Mikel Arteta is renowned for his innovative man-management at Arsenal, but managers trying off-the-wall motivation tactics is nothing new. Reflecting on my own career, I often sought to surprise my teams to boost performance.
In 1993-94, my Bournemouth side faced Premier League Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup. Before the first leg, I hired a hypnotist to address the squad. He asked them to sit in a circle in a dark room for two minutes. When he turned the lights back on, the chairs were empty—the players had sneaked out a side door. The hypnotist took it well, and the team remained relaxed, chatter focused on him rather than pre-match tension. We lost 1-0 to an Alan Shearer goal, but the lads played without inhibition. I credit the hypnotist for that.
However, not every idea works. During Stoke's 2007-08 promotion season, I showed the squad a motivational video featuring Al Pacino's speech from 'Any Given Sunday' before a crucial game at Coventry. At half-time, we were 1-0 down and useless. My assistant Dave Kemp told me to ditch the gimmicks and be myself. A few choice words and a reset saw us win 2-1 and go top. Timing is everything.
Motivation is vital, especially in a sport awash with money. I sometimes invented adversity—telling players I'd heard critics belittling them. After a 1-0 loss where a young defender dominated our striker, I fed our forward the opposing manager's praise of that defender. In the return game, we won 4-0, with our striker making a point. I never directly criticise opponents; it only fuels them.
Superstition runs deep. I once drove around looking for extra magpies to even their number for luck. As a player, I used the same worn-out boots from a title-winning season until they fell apart. Diet also mattered: as a 16-year-old at Bristol Rovers, I ate steak before a game—a mistake I never repeated.