Everton: Troy Deeney shares what ‘scary’ Sean Dyche said to him after on-field incident at Watford, ‘He killed me’
Troy Deeney has revealed what Everton manager Sean Dyche said to him following an incident when the pair worked together at Watford.
Speaking on the BBC’s Defoe & Deeney Football Firsts podcast on Tuesday (2 December, 01:44), the former Premier League forward shared how the “scary” Toffees boss, who was the assistant manager at Vicarage Road at the time, laid into him when he allowed his man to score against the Hornets.
He said that the 52-year-old “killed” him following the incident, but he added that he’s always known better than to “go back at someone like that”.
Asked by Jermain Defoe what his first rollicking was in football, Deeney said: “There’s been a few, Dyche man, he’s scary. He’s not massive, he’s just got this presence that makes him look like he’s 6’6”. He hammered me. I just didn’t follow instructions.
“He was the assistant manager at the time, but his focus was more on the defensive side of it and I was playing right wing and I just didn’t want to play right wing at all. I had to track this runner and we were away at Preston, all the briefing was that they attack down their right but their left winger gets in at the back post.
“I was tracking him and you know you can see it developing, this guy is ahead of me and I can’t catch him, so I just stopped and he scored. I can’t say what he (Dyche) said, he stood over me and was like ‘I *expletive* told you, this is what it was, you’re making me look like a see you next Tuesday’.
“He’s getting more and more red, the veins are coming out, he’s foaming at the mouth and I just had nothing, I’ve always known better than to go back at someone like that. He just laid into me because that was his remit to worry about defending. He killed me.”
This is certainly not a situation many players would want to be in as Dyche is known for being a strong character who won’t hold back if he feels someone isn’t pulling their weight.
Deeney recognises that he was wrong in this instance and it sounds as though he completely understands why he received the rollicking that he did.
It’s interesting that Dyche actually became his manager at the end of that season, but they must’ve made up as the forward went on to become a Watford legend over the next few years.
While the now-Toffees boss didn’t last too long in the hot seat at Vicarage Road, he then went on to do an incredible job at Burnely over the next 10 years, so it was probably a blessing in disguise that things didn’t work out there.
He’s also done well at Goodison Park over the past year, but his focus will now be on helping the Blues pick up the results that will help guide them away from the Premier League relegation zone again this season.
