Life of Ryan: Caretaker Manager Page #6

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but he's also that sort of soundboard

a manager has,

where you know you can trust him.

He'll tell me, without even hesitation,

if I'm talking rubbish

or I've not done something right.

BUTT:
We're all stepping up

to these new roles.

It's been really refreshing, really nice.

It's enjoyable for me.

Boys, we know each other

like brothers, really, so it's quite

easy to work together.

RYAN:
Scholesy is my favourite player.

I just loved

playing with Scholesy. He was

just an intelligent player and

just a joy to play with and to train with.

SCHOLES:
These last two or three weeks

have probably been some of the most

enjoyable times I've had

even as a footballer,

seeing all the players getting involved

with the boxes, the possession,

just basically being out there

kicking a ball again.

RYAN:
Your ideal week would be

coming to training Monday,

getting ready for the game Saturday.

So you've got

a clear plan for that week.

Prepare training, get the best

out of the players physically

early on in the week, possession games,

speed training with a bit of

shooting maybe involved,

and then towards the game,

just taper down a little bit

and then also you might want

to do something tactically.

Just a quick one,

you've got a meeting at 10:00.

Can I have five minutes, just

to give the lads the programmes

because it's a bit different this year?

Well, can you do a couple of laps

with the lads?

Couple of box-to-boxes.

RYAN:
It's a team effort,

so you rely on the sports scientist.

Did the training that you just put on

get what you wanted?

And then when you watch the videos,

obviously you need to rely on the analysts.

It's a great place to come in and work,

and I've been lucky enough

to do it for a long, long time.

It's brilliant.

- Hi, you OK? Good to see you.

- Hi. Good, thanks. Yeah.

(ALL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

- Thank you.

- Cheers.

DIRECTOR:
OK, so the first three

are in Thai, written phonetically.

OK.

Do the "Y" gesture as well. That's perfect.

OK. (SPEAKING THAI)

(SPEAKING THAI)

Done this one 100 times.

Welcome to Old Trafford,

the theatre of dreams.

(DIRECTOR SPEAKING)

(RYAN SPEAKING)

My autographs get shorter

the more things you sign.

It starts off long,

and then gets shorter and shorter.

Did you do this on the last appearance?

- Can you sign each of these, please?

- OK. Yeah.

RYAN:
It's a lot harder, usually...

Not harder, but a lot longer when you do

different things. It can just vary, really.

- Twelps. Twelps.

- Right, then. Hi.

- Nightmare.

-It's a nightmare?

Yeah.

- It's easy to camera, isn't it?

- Yeah, but it's hard.

Why? Is it a different language?

-It's in Thai.

- Oh, is it in Thai?

RYAN:
Chinese, Japanese.

I've been here an hour, mate.

- No, you have not.

-l have.

You know me, I love the club.

Is it difficult though, really?

No.

Under pressure.

You can't handle the pressure well.

(LAUGHING)

RYAN:
It's been a good week.

The training's been sharp again.

I've got the headache of picking the team

and leaving players out,

and sometimes you haven't got

an excuse for leaving players out.

There's just too many players, and it's

another thing that I'm finding tough to do,

but it's gotta be done.

Yeah, I mean, he's got a brilliant reputation,

a successful manager,

but my main concentration is

on Sunderland tomorrow and then,

after that, the remaining two games.

I've got a lot to think about.

I'm still in the frame of

maybe playing,

see how the team perform tomorrow

and, like I say, see if I can get in.

But my main priority is winning the games.

And is it me playing? Is that

what gives us the best chance? We'll see.

Every morning this week...

Well, Wednesday, Thursday,

I've been driving into training,

and I'll ring Cameron.

I'll ring Cameron every morning

and he'll go, "Right, what you doing?

What you doing? Careful.

"What you doing this morning?

What you doing in training?"

"I'm doing this, I'm doing that."

"Do you realise you're manager

of the biggest club in the world?

"I don't think...

I don't think you realise, do you?"

"Thanks, Cameron." I'm just like...

I'm calm. I'm going into training,

all things are going through my mind.

"I don't need this pressure, Cameron, please,

do not say that again."

The next day, he says exactly the same thing.

Just reviewed the scouting report

of Sunderland.

Just finishing touches, really.

I've got the team, I know the subs,

so, yeah, my mind's clear.

Main focus is winning the game.

When I took over it was give the group...

...every player in the group a chance,

so that's what I'm doing.

Just as a player I'll do my best

to try and influence winning the game

and, yeah, trust the players.

I've done all the preparation during

the week and ready to go now,

can't wait for 3:00.

(CROWD CHEERING)

RYAN'. Sunderland, you never underestimate

a team on a good run in good form.

They've got the momentum

and they're fighting for their lives as well,

so, in the end, they deserve the victory,

even though we were the better team,

they probably created the better chances.

The second game brought him

back down to earth with a bump,

and I think he'll have

thought out of that game.

That probably taught him more, that defeat.

The defeat, I've not spoken to him about it,

but he probably learnt

more from the defeat than he has done

maybe from the victories.

RYAN:
I was really,

really down after that game,

and felt a little bit let down

by some of the players

and just thought to myself,

"That won't happen again."

Just disappointed after

the performance last week.

It was a little bit flat, had the end-of-season,

nothing-to-play-for feel of a game,

which I didn't like.

Maybe they just lost that little bit of intensity,

and they do maybe see me

as just for four games.

I made the decision not to train,

maybe that's another decision

that I got wrong as well.

As a manager the feeling

of defeat is a lot worse.

A lot worse.

STACEY:
I did see a big change in him

the day after the Sunderland game.

I just thought, you know, he was so down.

And I said, "At the end of the day,

"you can't put too much pressure

on yourself,"

but he was gutted and really quiet,

which isn't like him

because normally, you know,

if he has a bad game

as soon as he walks through the door,

we've got the kids

and we do stuff and it's left there,

whereas this was kind of really still there.

LYNNE JOHNSON:
I was asked that question

yesterday, "Which is worse,

"watching him as a manager

or watching him as a player?"

And watching him as a manager is worse

because I think as a player you've got

ten other people that could help,

whereas it's all on his head.

(EXCLAIMS)

We prepared right, we knew that Sunderland

were gonna be a tough team

because they were on a good run,

and you just pick a team.

And what I did was, I picked a team that

I thought could win the game,

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