I grabbed director of football by the throat and picked him off the floor in front of my team-mates, reveals Troy Deeney

TROY DEENEY has revealed the moment he grabbed a director of football by the throat before lifting him off the floor in front of team-mates.

Deeney, 36, laid bare the crazy tale from his time at Watford after 11 years at the club.

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The striker scored 140 goals in 419 games for the Hornets between 2010 and 2021.

He helped win promotion to the Premier League on two separate occasions.

And Deeney remains a fan favourite at Vicarage Road to this day.

However, the SunSport columnist claims he had a run-in towards the end of his Watford days with former sporting director Cristiano Giaretta.

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Deeney claims the Italian would constantly monitor training sessions from the sideline.

And one time he informed then-manager Xisco Munoz not to start Deeney in an upcoming game.

Deeney then went off to do his own training session.

But the forward was left irate when he felt Giaretta was laughing at him, sending Deeney into a fit of rage.

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Deeney told Under The Cosh: “I don’t know if he was laughing at me or in general.

“I went from being mad at 30 per cent to 300. The old me said to myself ‘are you really going to let him laugh in your face?’

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“I went straight back out and went to him, ’Is there a f*****g problem? Who the f**k are you laughing at?’

“‘You’re going to get me paid up or tomorrow morning you’re going hanging out of your office by your f*****g tie.’

“He nervously laughed and I thought again it was at me so I grabbed him by the neck and said, ‘Laugh at me again, I dare you. I’ll f*****g put you in the ground’.

“I’ve realised I’ve grabbed him and picked him up off the floor. I’ve got the whole team (watching) going, ‘Oh s**’t what’s happened’.”

That season proved to be Deeney’s last at Watford, with the forward joining Birmingham a year later.

After two seasons in the Midlands he moved to League Two outfit Forest Green Rovers, where he became player-manager before being sacked in January.