All hail Troy's honesty

Clearly there are different ways of doing things,

.

You can slip out a quiet 'off the record' moan with the local hack, you can go a bit more public and drop the hint with a self critical we're all to blame TV interview or you can now do what Saddlers fans will always understand as 'doing a Deeney'.

Rarely do you read or hear a footballer publicly berating the effort and commitment of his team mates in the way Troy Deeney did this week. Indeed even the news of the Barmby v Bullard super middleweight clash under the Humber Bridge last week caused less surprise to me than reading Deeney's brutally honest and savagely scathing comments.

In the heat of the moment, amid the pressure of battle, it'd be pretty naïve to think that highly competitive sportsmen don't stand up to one another and fight their corner. Those working within the sanctity of a football club will be a lot more aware of how regular these spats are. Occasionally one happens outside of the sanctity of the changing room and in those cases we all get to read and hear about it but I suspect that there are a lot more that go unreported. The old adage that what goes on when the dressing room door shuts should stay in the dressing room is probably never more appropriate.

What you rarely see, hear or read however is a footballer being quite so honest, forthright and, to be honest, damn scathing about his team mates quite so long after the red mist has lifted.

I like Deeney; not only does he have something about him in a football sense he also appears to know and remember where he's come from. I suspect that he also appreciates what he has more than most and appears very determined to make the very maximum of what he was born with. In short, an ambitious local lad giving his very all to the club that gave him his big opportunity.

What stood out, and to be honest, encouraged and delighted me was the hurt and passion that flowed through his outburst. "Some people are just happy to let each game roll by, keep picking up their money and to be honest it's pathetic.

If you watched that then you will see who's doing what and who came in and wringed their shirt out afterwards because of the sweat, there weren't many" are ferocious words that will go down substantially better on amid rows of the HL Fellows Stand (or whatever ridiculous corporate name it now carries) than they're ever likely to do in the dressing room beneath them. The fact that he is pretty much spot on shouldn't be overlooked in this, a rant maybe, but he is only repeating the long time sentiment of many fans.

Quite what his manager thinks about it another matter and I guess that he won't be overly happy. However given both the results and performances achieved since that terrific result at Elland Road and Hutchings own admission that our season is going nowhere I'd suggest he has bigger problems to worry about than his centre forward telling the truth.

No doubt that many of his team mates at the very brunt of Deeney's criticism will also be very unhappy. However should they 'send him to Coventry' he need not worry, not least because I suspect that the fans who have long suffered the failings of so many will fully support Deeney and his honesty. My only concern is that their actions don't give Jeff similar ideas.

Well said Troy, it's about time someone stood up and refused to patronise the paying public. My hat is suitably doffed.