One of the most revelatory six months in this industry was spent alone in the company of Sir Alex Ferguson. The circumstances are not particularly important, but the subject was, at least in part, related to the way in which the Manchester United manager dealt with the media.
Ferguson, then still in his prime, was particularly animated when it came to the issue of post-match TV interviews, or ‘trial on camera’ as he called it.
“You have no idea what it could be like,” Ferguson said.
“You just lost a match and there you are in front of the camera with the whole world peering into your soul.”
Ferguson was a formidable opponent for anyone lucky enough to have a camera, microphone or even pen and paper near him. The Scot could be an intimidating man, an aura that only grew in direct parallel to his success. In later years he did not need friends in the media. All the allies he ever needed were huddled in a trophy cabinet at Old Trafford. So it was interesting to hear firsthand that he was still feeling the stress of it all, but perhaps not surprising.
An irate Jurgen Klopp stormed out of a post-match interview on Scandinavian TV following Liverpool’s dramatic 4-3 FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Man United at Old Trafford on Sunday
Klopp apparently took offense to a question criticizing his team’s intensity in extra time
It was unusual from Klopp, but not particularly surprising given the pressure managers face
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Football managers and, to a lesser extent, players are at their most naked, emotional and vulnerable when they stand in the interview room of stadiums with an adrenaline rush and the sweat not yet dried. Success does not insulate you from that.
And it was this sensitivity to pressure that was undoubtedly scripted by Jurgen Klopp’s impromptu decision to walk out during a post-match interview on Danish television after Sunday’s FA Cup disaster against Manchester United.
Klopp said he didn’t like a question. ‘Stupid’ he called it. The interviewer in question – Niels Christian Frederiksen – has subsequently claimed that the Liverpool manager shouted at him as he stormed into the tunnel and that is something the broadcaster may come to regret. There is an unofficial omerta when it comes to reporting such things, and as such there are some members of the Premier League managerial community who will feel that code has now been broken.
But in terms of Klopp and his behaviour, it’s unusual but not particularly surprising to hear about. The number of ‘flash’ interviews – as they are called – that managers are required to give to domestic and foreign rights holders before and after big matches can run into double figures and is growing every season. It is one of the prices paid for the flood of TV and radio money that continues to flow into the English game.
The environment can therefore be one of repetition and even tension on both sides of the divide. Managers are stressed and have not had time to calm down, as is often the case by the time they reach a written media press conference about 45 minutes later. Words may therefore be muttered in anger. It is also not an easy road for TV reporters.
Sky’s former touchline reporter Geoff Shreeves was probably the best at it and he said to me: ‘It’s not about what I want to ask. That’s what our viewers want to ask. What do they want to know? But it remains a challenge to formulate that question in a respectful and rational manner.
‘Maybe it should be a challenge and then maybe there should be a follow-up. I don’t want to lose anyone after question one, do I? Because then I have let the viewer down.
‘You cannot avoid a subject, because then you are not doing your job properly. You know it will be a sensitive topic, so it’s all about the tone of voice and the questioning.
‘If you are so bold as to immediately ask a manager if he is afraid of being fired, things will probably not go well. So you have to find another way to ask. but you still have to ask.
Sir Alex Ferguson once called post-match interviews a ‘camera test’ for managers
The reporter in question, Niels Christian Frederiksen, later revealed that Klopp ‘scared’ bystanders by ‘screaming’ as he walked down the corridor after leaving the interview.
But while the situation could have been handled better, no one was injured and it just goes to show how emotionally demanding football management can be.
‘You don’t have to do business with haymakers. You just have to find a way to go where you know you need to go.”
Managers can be difficult to read, regardless of the interview scenario. Some can tolerate more than others. Sometimes it’s just irrefutable facts that they don’t like. Questions with open answers can be discussed. Hard facts – such as a memory of a competitive position or a lost series – can hit harder.
Klopp was not happy with the entirely understandable suggestion that his team lacked intensity as Sunday’s epic cup tie went ahead. A day earlier after the defeat at Fulham, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was annoyed by a simple question about his team’s loose grip on the Champions League places.
Both may reflect on situations that could have been handled better. But no one was injured. No rules of engagement were broken. Football management is an emotionally demanding affair and sometimes it just shows.