Barnes: entertaining stuff

I'd never accuse a player of not trying, but unless you're going to be accountable for your own performances, subconsciously you know that if things go wrong the managers the one that's going to get the sack, so it's difficult.

John Barnes
Quotes of the week

John Barnes says the late Sir Bobby Robson's team talks were the best he ever experienced.

The Liverpool legend played under Robson for England between 1983 and 1990, and he revealed his dressing room speeches were not only inspirational but entertaining too!

Barnes hung up his boots in 1999 having played under great managers such as Kenny Dalglish and Graham Taylor.

However, he picked out Robson as the man who always said the right thing at the right time... even when it was wrong!

"Bobby Robson I would say used to give the best team talks in terms of entertainment," he told Soccer AM.

"Sometimes he would get peoples names wrong which was always funny. And he would always just revert to the good old British up and at them.

"He would try and be very sensible about the tactics and everything, but would eventually just say 'kick lumps out of them'!"

Power

The 46-year-old, who has managed Celtic, Jamaica and Tranmere Rovers revealed his management style is altogether different.

Barnes believes players no longer respond to being screamed at and have more power than they ever have before.

"I'm quite laid back and calm and these days it's a little bit different," he said.

"In the old days you could shout and scream at them and offer them out for fight, which quite often happened.

"But these days you have to be quite careful because players now are quite precious at times, even down in the lower divisions, so you can't shout and scream at them anymore.

"Players have got much more power and it's not just at the highest level. If things go wrong it's always the manager's fault.

"I'd never accuse a player of not trying, but unless you're going to be accountable for your own performances, subconsciously you know that if things go wrong the managers the one that's going to get the sack, so it's difficult."

Praise

So do players listen and respond to what their managers are saying in dressing rooms up and down the country? Not always according to Barnes.

"If you're praising them they will!" he said.

"It's interesting with the foreign players because I remember when they first came over, and all the old managers and English players will tell you this, they couldn't understand English at all when they're getting a rollicking!

"When the managers shouting at them they don't understand, but as soon as they start mentioning bonuses or how well they're playing, they understand it very well!"