Say sorry, Troy.. but not often

WALTER MAZZARRI has no problem with his Watford players apologising to fans — but doesn’t want it to become a regular occurrence.

Sorry seems to be be the hardest word in football, but not for Hornets captain Troy Deeney (above). He fronted up after the 2-0 defeat to 10-man Hull City last week, approaching the travelling supporters for a rueful word.

It was a rare sight in the Premier League, but nothing Mazzarri had not seen before in Serie A, where players often make peace with angry fans. In his eyes, it’s all part of the game.

“That does happen,” he explained. “In Italian football, we have great respect for fans — especially those who travel to away games. When a captain puts in a performance that’s not up to standard, you sometimes see that gesture. It’s normal.”

Deeney’s cutting post-match comments were seen by most as a reproach to his teammates. He accused Watford of lacking “a set of balls” and “wanting to play the game like it was FIFA”. But Mazzarri (left), who has left the striker out of his starting XI on a number of occasions in recent weeks, seemed to interpret Deeney’s gesture as an apology for his own performance.

“If a player feels he hasn’t done enough and wants to express that when it’s still fresh in his mind, he can do it,” added the former Napoli boss.

“I have great respect for freedom of speech if he felt like he didn’t perform as well as he could have.”

Mazzarri put the result down to complacency and says he will not stand for a repeat performance against Liverpool tomorrow night.

“In the heads of the players we thought we couldn’t lose, because we had four of five chances in the first half,“he said. “They didn’t think Hull could score against us.

“We underestimated some details and got punished. We must make sure that doesn’t happen anymore.”

The Hornets were hit for six by Jurgen Klopp’s men earlier in the campaign, but Mazzarri said: “Any team can beat someone higher up the table.”