Robert de Pauw’s departure from his role as Aston Villa’s women’s team manager on Wednesday came amid concerns regarding the way he had allegedly spoken to his players, including about their appearance, the Guardian has been told.
It is understood concerns were raised internally about the Dutchman’s allegedly unprofessional remarks and that this was looked into by the club. De Pauw and Aston Villa were contacted for a response.
De Pauw has denied making comments about players appearances and labelled the allegation “disgusting”. In a post on the social media platform X at 11.42pm on Wednesday, he wrote: “They told me the English media could be low but this low. I never make comments about players appearances. As a former social worker and father of a daughter I’m disgusted by people who would do this.”
He added: “In my former job as a social worker I stood for women and young children that needed protection. News papers that just throw things around without having facts are disgraceful and damaging for persons lives.”
The Women’s Super League club announced De Pauw had left hours before their Women’s League Cup group game against Charlton on Wednesday. The Guardian revealed on Tuesday that the club were considering De Pauw’s future and that he had not taken charge of the usual training session that day.
In the early hours of Wednesday De Pauw, who was in charge for less than six months and oversaw nine WSL games, had posted a cryptic update on LinkedIn. His post made no reference to Villa but he wrote about “never shying away from difficult decisions” rather than trying to “win a popularity contest”, before posting a link to an article regarding his departure from Bayer Leverkusen.
De Pauw wrote: “As a football manager the hardest thing is the loads of daily choices you have to make. Short term, long term. Popular decisions, unpopular decisions. Weekly having to disappoint players because you can only play 11 and have to disappoint 14 others.
“You need the backing of the club if you want the team to go from average, to good, to better, to top. This reselecting and developing of a team is [a] necessary thing to do to make these steps. I did this in Leverkusen the past two seasons selecting on football, behaviour and characteristics of the players. I never shy away from difficult decisions and I will certainly not win the popularity contests. Because you can never satisfy everyone. But always keeping standards high to get the best out of the team and each other.”
The 43-year-old joined Villa in late June, when he signed a three-year deal with the option of a further year. Leverkusen finished sixth in the Frauen-Bundesliga last season after a fifth-placed finish in the previous campaign.
After Sunday’s 4-0 loss at Arsenal Villa are ninth, one point above the relegation zone. De Pauw oversaw one league victory and Shaun Goater, the former Manchester City striker, has taken temporary charge.
