Troy Deeney reacts to talk of Watford ‘fight’ prior to Pearson exit

Troy Deeney

Watford captain Troy Deeney and interim head coach Hayden Mullins are singing from the same hymn sheet ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Manchester City.

The Hornets, who are 17th in the Premier League and three points above the relegation zone, sacked Nigel Pearson on Sunday after losing 3-1 at West Ham on Friday.

Reports suggested a fight occurred during half-time at the London Stadium. But Deeney shot down those rumours and also insisted he would not be involved in team selection.

“I just want to put it out there, there was no fight at half-time,” Deeney told beIN Sports. “It is 2020, you don’t do that any more and certainly with all the cameras you would see a lot more if that was the case.

“The gaffer didn’t put his hands on anybody. He was just frustrated and had a firm talking to us. No-one was fighting, no-one was punched and no-one was tickled. There were no hands thrown.

“Second of all Troy will not be picking teams because I have read that online as well. I am player-coach apparently. Anything else I have missed out? We wasn’t locked in so a lot of interesting things.”

Hornets top goalscorer Deeney conceded he was surprised Pearson was sacked by the club. But he eager to toe the party line too.

“You get to a point in football where you are not surprised any more. But I would say this one surprised me and took me back a bit,” he added.

“I wasn’t anticipating that was going to be the situation we’d walk into on Sunday. We had an up-and-down week before.

“We won two games (against Norwich and Newcastle) and you’d like to think we would have got a better result against West Ham, but that wasn’t to be and the club made a decision.

“You have to respect that decision. Again they pay us, they are our bosses essentially and we have to respect the decision.”

Watford players know what is at stake

Mullins faced the media on Monday and backed up Deeney’s comments regarding Friday’s game at West Ham while also insisting the players are well aware of what is at stake.

He was in charge for fixtures against Leicester and Crystal Palace before Pearson took over in December.

 

“There were reports about Nigel being over-aggressive and that wasn’t the case,” Mullins said.

“I think the boys expected to get a dressing down at 3-0 and there was nothing out of the ordinary in that at all.

“The players went out early of their own accord because they knew what they had just played was not up to standard, they wanted to put it right. The reports of Nigel being over-aggressive with any players are not true.”

Watford’s interim head coach praised the leadership of skipper Deeney, but also played down talk he will have a larger say on matters than usual.

Mullins, 41, added: “Troy is a leader. He gives a pep talk on the pitch before kick-off. We haven’t asked him or used him in coaching or any of that.

“His sole focus is on playing in the game. He is a fantastic guy and a leader on the pitch, and he is fantastic in that regard.”