Inside the dressing room

Paolo di Canio’s public defamation of his goalkeeper Wes Foderingham has become an instant viral hit (‘League WAN’). Rarely has a manager been so unashamedly critical of one of their players in front of the media, stating that the player must apologise to everybody or risk never playing for Swindon again. Can you imagine Arsene Wenger telling Match of the Day that if he sees Giroud miss another chance he will send him back to France immediately?

In the dressing room, however, I can imagine football managers not being quite so reserved when addressing their players. It is extremely rare for a camera to be present in any dressing room across the leagues. The only footage I can recalling seeing is of John Sitton, former manager of Leyton Orient, berating his team and turning the air very blue following a first half in which Orient had conceded three times. Why is it that cameras are not allowed access to football dressing rooms? It would be intriguing to see how the managers really earn their money, how they motivate players in certain situations; to see what it is that makes Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger the best managers in the game.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if, just for once, we were able to see Alex Fergusons’ infamous hairdryer treatment in full effect? Or peek into the dressing room of a team who are about to play in a Champions League final? How angry does Roberto Mancini really get with Mario Balotelli?

American football and baseball dressing rooms are far more accepting of the media, even allowing journalists to conduct post-match interviews in there. The truth is, the dressing room is the private arena strictly for the manager, his staff and his players to vent frustrations if necessary, to have a ‘quiet’ word with a particular player or simply talk tactics. To be honest, I cannot see any Premier League manager agreeing to the idea of having cameras inside their dressing rooms (the relationship between the press and the managers is strained enough as it is) but if it were to happen it would be fascinating to see behind the scenes at some of the biggest clubs in the world.

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