Coach’s ‘psycho’ insult to Cusack

SHEFFIELD UNITED coach Jonathan Morgan has been accused of calling the late Blades midfielder Maddy Cusack a ‘psycho’ — causing her to spiral into anxiety. Cusack’s family said Morgan had dropped her from the starting line-up and made complaints about her weight after being appointed by the Blades. The 27-year-old’s father also claimed the manager told her team-mates about previous disagreements between them and painted her as ‘difficult’. David Cusack added that his daughter’s fears about her new boss caused her so much worry she had to move back in with him and her mother, go on medication and consider counselling.

In the emotional letter he said he believed his daughter would still be alive if the coach had not been appointed. Morgan is alleged to have called Cusack a ‘psycho’ on the sidelines when he was Burnley manager, which she believed was further evidence he disliked her. A report by claims the Cusack family’s official complaint to the club after Maddy’s death alleges that the player had left Leicester — then managed by Morgan — in 2019 as she believed the manager had ‘taken a dislike to her’.

At her memorial her family shared a speech read by her mother Deborah that said ‘her spirit had been allowed to be broken by football’.

Sheffield United opened an independent inquest into their vice-captain’s death in December and after nine weeks concluded that there was ‘no evidence of wrongdoing’.

In September, Morgan, who has denied treating Cusack unfavourably, stepped away from the club after a formal complaint was made over alleged behaviour towards certain players. Following the conclusion of the investigation, the first team coach is set to return to the touchline this weekend when United face Tottenham in the FA Cup.