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Zola says chants should be about Deeney's peformances on the pitch (From This Is Local London)
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Watford manager Gianfranco Zola says chants should be about Troy Deeney's peformances on the pitch
10:00am Friday 5th October 2012 in Latest Sport
By Frank Smith, Deputy Group Sports Editor
Zola says chants should be about Deeney's peformances on the pitch
Watford's head coach says he hopes the club’s supporters will focus on Troy Deeney’s performance on the pitch when creating songs after a small minority chanted about his off-field behaviour at Charlton Athletic.
A section of supporters at the Valley could be heard chanting ‘He will stamp on your face, that boy Troy Deeney, he’ll stamp on your face’ and a similar song which starts with ‘He hates the police’.
Deeney was recently released from prison after serving two-and-a-half months of a ten-month sentence for affray following a fight outside a nightclub, where the striker was filmed punching one student and then kicking him on the ground before punching another.
The Hornets striker apologised to the victim, the club and its supporters and has been superb during his three appearances since his return; playing a crucial role as the club ended their five-match winless run and secured back-to-back victories.
Gianfranco Zola said: “First of all I did not hear that [the chants] and secondly, for me Troy Deeney should be known for what he does on the pitch and that is what I believe the supporters should be focusing on.”
Several supporters contacted this newspaper after the game to express their disgust at the behaviour of the small minority of fans.
On a poll on our website, as of Thursday evening, 58 per cent said they wanted the club to condemn the chants, with 19 per cent stating they were not bothered and 23 replying no, they didn't want the club to condemn the chants.
The club had not commented when we went to print on Thursday.
Watford had a superb away following at Charlton, with 1,336 fans making the trip and creating a great atmosphere.
A few supporters ripped three advertising boards off the wall in the away end but they were not damaged and will be put back at minimal expense.
Comments(4)
tonyevans22
says...
6:35pm Fri 5 Oct 12
Holly68
says...
7:50pm Fri 5 Oct 12
My understanding now is that a number of our own fans contacted the Wobby to complain about the chants and advertising boards, and there was lots of chat on twitter, so they had no choice other than to publish. This story is just to bring closure on the matter in a subtle way ie. Zola says chant about things on pitch only. If the Wobby had access to Zola Weds morning the two stories could've been combined.
As they only spoke to Zola late Thursday, this story is by way of closure.
In fact the Wobby is very positive on back page today ...
Maybe some of our fans who complain shouldn't put the paper under so much pressure and think before complaining, it's all about balance !!!!!
MonkeyFC
says...
11:26am Sat 6 Oct 12
The club did something positive in keeping Deeney on and committing to work with him so that he can move on from the considerable mistake he made. However, it now has a responsibility to ensure that this decision is properly understood by fans. Otherwise, if fans (even if only a small minority, although a vocal minority that made up a significant amount of the away support) can be under the impression that what Deeney did was excusable or less serious than it was, it might be said that the club has made the wrong decision in keeping him on.
The players and the club are strong role models in our community and should be something all supporters can be proud of. In recent months talk has been about maintaining the 'identity' of the club. What we've been getting at is how football is about a lot more than what happens on the pitch. Watford's identity in the past has been to be a club where the community plays an important role. We all hope that this will continue and taking its responsibility as a role model seriously will be part of this. So far the club has dealt with the Deeney situation well but its responsibility doesn't end with what happens on the pitch. I’m in little doubt that Deeney has not been allowed to shrug off the seriousness of what he did, the club now has a role to play in ensuring that the fans, even if only a small minority, should not be allowed to forget this either.
buckler says...
5:23pm Fri 5 Oct 12