# 'People Do Not Just Fail to Turn Up' — Woking Hit Back at Defoe After Exit
Woking's version of events makes this look a lot worse than a simple parting of ways.
Jermain Defoe lasted four months as Woking head coach. That's already the story. But now the club's director of football, Jody Brown, has come out swinging — and the specific detail he's put on record changes the conversation entirely.
According to Brown, Defoe didn't turn up for a meeting. He didn't turn up for training either. And Brown didn't mince it: "People do not just fail to turn up." That's not a diplomatic statement. That's a club publicly calling out a former employee for going absent without explanation.
This Is Not Normal
There's a difference between a manager leaving by mutual consent and a manager simply not being there. Clubs and managers fall out all the time. Contracts get terminated. Relationships break down. That's football at every level. But not showing up — to meetings, to training — that's a different category of departure. That's not a disagreement about tactics or squad building. That's a breakdown that's gone well past professional.
Brown also referenced "growing concerns" within the club before Defoe left. He didn't spell out exactly what those concerns were. But the combination — no-show at a meeting, no-show at training, growing internal concerns — paints a picture of a situation that was already collapsing before it formally ended.
Defoe Hasn't Had an Easy Ride Into Management
This was Defoe's first senior head coach role. He came in with zero managerial experience at first-team level. That's a risk any club takes when they appoint someone on the strength of their playing career and their passion for the game. Woking took that bet. Four months in, the whole thing has ended with the club publicly questioning his basic professionalism.
That's hard to come back from in management circles. Reputation matters. It matters especially when you're new to the job and haven't had time to build a body of work that can speak for itself. Right now, the only public record of Defoe's time in management is four months and a director of football saying he disappeared.
Woking Aren't Without Questions Either
This isn't one-sided. If there were "growing concerns" within the club, the question has to be asked — what were they? Concerns about results? About the style of play? About the relationship between Defoe and the squad? Brown hasn't said. And a club that's willing to go public with the no-show detail but stays vague on the underlying concerns is controlling the narrative, not just telling the truth.
That's not a criticism of Brown for speaking up. The club has every right to defend itself publicly. But there's clearly more to this story that hasn't come out yet. The "growing concerns" line is doing heavy lifting without any weight attached to it.
What Defoe Says Next Matters
So far, it's one side talking. Defoe hasn't responded publicly — at least not on record in what we've seen. That silence might be deliberate. It might be temporary. But the longer it continues, the more Brown's version of events becomes the accepted one.
If Defoe has context that changes this — a personal situation, a dispute with the club that made the environment untenable — now is the time to put it out there. Staying quiet while the other side frames the narrative is rarely the smart move.
Our Verdict
Woking came out and said it plainly: Defoe didn't show. That's damaging. It doesn't mean Woking handled everything perfectly behind the scenes — we don't know enough to say that. But "people do not just fail to turn up" is not something a director of football says unless he's got no doubt about the facts. Four months, no appearances at key sessions, and a club publicly questioning your conduct. That's not a difficult start to management. That's a serious problem.
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Image via [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jermain_Defoe) / Wikimedia Commons