“I’ve sat with managers when we’ve been losing and they’ve just pulverised everybody,” Rathbone told Football Presse. “Nihilistic, negative, unproductive rubbish. Just hurling insults.”
Moyes was different.
At half-time, he and Alan Irvine would step into the office beside the dressing room.
“They’d have a quick meeting. Dave would then come in.”
Phase one: Accountability.
“If he needed to go into someone, he’d go into the big hitters. He wouldn’t bully the young lads. He’d go into your Nevs, your TCs, your Tim Cahills. ‘Not good enough. Sort it out or you’ll be sat with me.’”
Phase two: Tactics.
“‘We need to get tighter. Push up. Back four 10 yards higher. Move the ball quicker.’ It was clear, simple, direct.”
Phase three: Belief.
“‘We’re a goal down. There’s 40,000 fans behind us. We dig deep, we can still turn this around.’”
Rathbone is emphatic.
“I’ve never seen a manager with that ability — to go into people, rearrange things tactically, and then finish with a massive big loving ‘Come on, let’s go.’”
For him, Moyes was the best in the business at that.