Bossesmust join 21st century and ditch the threats

SOMETIMES you just know when the phone rings it’s not good. The sight of a manager’s number flashing up is usually a big giveaway.

These guys don’t call too often just for a cosy chat or to ask you how you are doing.

Years ago, when working as a scribe in the lower leagues in England, my old Nokia 3310 went off like a grenade in my pocket.

I knew it was a bad sign. It was a manager’s digits on the screen – one in the process of losing his marbles on the road to relegation.

The relationship was unravelling on a weekly basis, so I got ready for the hairdryer.

I didn’t even know that many swear words. There was also a few threats, including one to watch my back or my throat would get cut.

But here was the kicker. It wasn’t even my match report!

It’s not a rare tale either. Ask any hack and they’ve probably got several war stories involving some lunatic manager threatening bloody murder.

There are a million legends about reporters being grabbed by the throat or facing a red-eyed stare and a warning of an impending banjoing.

More often than not it’s a barbed, bullying sarky comment that sounds like a joke – but delivered with the menace of Joe Pesci’s character in Goodfellas.

A lot of managers are cracking blokes all the time. Others are decent guys but can flick on the psycho switch like a lightbulb.

Which is why it’s hardly a shock to hear David Moyes being a bit of a tool the other week.

People are right – he’d never speak that way to a male reporter. He wouldn’t have told a man to be careful, he’d likely have gone for the straight slap threat.

That’s not to say he wasn’t exposing himself as a sexist relic. His patronising “joke” was miles offside and if he worked in any other environment his feet wouldn’t hit the floor in the time it took to say “HR department”.

But football seems to think it exists above normal things like laws or decent manners.

The sexist stuff is embarrassing and goes on all the time. Women in the media have to put up with all kinds of patronising crap despite their gender having hee-haw to do with their ability to do the job.

It’s easy for a middle-aged white guy to moan about the challenges in this game but goodness knows the nonsense women have had to deal with on the way up.

There you go, even that sentence sounds like patronising claptrap.

But what us clueless men do know is it can be a gauntlet for the fellas as well. Threats are par

Others are decent guys but can flick the psycho switch like a lightbulb

for the course. For some reason plenty of managers forget they are representing their clubs when they talk to the media and they behave however they like.

For some reason it’s seen as part of the culture in football.

Listen, it’s not like Kate Adie turning up to her work in a flak jacket and everyone on this side of the media divide is big enough and ugly enough to take it and no one is expecting much sympathy either. But it can still be unpleasant, uncomfortable and a tad scary for us delicate flowers.

Some gaffers need to get real and get some manners – and get into the 21st century.

Which, admittedly, is some cheek coming from a guy who is still using that Nokia 3310. OUR TOP WRITERS GIVE THEIR FEARLESS VERDICTS EVERY DAY IN RECORD SPORT