No. It's not like you're taking out a large percentage of potential employees by not considering those with convictions for serious violence, is it? On another note, if the club, knowing the pending court case, did not write suitable get-out clauses into Deeney's new contract, I would be seriously surprised, especially given the recent bordel (ask ofh) we made over Cowie's.
i'd like to think that the fact that he is needed, is not colouring my opinion. I'd like to think that if it were one of the not so key players i'd feel the same. I didn't feel the same with Marlon King, but then, his offenses were repeat offenses and he hadn't learned his lesson, nor had he tried to give back to the community. So, i'd hope that anyone who has shown no sign of thuggish behaviour before, but obviously deserves his punishment gets a second chance, regardless of how useful a player he is for us.
It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case and how it compares. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/ne...ts_striker_denies_breaking_man_s_jaw/ref=twt/
Would say that one is rather different... being that Deeney kicked the man while he was down! The judge will see this as the guy being defenceless so somewhat a cowardly act, while a strong punch will be interpretated as being part of a fight, although hit with substantial force. Not condoning either - but would say the kicking of someone while they are down is the big reason for such a large sentance!
Surprised by the comments on here - Deeney should be sacked asap. Kicking someone in the head while they are already down - how callous and cowardly can you get ? Don't want him in my team.
We cant just cast people out of society because of what they do..... there has to be a place of everyone with of course all the safeguards etc..... Golden opp for Troy to make up for the error of his ways on discharge..... if not.... .well then a different matter...
You may be right, though it's hard to see at this moment how he can do this in the context of remaining at WFC. I do think "the error of his ways" suggests his offence can be put down simply to his being a little misguided. If the trial was accurately reported it suggests he was a prime mover in a violent, cowardly attack. How TD sees the world I wouldn't like to say, but there would appear to be more than a minor adjustment required here.
Obviously we can't comment on a specific case before it has gone to court. But if someone were to hit me hard, and I had good reason to believe that they will not stop hitting me until I'm seriously injured, the law entitles me to do what I feel necessary to protect myself. It's perfectly possible that if I'm a strong person, breaking the other person's jaw could be the result. On the other hand, if I were to escalate a verbal argument into a punch which broke someone's jaw, without the other person having done anything, I would be in very serious trouble. Possibly worse than Deeney.
I don't think there is great deal new in this report from the WO, but they have put it on the site. http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/ne...ts_star_s_brother_tweets_on_sentence/ref=twt/
He should serve his time and keep stum. It really leaves us with severely limited striking options now....
I'm all for giving someone a new chance to work their way back into society etc. and would have no problem with our club doing this if the offender showed true remorse for his actions. Having served a prison sentence then the slate is clear as far as I am concerned and his punishment should not then continue into his later professional life. Having said that however, paying his wages for possibly 10 months (O.K. it could be considerably less but we cannot plan for that), is an absolute no go - no business of any description would consider this step. So, his contract must be cancelled - there is really no other choice, and then we can offer him a new one when he comes out - if the circumstances are right and other clubs are not interested. The question has been raised elsewhere of whether this could have any negative repercussions on the sale of the club. The answer is probably not - however it may be an eye opener to any Italian buyers. Firstly because the Italian relationship to alcohol tends to be very different to ours, but more importantly because footballers are seen as athletes in Italy and their training reflects this, being little different to that of people training for e.g. the Olympics. For owners of an Italian Football club the idea of a player being in a night club until 2 in the morning in a normal working week with training the next day and a match a few days later is absolutely incomprehensible.
The fact as seen in the court of law that he kicked someone whilst down means I would hate to see him in a watford shirt again. His brothers attitude of "all he did was win a fight" is beyond contempt. I get the feeling these are the type of people I despise and I disagree with previous poster, there isn't a place in society for everybody and definitely not for thugs in high profile poster positions. The initial rejection from entry to a club was based on somebody carrying an iron bar, judging by the sentencing I wonder who that cowardly tw*t was?
Out of semi-retirement to have my half a crowns worth (elderlies of the world unite!). Cant help thinking theres a connection between the 'give second chancers' and it happens to involve a player who scored a few goals last season. Wonder whether people would be as willing to forgive if this had been a player from another club.Dont think Mr Deeney will have too much difficulty just saying sorry if his livelihoods at stake,wont necessarily mean much tho. Mr Lux,hard to grasp your casual/flippant attitude ''worse happens'' etc.Its perhaps fortunate that the person on the ground didnt lose his life...but YOURE ''Just fed Up Of It'' !! Football and the clubs more important eh?
A good response Nick. This subject clearly can split opinion. There has been a great deal said about Watford being a family club. I have to ask what would a family do if a member had been jailed? Would they say don't set foot in this house again? I will stick with my view that people within the club will know him better than I do, and I will see what they decide to do.
I don't go with the family analogy. Deeney's family do appear to be standing by him. I suspect we would all have our children back in the house, though not without some serious negotiating about their future behaviour. Keeping him in professional employment is a different question. I, and I'm sure many others on here, would certainly have lost our jobs if we had been given a prison sentence for such an offence. If he is to be rehabilitated, and let's hope he is capable of taking a different view of what's acceptable, it may have to be elsewhere, professionally at least.
It's hard to know what to think about this - and I for one am glad I don't have to make the decision. The reference by aberdeen to an iron bar is certainly worrying, as is his brothers tweeting - obviously no acceptance of responsibility in spite of having admitted guilt. Given that prison is no longer a punishment centre, but more a rehabilitation centre, I'm almost inclined to say suspend rather than cancel his contract (if that is possible) for the duration of his sentence then assess how well he has been rehabilitated after release before resurrecting it. But then I think "How far off manslaughter or even murder, given the iron bar, was this?" - and liken it to the goalkeeper who killed two kids whilst driving drunk - and my head starts to spin. It will be interesting to see what the club finally decide, but I really think they have no option but to 'sack' him. If they don't, they may well find out what fan/community outrage really means. Hearts found that out last year over the Craig Thompson issue - they announced that he would be kept on, but public outrage forced them to reconsider. Thompson is now playing on loan in Lithuania, where either they don't read the overseas press or Thompson's sort of crime is perfectly acceptable.
Why does it have to be?? If a manslaughter can get a new contract and a woman beater can get a better deal, why shouldn't Deeney??
Are some of us not being just a little holier than thou on this one? A good friend of mine had a fight with his brother and ended up going to prison.... he wasnt a criminal as such... but he lost his temprer bigtime once and paid a price... I really cant live by the view that there are 'good people' and there are 'evil people'. The psychiatrist R D Lanng differrentiated between so called sane people and so called mad people.. "We are all murderers and prostitutes --no matter to what culture, society, class, nation one belongs, no matter how normal, moral, or mature, one takes oneself to be.... Society highly values its normal man. It educates children to lose themselves and to become absurd, and thus to be normal. Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years. " In other words we all have it in us..... If he had in calculation gone out to commit a crime then in my view the implications are different... and of course if he does not show remorse etc... I think a Mr Blair and a Mr Bush are still walking free without remorse....
