DEENEY’S DELIGHT
Watford striker Troy Deeney on drinking in the last-chance saloon
AFTER five seasons in the Championship Watford talisman Troy Deeney thought an opportunity to play in Premier League might never come.
The striker had good reason. His journey to the top has certainly not been without controversy, but after serving a prison sentence and experiencing the heartbreak of play-off final defeat, this season’s automatic promotion appears the perfect end to an arduous journey on and off the pitch.
Yet the 26-year-old insists his Hornets adventure is only just beginning – despite already eyeing a place in the club’s folklore.
“I’d better be getting a statue now,” joked the Birmingham-born forward. “On numerous occasions I thought the opportunity might have passed me by.
“There’s a lot of players in this league and in other leagues that are probably better than me technically but they probably don’t put in as much of a shift as I do.
“I’m a firm believer in working hard and work will get you where you want to go. Eight years ago I was playing with my mates and paying to play, now I’m being paid to play football and next season it will be in front of 40 or 50,000 people.
Loyalty
“It’s nothing to be scared of, it’s a daunting task but at the end of the day we play football for a living so it’s not the be all and end all is it?
“If I’m not good enough I’m pretty sure Match of the Day and other journalists will tell me I’m not good enough.”
Loyalty is not often a word associated with football but it is a term that has defined Deeney’s time at Vicarage Road.
The striker signed from Walsall in 2010 but struggled to cement a place in the side and his future looked in doubt when he received a prison sentence for affray in June 2012.
But the club held on to Deeney’s services and he has gone on to score more than 20 goals in three consecutive seasons – an appropriate way of repaying the faith shown in him by owner Gino Pozzo.
“I appreciate the loyalty this club showed in keeping me when I was, let’s just say, ‘away for a little while’ – they didn’t have to keep me but they chose to,” he added.
“Then I had a chance to leave on numerous occasions but I thought because they looked after me I could kind of look after them in a sense.
“Last summer I sat down with Gino, he’s given me a new contract and the rest is history.”
The rest certainly is history but there is a lot to look forward to. Deeney was Watford’s player of the season in 2013-14 but despite his contribution of 24 goals the club stuttered to a 13th-place finish – a major disappointment after the previous season’s journey to the play-off final.
When the squad regrouped last summer, Deeney revealed there was only one thing discussed: Premier League football.
“This season it’s just been a case of going up or a lot of us would be moving on so it’s been a bit of last chance saloon in that way,” he explained.
“From day one it’s been about getting out of this league and the other nonsense and distractions will be thrown out of the window.
“I said in August if I could score 20 and we could go up then I’d be happy but I’ve scored more than that and we’ve gone up.”
Galvanised
Their runners-up finish seemed so unlikely back in September when Billy McKinlay resigned after just eight days at the helm.
Losing three managers in three months would take its toll on any club but Deeney insists when Slavisa Jokanovic pitched up it didn’t take long for him to turn things around.
“It’s quite funny that we’ve had four managers when you think of it but that’s galvanised us,” he admitted.
“Slavisa came in and you thought, ‘How long is this clown going to last for? The next one will be in soon’.
“But from day one he’s come in and said, ‘This is what we’re doing and this is how we’re going to do it, if you’re not on board you’ll be shipped on’.”
Deeney is the first to admit it took him a while to understand the dedication required to become a professional footballer. He even passed up a trial with Aston Villa as a 15-year-old in favour of a trip to the park with his mates.
“I didn’t do youth teams, I was out chasing girls,” he laughed. “I was a bit of a Jack the lad so I thought let’s just take all the boys out with me every weekend and let’s enjoy it because they’re going to realise I’m crap at football soon and get rid of me so I may as well have fun.
“Obviously we all know what happened then and when I came back I thought, ‘Sod this, I’m going to dedicate myself and see how far I can go with it’.”
Battle
It may have taken him a while but next season Deeney will be leading Watford out in the Premier League against the likes of Chelsea.
And while some might feel intimidated by the step up, Deeney is already anticipating a mouthwatering physical battle with ex-England skipper John Terry.
“He’s probably been the best defender around for the last 12 years,” he said. “When I watch games I sense that certain players get a little bit nervous that they’re going up against him – like this is the great John Terry – so it would be nice to put my strength up against his and see what happens.”
It’s been a memorable week for Deeney and he revealed his phone has been ringing non-stop with calls from past managers, close friends and a certain famous fan.
“I had a phone call off Sir Elton John which was very surprising,” he added. “I was in the car with my mum and a phone call came through from Beverley Hills. I don’t know anyone in Beverley Hills, I thought it must be one of them prank calls.
“And I don’t really do sporting heroes but my mum phoned me on Monday saying that Ian Wright had written about me, which was mad.
“He’d be the closest thing to a hero for me because he fostered kids and came from a tough background so I’ve always looked up to him.”
But despite all the plaudits, and recently being named in the Championship team of the season, there’s still one person Deeney’s yet to impress.
“All my son talks about is Heurelho Gomes and how he wants to meet him,” he joked.
“I’ve gone from being his favourite player to his fourth favourite player this season so I’ve got to sort that out first.”