Blues now Wayne Rooney is there.”
He has already banked time with England manager Gareth Southgate, whom he now holds in the highest regard.
Deeney said: “I went to see
Gareth and he gave me four to five hours. It was unbelievable, and I really can’t talk highly enough of him.”
He swiftly rebuffs any suggestion that Southgate felt obliged to help Deeney because he never handed him an England call-up.
“Not at all. The amount of insight he gave me, I was able to understand why he didn’t pick me,” Deeney added modestly. “I won’t speak on it because it’s his prerogative, but it’s absolutely fine.
“I started 12 steps below the Conference and played in an FA Cup Final.
“I’m more than satisfied with what I’ve achieved.”
Nivea Men’s ambassador Deeney is also embracing his partnership with the brand to battle any potential wrinkles born from managerial stress.
He said: “It’s easy to doubt your appearance in the modern world. Everything on Instagram is photoshopped – it’s fake.
“Confidence comes from within yourself. A 15-minute skincare routine is now part of my morning schedule.
“When I saw that 65 percent of men under 35 are now doing more to slow down ageing, I thought I’d better take note!”
Troy Deeney partners with NIVEA MEN to uncover grooming for the modern man in new ‘Skin Deep’ report.