Coach of footballer Maddy Cusack denies calling her a 'psycho' and tells inquest he tried to support her during struggles
Jonathan Morgan said Cusack was "massively" stressed about Sheffield United's form when he took over as coach
Footballer Maddy Cusack's former coach has denied calling her a "psycho" and told her inquest that he supported the player and was "really happy" to keep her on his team.
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Jonathan Morgan, the former manager of United’s women’s team, said he "put everyone first", adding that it was a "tough time" at the club because they were facing relegation when he joined.
Ms Cusack, 27, was found unconscious by her father at their family home in Horsley, Derbyshire, in September 2023, and she died the same day.
Her inquest hearing ongoing at Chesterfield Coroner's previously heard that her partner and team-mate Grace Riglar, said Cusack was anxious about Mr Morgan joining the club in February 2023 after her experience of working with him at Leicester years earlier.
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It also heard the coach made comments about her weight and relationship.
Mr Morgan, who is representing himself at the inquest and was asked questions by his sister Holly Morgan on Tuesday, said he supported Cusack by improving one of her training programmes and by helping her continue her marketing job alongside football.
The former coach said: "I provided her with as much money in the contract as I was able to within the budget.
"I wanted her in my senior leadership team, I wanted her opinions. You would not make someone vice captain if you felt you did not have a good relationship with them.
"For me, it was not just about Maddy. It was about everybody in that environment. Everybody was helped, everybody was supported.
"You can't say I didn’t put everyone first in that time period. The reality is it’s physically impossible for me to know what they all think of me.
"You know you’re going to upset people as well as make people happy."
The inquest has previously heard that Mr Morgan called Cusack "bottom heavy", which he said was referencing her muscular legs, and said "here come the girlfriends" when Cusack was walking with Ms Riglar.
He denied calling Cusack a "psycho" from the sidelines during a match before he was appointed manager at United.
Mr Morgan said players at the club were "very frustrated" because they had only won one of the ten games they played when he joined, and added that Cusack was “massively” stressed about this.
He told the coroner: "(I was) just really happy we were in this position to keep her.
"(It was) really positive. She’s shown she’s happy – happy with the way I have handled the first period of the relegation battle, that she wanted to be there next season."
In September, Cusack told the coach she was taking time off work and had been given medication for her mental health.
Asked "Did you ever talk negatively about mental health?", the former manager replied: "No."
The inquest heard that Morgan did not speak to the club’s HR department when Cusack got a sick note from her GP, but he did speak to the club’s doctor Dr Subhashis Basu.
He said: "I felt I passed it on to Dr Basu. His experience and his professionalism and his work he was doing, I felt he was for me the best person to go to to support Maddy.
"I went to Dr Basu, I was informed he would take on the rest of it."