Leadership Lessons from Sports Icons: Sir Alex Ferguson and Paul McGinley

good afternoon uh my name is violer Rollins and I am the executive director of the

London Business School Leadership Institute um and I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to this very

very special event uh Sir Alex Ferguson and Paul McGinley in conversation with Professor Randall Peterson so without

further Ado I'm going to pass over to Professor R Peterson all

right thank you Violet uh I want to kick us off here by just acknowledging that the that you two have both been here to

London business school before um but actually there's a much longer history uh of you guys both working with each

other and why don't we just start for the benefit of everybody here how the two of you met and what what the nature

of that Rel ship has been over time well yeah we we met about 20 years ago in a proam in Ireland um where I was

drawn uh to play with Sir Alex and we had a we had a really good time together 36 holes and uh dinner that night um and

then uh obviously we went back to our own careers you were busy winning European cups and Premier Leagues and uh

I I was a professional golfer at the time went on to uh to play uh obviously Ryder cups and and when I evolved into

being the rder Cup captain um I sat down and uh looked at not just what was in front of me but also myself

um where I felt I was strong where I felt I was weak um what challenges I was going to be facing as Captain um and how

I was going to uh conquer those challenges and and um what kind of help I might need along the way obviously a

vice captains are very important part of uh of of my structure and I I was thinking carefully along those and and

also I needed a couple of people in terms of sounding boards um but when I looked at the challenges the things that

jumped out for me um there was three things in particular um one was that the identity that I wanted a team to play to

play on um I'm a great believer in uh if you having fun doing something you're probably going to do it well and I

wanted us to play H to to be a team who were going to have a lot of fun taking on a challenge we were going to do and

as much as I'm not a man united fan I'm a West Ham fan uh I always enjoyed watching Man United play not I can't say

that about every other team but I did certainly enjoy watching man united if they were on TV I would watch them

particularly they were playing at home and I love the the the way they played in the front foot this wave after wave

of attack they always had a go and I kind it as a as a kind of as played with a smile on their face you know they were

a fun team to watch so that was the first identity I wanted to have as a wanted to have and um the second one uh

was that I was going up against a formidable captain in Tom Watson whose playing career was way up there compared

to mine in terms of major championships won and and stature in the game um and how I was going to deal with that

particularly in the media in the two-year run up to the Ridder cup captaincy and then the third thing was

um I played three Rider cups I was always from number six to 12 on the team um so I had empathy with those guys on

the team um from one to six though uh I didn't really have the same empathy because I never was one of those

soldiers never was one of those players and um how do you manage a Rory maoy or at

Justin Rose these superstars of the game Henrik Stenson Sergio Garcia um so putting those three big challenges

together um I come up with the idea that I'd Rec contct Sir Alex and uh and see if he would help me so um he invited me

up to uh Manchester and we went up and we had lunch you were unemployed at the time you just come out of

employment uh so we had uh Pion and uh we had a nice lunch um very nice lunch I got the train up so I was

able to enjoy his lovely bottle of red wine um and and that's where it started and that's where our conversation

started that was probably a year just over a year in advance of the Ryder Cup 2014 well it was actually a year before

the the competition which impressed me quite a lot and after listening to Paul about his plans and even talking about

who his opening two players are going to be I thought this is something I really enjoy somebody has organized with us has

got the drive ambition to do really well and I agree to be part of it and my job really was to because one of the key

things and when you're successful when you're in a big competition happens all the time is

complacency and it was by real sheer coincidence that I mentioned Medina when on Saturday night the USA

106 they're sitting there him dinner a great position the only thing that Europe

could do was win the first game and see where it took them and from there they win the first

game but confusion possibly they win the next game panic and after that was

capitulation because the complacency come right into them and I spoke of that and by a sheer coincidence on Saturday

night the rider CAU me GW Eagles you were winning 10 six so it was a great opportunity and it was some examples

about about um complin and that affects of all of us is a disease you cannot get out of it once it's there you cannot go

out to it's like we always said that halftime you're winning 2-0 it's a dangerous score

line because you lose a goal it's a different game so always but complacency at halftime

came to the same routine as we were doing go for the throat don't give an inch away etc etc I don't know if anyone

remember First Med was that the game as ainka against Williams she beats

herself beats um William S to go 53 up in the final set she's going for herself to win the

game she turns to her box she goes yes Williams looked at her the only thing Williams could do was win the next point

and the next point and the next point and win it can you imagine what aara was thinking that night in bed b had head

under the pillar H you never waken up that is that happens complacency happens and it's that was one of the messages we

get across to the players go for the throw all times and if you lose a hole win the next hole that's all you can do

particular in an individual sport uh like tennis or or boxing or or golf win the next hole win the next Point win the

next game so that was a kind of message I want to across to the players because in my all my time at United or any job I

ever had always worried about complacency always worried about it was the main theme with driving home about

this complacency and the other thing we spoke about was um story about the

geese and uh had a a friend of mine cousin's a farm in Canada sitting wday he says yeah my

cousin stand there I says it's amazing you know says you know the geese wave every way October flying 4,000 miles to

get sun and I thought that's a great story that so they find two v's right the ones in the second V going to

slipstream with the ones at front if one takes ill two go away and look after it now that is fantastic

teamwork so we won the league one year my opening speech to the players the first day of the season was story of the

geese and I went to um to bz her French goalkeeper who is quite a relaxed guy of life that says um and I and I made a

mistake about saying the French word for kiss was here D which is not as it turned out when Victor

Peter yeah um I says here on Dale I'm going to tell a story about here in Dale and he

goes what now don't because his B I'm saying he he understands anyway I carried on I said know these and I told

the story the G I said oh I'm asking you these body Gees F 4,000 miles for a about a sun all I'm asking you to do is

to put with 38 games and win the leek that's not too much is it so that was uh and anyway on the

final day when we win the re r a cup the team are getting a photograph taken what flies over them geese they're all

pointing to the GE it was a photograph taken and uh and yeah we we were all pointing up and uh we did a painting of

it and I presented it to all the players and the Cades and and to you as well so re really the points was that uh the the

big thing I learned from from our from our lunches and discussions o over the year uh prior to Ric cup was was this

importance of continuity um the continuity of message that the same message was getting repeated to the

players um complacency was an important um subject because we'd won the last two Rider cups um we'd won seven out of nine

um and complacency was something that I was worried about as Captain we were a little bit too happy with ourselves we

we you know I didn't want I want us to be on edge uh I wanted to us to have as a team that freshness um that

anticipation that nerves um uh or those nerves and that's why complacency was was an important important part and then

we also talked then about in the modern the modern day in terms of players playing Five matches um and and you know

how tough it is to play five matches um in in two and a half days um hence the importance of the geese and that's where

that story came along and he told a story about shared responsibility so you know there was continuity in everything

that we did and then you take all what we talked about and that's when I then transferred them into the images that we

saw in the team room and those images Illustrated each of these points um with the complacency one turned into a huge

big image uh of of a rock and a raging Storm underneath we will be The Rock when the storm comes and that was that

was come out of the out of the complacency conversation along with what happened to the American team in Medina

and then as as as Alex says we were four points ahe with into the singles and uh I got a text message from them that

night one word complacency and exactly what he meant right so share a few thoughts or a

few examples of specific things you've done and said working with your respective teams to when you when you

feel complex Andy uh might be a concern well the amount of times I stressed that I didn't expect it and I

think that when uh the one was at United the expectation was strong and didn't expect them to let me down in that as

but there may have been occasion but we never lost the message about that never lost the message uh it

was always mentioned every team talk we always mentioned I would do at the end of my team talk it was always about

complacency work ethic and concentration and concentration equally is the same as complacency these are vital components

of being successful you know use your concentration I I I did this stff thing I bought 24 chess

sets I I'm going to teach him to play chess I Bal it i i b it yeah they think I'm saying they think it's a gimmick I'm

sure the M think is a g make I say what the hell is he doing now and they're still lying there in carington I think

these CH but no to really serious about Chess is anyone who's played it you do need to

concentrate I mean it's a long concentration too whereas a football concentration you could be F in seconds

M you just drop your concentration a corner kick or a free kick or a passing the ball and you're dead you know so but

anyway I thought it was a it would have been a good thing to try you know but it didn't didn't

work my my um I got two stories on the complacency theme and one of them was when I was a player in 200 four Bernard

Langer was the captain who I learned a lot from as a captain uh Germanic and he approached it in a very structured

organized way his captaincy wasn't the emotional captain that Sam Torrance was who I played under two years previously

um and um Bernard Langer is a guy I've never ever ever even to this day heard curse he never uses a swear word and um

we were four points ahead going into the singles and we were all in this big boardroom where we're having our team

meeting on a Saturday night we were very happy with ourselves as a team we were sitting down a couple of guys were

having a little bear some guys were having Coke everybody was chatter chatter chatter and buron Lang are

always stayed outside the room until 7:00 and at 7:00 he'd come in even though everybody might have been in at

5: to 7 he wouldn't come in until 7: um and at 7:00 he comes in and we're all very happy and things go quiet and we're

waiting for him to get the the meeting where he sits at the top of the table on the way and we're all quite happy with

ourselves and we're ready for the we're ready for the uh well done Lads what a terrific performance away from home

we're four points ahead away away from Victory here oh sorry we're four-point lead and we're on the thresholds of

Victory we've done wonderfully well tomorrow it's all about concentrating and Well Done everybody's been great and

we're ready for this kind of um this kind of chat from the captain and uh as he said down it went silent and he

lifted up his fist like this and he slammed it as hard as he could into the desk and everybody kind of shook first

of all this is Bernard Langer to do this something like this was unheard of and he said and I won't use the word I

tomorrow I want the effing record not just win obliterate them um and all of a sudden the whole

vibe in the r changed from Wow we still have a lot of work to do and that that very much brought home um a re

channeling of our energies um so that was the first story um on on complacency um the second one was um

based on our conversations and and and the importance of it and what happened to the American team in Madina in 2012

and the next Edition uh was in 14 um going into the team meeting on the Saturday night as Sir Alex said we were

four points ahead uh and I had ideas what I wanted to say to the team based around complacency

which I did but I wanted the meeting to be short and short and uh very precise and getting the messages across so what

I asked at the last meeting was for our most experienced player in the room

including the vice captains uh Lee Westwood um to speak and address the Players

himself um we had a little Podium like this and I want them to address it so I gave him good advanced notice and I said

look Lee I want I want you to say something on complacency we're four points

ahead um this is what I'm going to say and I want you to come in on the back of that so he did and he spoke for maybe

three minutes um and he spoke very clearly very precisely and his point was there's been

four sessions so far in this rer cup we might be four points ahead but we've only won two sessions out of the four

America have also won two we need to win the single session tomorrow then we win 3-2 as well as a victory in the rder cup

so again that turned everybody's focus into the what was ahead of us and and refocus us and re-energize Us in so

there are the two stories on complacency but to be complacent you got to again into a good position in the first place

and that's a whole different story right and that's a story I want to follow up on now um both of you have been willing

to make some sometimes controversial changes um I think particularly you sir Alex has made some changes that were not

necessarily popular with the fans in the immediate term um at times and you've had but talk a little bit about some of

the reasons for making those changes um I think we we had a short ation before this talking about you know kind of the

forward planning and thinking behind some of the things that may not be popular in the moment but actually have

a a longer term uh payoff well long a to help me um when I came to United of course the first thing I did was trust

him on conviction about developing a football club and a football team it's understandable in modern day football

that a coach concentrates his team because that keeps him the job I never worried about that I always believed

that to build the football club is the most important thing to do particularly through young people because I've always

believed in young people I did it some did aine so I wasn't going to change that and through that we developed a

fantastic football club where I could work three four years ahead where my team was going to be either be the young

players coming through or the profile of players we're looking at who could replace Aller players in the team it's a

difficult thing to do when you're when you're discussing the older players because uh a period um say for instance

with three Defenders getting older at the same time with um Bruce poister and Dennis

Iran and they were family really because I've had them for well Dennis for 11 years Gary pal and Steve Bruce were 9 10

years um and they like any f are playing in Manchester they want to play to the 90 but it doesn't happen they don't

realize that they're going back the way you know the age catches up with them my job is manager manchest United I'm not

their father I'm not their brother and it's people say I'm ruthless but I'm not ruthless I'm doing my job for Manchester

United that's what it's paid to do so I have to make sure that I've got the profile of a player who can replace that

you know either through the young players which where W brown who in my mind would have been one of our best of

our players but injuries he had fantastic Defender and he made his debut 18 against swed United which is not an

easy job an easy game but nonetheless the that long EV gave me that opportunity with three four years

ahead what I what I felt my team could be and um had a confence to do that uh and all all my teams throughout my time

United were averaging between 26 and A2 and 27 and A2 always so always true my my Ages were correct terms of young

players middle 20s and On's just over 30 and that never changed that was consistent with that and is it worked

because I knew we were going through that so that um it wasn't a problem for me to do that because as I said that we

build a structure which we were confident in yeah and to what extent do you say

look this is how we're this is what we are uh as a club and so I'm going to look for players that fit that versus

build around specific players well the profile thing is a bit more difficult of course um up until the the academy

system changed at time in England we were the best at at coaching scouting in England it changed meant that we

couldn't take a a player a young player with from outside an hour from Old Trafford which changed the Dynamics of a

football club great way which meant we then had to scout abroad greatly because or our European

players were name way Northern Hemisphere players Danish Scandinavian Norwegian

Sweden great the medical um records our tests were fantastic hard any blemishes in their joints speak English good

healthy upbringing outdoor and that that that was very successful for us but when the the the Dynamics of the club changed

through the academy system we then had to start going into to France Spain South America and to honest it was

fantastic and what I did then I brought in a coach who could speak languages car scaros because I can't speak five

languages I can speak Scottish but I can speak all French and all bit German as just small bits but

it's important to understand how you deal with other cultures it was fantastic period for us really brilliant

and my last in one year we had 21 nationalities and my final count United I think it was

something like 38 37 nationalities so I to structure that was really important in terms of making sure they got driving

license the uh the schools education the kids' education uh language te teachers getting their Bank details oh but we had

a good with had a good process for that you know mhm so um no that was it was really important

that um with a with a good structure of a football club could deal with all the things that we're doing is as progress

went along and of course both of you managed the you know very multinational teams um

in the end um and what are your insights in managing multinational team yeah I mean that's a it's it's

complex you know bringing individuals together particularly from a individual sport like golf is uh bringing 12 um

people who are brought up um from the age of 12 or 13 normally they're they're very good at a very young age and and

and thought and trained um in a very selfish sport like golf is it's an individual Sport and they're trained

with that mindset um I was um I I I took the view unlike and this is where we where we'll differ um you

know where what as Alex would have had as players and coach them and could harness them into the into the manunited

way and mold them over time into how he wanted the team to play and who he wanted them um to play with and and what

what structure he wanted to put around the team and how he could get get them integrated into the team um I didn't I'd

one shot at it uh over a two-year period um where there was only going to the first time that all be 12 together in

the same room at the same time will be the Monday of the rer cup so I didn't have any any opportunity to get them

together beforehand um so I very much took the view that they were individuals coming together to

play in a team and the best way of getting the most out of them was to let them stay as individuals um there's only

so much team bonding you can do in a week um and I didn't try to do something that I knew was not going to be feasible

that I've seen previous captains tried to do in the past um so we had a huge big uh a big quote as you walked into

our team room um and I said the best teamwork comes from those individuals uh working independently toward towards one

goal in unison now I know that's contrary to a lot of the talk you'll hear about teams um but for me it was

very applicable to the WR a cup because it's an individual Sport and there's only so much that I can do and Achieve

so what I tried to do um was I mean let's just take one example I mean you can go through all the players but the

one example would be would be Victor deison who was a rookie from France and the best way to describe him is if he's

left field he's way left of there um Victor uh and and and gram McDow and I had this idea that Victor needed a

strong guy in his shoulder I'd seen gray mcdal play that role with Rory maroy when Rory came on tour first um I

thought that had moved uh away they weren't going to be playing together and I wanted um grahe to play that senior

role with um with Victor so rather than Converse it with them I wanted to try it out so I spoke to the European tour and

advanced the ride a couple and as a result I got them to play together when they were playing European tour events

without them knowing that I was actually trying to get them bonded and if there was any issues I was going to find out

so um you know I'd run into them later in the week who' you play with this week Graeme I played with Victor yeah how

how's this game and you know that's where I was gathering information but all the time and then he would come to

the next tournament and he was pared with M but he still didn't cop on what was going on um and I was doing

something similar with Jamie Donaldson and and Lee Westwood and Rory and Sergio so and you know all of a sudden this is

how I was and if there was there was some things where it didn't kick off I said okay that's fine so I'll make sure

to keep him over there and him over there so that's how I manage the situation without actively getting them

on a day-to-day basis like you would have had at man united just want to add to one thing about um integration of

players coming different nationalities the best place is a sanctuary of the training ground because no one could get

into United's training ground the Press called it called it absolutely called it no again it's peaceful the players can

settle and get to know each other training sessions and you know that there was a most beautiful place in the

world is a training ground honestly your peace been a we work with players who want to work their intensity they

concentration fantastic now there just a one story about language with English people or British people were very poor

in general um we some of our players that came could speak languages some three four languages

but with one player from Uruguay Diego 41 who can speak five languages his last Club signed for a

Japanese Club went to the press conference and spoke in Japanese you believe that fantastic isn't it we don't

have I don't know what it is we don't have the capacity to want to learn languages because we expect everyone can

speak Lang English and that was a little problem with other players that um none of them could converse with the French

players the Spanish players they I need an interpreter someone call him over what is he saying but at the beginning

that was true but then the training ground brought all that together fantastic thing shared activity

of doing that and focus good just going back onto the training ground I mean you know we didn't have a training ground um

I just had conversations in in in the time leading into uh into the rder cup so so my plan my organization was um and

my structure was formed um on one to one with each player so my goal my complete goal was to have uh every player having

complete Clarity of what role he had to play in the team and what his function in the team is right down to how many

matches he were playing this is well in advance and who his potential Partners would be with um and painted the scene

of what would be like when he when he got to Glenn Eagles um they'd all played the golf course uh previously um and I

gave them all a file about four or five weeks out beforehand and talked about the Cor up in the rof and the green

speeds um and uh which I had control over as home Captain um photographs of what the inside of their of their rooms

would look like of the of their bedrooms just so they could get a real H their head around what what they were what

they were going to uh face all the uniforms they were tried on well in advance um a couple of times three times

so that we didn't have this last minute tailoring that i' seen in previous rer cups of everybody coming in with

trousers in my case normally trousers that are too long and having to be turned up um I wanted all that done so

when we got there we hit the ground running and I could get straight into uh right this is who you're going to be

playing in your practice rounds with but this the first day this the second day nine holes the third day um what's going

to happen in the evening time so they they well in Advan they weren't finding it out their mental energy when we got

to Glenn Eagles was all about getting prepared for Friday morning and hitting the first shot so Clarity and continuity

of message um were were something I I learned a lot and we conversed a lot about uh prior to so that uh there was

as I say real Clarity when there's Clarity when guys particularly people like like professional sports people who

are normally very structured and organized particularly uh in in a as I say a selfish game like golf is they

like to be organized and structured they don't like something H happening at the 11th hour so um I I tried to give them

that kind of structure so they could hit the ground running and and focus on the golf okay great um I wanted to ask a

question also about the relationship between technical skill skill is player versus

leadership uh and the leadership you need on the field with Captain Etc how do you are they how do they come

together do they not come together is it um what is the relationship between those um well my experience of been

having a captain in the field um unfortunately only last two or three years with Brian Robson because he was a

perfect Captain he was a fantastic leader players loved him committed I could make decisions on the

pitch you know without having to look across to me and he was a rarity and at that time I think captains would have a

a longer spell as as Captain but you know when the game changed and European Championship came into it and you

playing more games the captain had became um seemed to be passed along a bit this player wasn't available one

week this player wasn't available another week so the captain was shared by a few players you know he a in the

last spell with v Evra and Giggs the three were sharing it because V injuries every would replace and when video V

wasn't available and If These two weren't available Giggs whereas Brian robson's time he was a captain for a

long time you know so is is it I don't think it's the same importance it had when Brian Robinson was a captain I

don't well when it came to the ride of cup I mean my view was was very simply um in

terms of technical advice absolutely zero um I'm not going to tell Rory maroy that he should hit a five iron rather

than a six iron or that it's a left lip putt rather than a right lip putt he's a number one player in the world and who

am I to tell him what to do I didn't see my job as that um my job was to put structure on the team to energize the

team um and to have strong strategies that to give us the best chance of making that right a cup and the players

and the team around them I wanted to preserve like I said earlier I wanted to preserve um that selfish mindset that

they have on a day-to-day week- toe basis as professional golfers in a in a in a in a singular sport like golf is

and preserve that mindset and bring it on to Friday morning with that mindset so I told um we we brought along all the

coaches they opportunity to bring the coaches they had an opportunity to bring their physios um and I wanted to um

Empower them to to to arrive on a Friday morning as mentally prepared as they would be for a major championship um and

it was important that when they went into this team

um this team philosophy that we were going to have on Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday that they it didn't

sanitize them that they didn't lose that edge that they have individually because they're not trained they're not trained

for this they're trained for here but they're not trained for this and on Friday morning I wanted them where they

were here so I had to be very careful with that team Dynamic then I did sanitize them and soften them and take

their edges off um so uh I had to be um very careful with that uh converse with them with that um and also converse with

their team behind the scenes to make sure that they didn't let them go too far and it just shows you how important

the team is um one decision that I made um and it wasn't in the plan but one decision that I'd made uh was not down

to me or the vice captains it was down to the to the back room team of Henrik Stenson Henrik Stenson was warming up in

a the Saturday morning getting ready to play he'd won his two matches with Justin Rose at the number one game the

day before they were flying they were playing in the morning I forget who now they were playing I think they were

playing m coo I forget now anyway I I'll say it wrong if I if I try to remember but he was getting ready it was 7:15 in

the morning he's 45 minutes before his tea time and uh I had empowered the caddies um I had meetings with the

caddies every night and my view simply was as much as I might know um about Rory maoy game for example I don't know

anywhere near him as well as his caddy does so I wanted to preserve that that partnership and I didn't want to poke

into that partnership it was important that was a very powerful partnership that had won two major championships

that year and I wanted them there on the first te that way and it wasn't for me to start poking at that um having said

that I told the Cades that I was always there if there had any information that they wanted to give to me or share with

me I was there but that I would never intrude on that Dynamic and I wanted to preserve that Dynamic sure enough 7:15

on a Saturday morning um G Lord who carries for Henrik who's been counting from quite a while uh throws the eyes at

me this way um which means I want to have a chat but out of earshot of Henrik um so I kind of moved the o to the side

and around the corner where the crowd were and uh he followed me over and he said look he says I'm really worried

about Henrik this morning um he's tight he's not warming up properly um he's not hitting the ball well he's got a tight

back now for the last three or four months and I'm worried that he won't be able to do 36 again today haven't done

36 yesterday I said okay thanks lordy that's all you need to say leave that with me so then I went away and uh I

quietly um gave the eyes to the coach that I P cow and I wanted to have a word of him and he slipped away and I said

how are we doing this morning how is he feeling he said look he said bum bum I said look Lord he's after telling me

this about him what do you think he says I agree he says I don't know if he can get 36 tomorrow and then try to play the

singles tomorrow said okay fine so then I got on the radio and got his physio his coach who is as a trainer um who was

inside in the clubhouse went into him sat down with him and said where where you at at this stage now it's 25 minutes

before it's tea time and he said the same thing so I had to make a call and based on the three people who were

closest to him who' all give me the same information um I said right I'm going to take Henrik out this afternoon we'll get

him play this morning so went up to him and I said Henrik um pull him aside and I said look Henri I'm making a last

minute decision I know we got you planned for 36 today but I'm only going to take you for 18 today um I think your

back is a bit tight and I think you could do with the rest You' played a lot of golf the last few months and I've

just got a hunch that this is the best thing to do for you I want you to give a 100% this morning um and then knowing

that you're having a rest this afternoon before the singles are you okay with that we said yeah fine I'm okay with

that so then I had to go off and make a plan for who was going to come in in the afternoon um which which which I did um

but more importantly Henrik had 10 birdies that morning and won his game um so you know that was the importance

of the team that you have whether it be at Manion whether it be at the rer cup you're not just making all the decisions

yourself and everybody has to be rowing in behind you to give you the best information so that you can make your

calls great I have one last questions and that has to do with the media you've both been the subject of intense media

attention sometimes good not me as much as him now come on sometimes perhaps not so good um

how do you deal with uh the the stresses of managing multiple stakeholders you've got the media you've got the fans youve

got the players all going on at once and at the same time you've got to maintain your own sense of well-being and you

know staying on top of it yourself how do you how how did you balance all that over in your case Alex over many many

years um when I was arrived at United of course I wasn't used to the the sort of a of

press and the interest from all over the world and this what who was um work for Granada television Paul do they just

died recently um he came to see me he says well I'm just going to give you about advice you're getting into the

Press com that time W doing that great the first time it says you're own anxious he you've got to get yourself

sorted out he says wash your face or rub your face make sure you're physically ready was great better ADV advice

because you have to make at your press conference not theirs and what was happening with me was it was their press

conference because I was trying to pacify them or P platitudes with them so that they'

be easy on me it doesn't work that so from that moment on I made sure was my press conference so when I get

these dodgy questions I used to stare them and they away my answer and get them nervous

because it's important to to to remember that you think you're the weak one they're the weaker one because they got

they're W for a story and I always knew which way they were going cuz I used to see them in the the the car park all

grouping together and I could just I could read it and you ask the first question I'll ask I knew when the first

question come out where they were going and I made sure that they were going my way so important but anyone is in the

press conference it's really important to physically be ready because if you think about a football match I'm going

on television within say 5 10 minutes of the game and you know they ask that most

stupid question well what what you lose a game what went wrong I

mean if I knew if I knew the solution to that we wouldn't have lost is it's an interesting part because

I important my waater life oh last 15 years I stopped going to press conferences after the game you know why

there only p in there it's only the Press Association all the jours are in the in the tunnel trying to get the

players so a waste of time going to a press conference after the game the the most important thing this is what you're

talking about fans and maybe stakeholders the owners when you're doing a press

conference add a message for the fans always the messag of the fans in sense of where we're going uh what our

expectation was because they are the most important people the fans and my job is to send them home happy or even

if you lose a game they say well you know we run out of time or the referee was hopeless or you know there was

always a reason why we lost you know MH they're really important that for instance you know that people ask me

this all the time of these way goals we scored right now the reason is that CU I wanted to send them home happy right I

gambled I don't care if we're going to lose two nothing if we're down one n it doesn't matter three points that have

gone so I would send up more I was trying to make sure more players in the pitch who are capable of

scoring a goal and go for it and one occasion we played Wimbledon the replay FA Cup I play smel center for over the

last five minutes a Dennis Ser on halfway line against fashioner was 6'3 and thenn 7 was

5'8 but to me you want to n down a cup fight a cup tie you're out anyway so the gamble is worth and you know that you

know the value you get you score in the last minute how many goals did we score in the last minute of my time the last

minute 165 goals in the last last minute on the last 15 minutes 500 goals right that's because we gambled we're prepared

to try and take the the game two to other teams and the value is you come in at time up the players are jumping top

of each other the staff are going crazy directors are jumping in the showers everything you can't believe the

behavior of people when you be and the fans who can't wait till they get home to see their wives and tell them what

where the last minute go to the pub where MH that's what my job was to send them home happy you know and and the

value is is is incredible fantastic thank you and Paul yeah again it's something that we

conversed about when you know over our liquid lunches on on the nice uh French wine that that uh we had and that's the

big thing I took about from from these conversations was um control the press conference and controlling the the

message to to because the the players are listening to what you're saying in the media so you're you're your words

have to be uh very carefully chosen um and obviously when we were playing at home um talking to the crowd and getting

a message out to the crowd was obviously very important as well so um press conferences are a wonderful opportunity

uh when you are a leader in sport um to be able to get strong messages out and take strong positions

great thank you so much