- Forest Green are bottom of League Two and winless since October
- Troy Deeney has called out some of his players as not good enough
- Forest Green must have the longest washing line in history after Troy Deeney’s ‘crass’ rant hung his players out to dry – It’s All Kicking Off
Troy Deeney has turned to John Terry and Jermain Defoe in a bid to turn Forest Green Rovers’ fortunes around.
The former Watford striker is still searching for his first win as manager since replacing David Horseman at the helm of the League Two club in December, with three draws and three in his six matches in charge.
Deeney, who arrived at Forest Green as player-coach in August, has made the headlines for brutally calling out some of his players, describing them as ‘not good enough’.
And with his side now bottom of the table and seven points adrift of safety, he has reportedly enlisted Terry and Defoe to help his players.
According to The Telegraph, the former Chelsea captain and the former England striker will join Forest Green to carry out a defenders’ session and a shooting clinic respectively.
Troy Deeney has drafted in John Terry and Jermain Defoe to help Forest Green
Terry will join the League Two side for a one-off defenders’ session, according to reports
Terry is currently working with Chelsea’s academy as a coach and revealed in October that he was overlooked for the role of Newcastle manager after leaving his role as assistant coach at Aston Villa in 2021.
Speaking on former team-mate John Obi Mikel’s Obi One podcast, the former England captain revealed he had also spoken to three clubs further down the pyramid about a vacancy.
Defoe, meanwhile, is currently in charge of Tottenham Under-18 team along with being a club ambassador for Spurs.
Drafting in the help of his fellow Premier League stars is part of Deeney’s plans to raise the standards at the struggling League Two club.
Forest Green haven’t won in the league since October and have won just 19 of their previous 95 matches in all competitions – with just two wins in 14 outings under Horseman.
‘I’m trying to raise the standards everywhere,’ Deeney, who made a combined 590 appearances for Watford, Walsall and Birmingham, told The Telegraph.
The Forest Green boss has also been in contact with Burnley manager Vincent Kompany and former Leicester City defender Robert Huth – now the Foxes’ loans manager – as he looks to overhaul his squad in January.
‘There are a few new lads in,’ he said.
Defoe will take lead Forest Green strikers in an attacking clinic, under Deeney’s plans
Terry (left) is currently working with Chelsea’s academy as a coach
Forest Green are bottom of League Two and winless since October
‘There will be more coming and more going in the next few weeks. If you want to stay, you have to step up your game.’
Earlier this month, Deeney was thrusted in the spotlight for questioning his players’ ability and that of their replacements in a brutally honest post-match interview.
Over a four-minute clip shared by the club’s official X account, which has racked up over six million views, he dissected his players’ shortcomings with surgical precision.
‘By no stretch of imagination I’m standing here defeated, by the way,’ he said after Forest Green conceded a last minute penalty to draw 2-2 away at Salford on January 6.
‘It’s just that the same mistakes keep happening. You change the manager [Horseman], because it’s partly the manager’s fault.
‘But it’s the players, mate. It’s not good enough.’
Far from toning down his criticism, the former Watford striker doubled down on his stance.
‘They [the players] are not good enough in those moments to be calm and collected,’ he said.
‘It’s really poor. Fundamentally, we have to get better in winning positions. We’ve tried to train it, we’ve tried to coach it, but now we’ve got to go and replace it.’
