I agree - he was clearly very irritated and we should also remember the Luka red card and the absurd hand ball decisions against Everton. He has every right to feel annoyed when you look at the bigger picture.

What I thought was especially revealing was that he clearly has no time for what he considers absurd questions; equally, my impression is that he does not like to be crossed and this would extend into his management of the club and the players. I suspect he tolerates Freedman but probably not much more than that.

Again, its just an impression, but the players seem to have a lot of respect for him and to find a coach - at his age - on the training pitch every single day is remarkable especially when you compare it with the likes of Warnock and Pardew. Palace are lucky to have him and Ray in my opinion and I can certainly see him carrying on for at least another season.

Agree with this. Unfortunately when there isn’t a ball carrier or 2 or 3 we’re left clueless, as we’ve seen in so many 2nd halves at home 0-1 down.

COYP

You would certainly expect a man with Roys CV and life experience not to suffer fools, and Christ only knows there are an ever increasing army of them in football 'journalism'.

Recipe for a prickly manager:

1. Take 1 multi-lingual, articulate, honest and reasonable man who's clocked up an astonishing 44 years as a top flight club and international coach all around the world.

2. Ensure he is contractually obligated to answer pointless, banal questions from the media. For added zest, ensure that should he ever speak openly and honestly it is instantly to his detriment (e.g stir in FA fines for saying anything that anyone with eyes and a brain already knows to be true, add a pinch of negative media coverage to taste).

3. Pounce on him within moments of the final whistle, ideally after he's just seen his team robbed by awful refereeing, the impact of which will carry over into the next game against the champions, and against which there is no right of appeal. For added spiciness, give him no time whatsoever to calm down, or to be with his players.

4. To garnish, get some empty-headed media graduate to offer their personal tactical assessment of said coaches work. For best results, ensure 'touchline reporter' has no known relevant skills, experience or reputation.

5. After three or four minutes at Gas Mark 5 you should get something like this:

[Link]

Bon appetit!

Edited by TheBigToePunt (18 Dec 2020 2.28pm)

You could say it's media training but probably a lot more to do with old school savvy.

Every man and his blog nowadays is an expert (even probably meself on this forum). Barrel loads of conjecture and speculation because opinion generates clicks...

I really admire how the club handled the injury dilemma that ran from late last season into beginning of this. Did'nt draw attention to it so did'nt give opponents a chance to exploit it. Of course we now have a near full complement to improve tactics and more importantly: strategy.

As I said, media training is important but Roy's instinct and savvy will get us over the line.

Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life.

Mourinho having a go about stats today in the Guardian [Link] . If you want to annoy a Brighton supporter tell them possession doesn’t win games , they’ll quote you list of moneyball stats , possession to points correlations and all sorts ignoring that good teams win because they have the best players and are able to break down teams in the final third. Brighton build up possession playing in front of the opposition and letting them regroup. Possession stats are irrelevant to us because we look to get the ball forward quickly and create opportunities we are not looking to hold the ball, in the main would you rather see WIlf tear at defend with 30/40 yards in front of him to play in or keep possession and play a sessible ball back to the Cahill? That should be Hodgson's response when question on stats.
Stats can be important to illustrate complex patterns but broad stats like possession or shots on goal are simplistic and blunt. By the way my job is a statistician so I’m not against stats.

One supporter of hacking argued that without it "you will do away with the courage and pluck of the game, and I will be bound to bring over a lot of Frenchmen who would beat you with a week's practice -Blackheath secretary at first meeting of the F.A

looks just on the cusp of thumping the interviewer..

Kids,tired of being bothered by your pesky parents?
Then leave home, get a job & pay your own bills, while you still know everything.