Troy Deeney explains why he thinks Watford are in danger of being in a relegation battle ahead of the 2026/27 season.
The former Hornets captain was on talkSPORT, the topic of Alessio Dionisi being appointed was discussed and he didn’t hold back when giving his honest thoughts.
As per BBC Sport, Dionisi becomes the club’s 12th head coach, excluding interim bosses, since the end of the 2020/21 season, and the 24th since the Pozzo family took over the club in 2012.
Troy Deeney: “I think Watford are in real danger of being in a relegation battle. They sell them (fans) the same PR tripe every single year.”
[TalkSport]#WatfordFC pic.twitter.com/O9m8UwLWhT
— TheWatfordWay (@thewatfordway) June 18, 2026
He told talkSPORT: “The quality of the group has gone down year on year.
“There’s no real identity now as to who and what they are, other than they sack their managers.
“I think they need to be really, really careful. Last season was a poor Championship and they struggled.
“I think those guys now are in real danger of being in a relegation battle – and it doesn’t seem to me like they see it coming.
“Year on year they keep changing and they sell the fans the same PR tripe every single year.
“‘Right, we’ve got the players, we’re going to have this new Italian guy, he’s going to make sure they train properly and they’re ready’.
“October, they get rid of him and they get a Spanish guy in. ‘He was too strict we need to give the players more freedom’.
“January, they sack him and get an English guy in because ‘we just need to stay up’.”
🗣️ Troy Deeney tells talkSPORT Watford are in ‘real danger’ of a relegation battle next season.
Also alludes to Gino Pozzo’s future – ‘from a business POV, if you want out, you want to sell from a place of the squad being half-decent’ 👇 #Watfordfc
— Adam Drury (@Adam_Drury1) June 18, 2026
Deeney continued, as reported by Watford Observer: “From an ownership point of view, you need a framework. I understand you keep sacking the manager [if they don’t perform] but at some point that reflects on you. You’re doing bad hires continuously.
“But then also, as a business – and I don’t want to get into the ins and outs of it – if you want out, you want to sell from a place of the squad being half-decent, or ‘we’re trying to get to the Premier League’.
“When I was there we had a great group of me, Ben [Foster], and everyone was an international bar me, basically.
“Every player was doing what they needed to do. Then you had the staff and you had the ownership – and if a cog came out, so the manager changes, you put another cog in and everything else just kept going.
“The problem is they’ve taken away all of those players, the ones who could hold it together. In my case, they thought I had too much power.
“Remove that, bring in lesser quality, lesser leaders – I think that’s a football thing now, there are not too many leaders – and it’s just the blind leading the blind, unfortunately.”
Here’s how fans reacted after Troy Deeney explains why he thinks Watford are in danger of being in a relegation battle…
@DanielEllisUK: That’s our captain. Good on him for calling it out.
@Ngonge69JOHN: He’s right. It is a club that is becoming very hard to support purely because of the ownership. It certainly isn’t attracting new young fans for the future. All very sad.
@JackWFC1234: For once I don’t disagree with what he’s saying. The last things he’s said he’s been really hateful of the club which has been disappointing, but he’s right. Don’t agree with the ‘Spanish guy, Italian guy’ comments though. Troy played his best football under a Spanish guy
@TinnyQuinny: You can hear parts of Troy talking here that come from a place of true frustration and it become borderline ranting. He’s just like the rest of us.
@tonybai98851544: he should have been the manager in the ist place a man with bottle will not take shit
@UpTheWatty: He’s spot on.
@DanHarvey74: Spot on this though surprised it was given discussion time on a national radio station, albeit Talksport, as we just appear to be so irrelevant these days to the football world at large.
@SammyPaveley: Bang on. We are slipping every year and we are far closer to relegation than promotion at the minute
@UncleRonisback: #WatfordFC I tell you about Cesspit FC. Troy points out the tripe you are sold yet the cuckolds still wail ‘Be careful what you wish for’
@OWeingarten: Agree sadly. #watfordfc
@PaulBurchi5306: Spot on we all no it Troy as well they don’t listen to us fans
@Richwfc2: Damning statement, but will be ignored by Duxbury & Co! Not Deeney’s biggest fan tbh, but he spot on here regarding #watfordfc, really feel this season catches up with us and Pozzo will be left with a league one club to try and sell for 100 million!
@Budfrog: You could say about half the EFL Champ are in danger of being sucked into a relegation scrap – we still have some excellent players who will have learned a lot over the course of 25/26 – just hope the new HC is up to the task.
@Lucas_1881_: This is how I’m seeing it. Players like Vata, Baah, Pollock, Ngakia all have 3+ seasons in them now for the club. I think we need to try and build the team around Bove and Irankunda