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Jason McAteer's Big Mick man-management anecdote

If there's anyone who knows a thing or two about Mick McCarthy's man-management style, it's Jason...



Videos

Jason McAteer's Big Mick man-management anecdote

If there's anyone who knows a thing or two about Mick McCarthy's man-management style, it's Jason McAteer.

The former Liverpool wide-man's in town ahead of the fundraising match for Sean Cox and joined Joe and Kevin Kilbane on the Football Show today.

With the international break upon us and McCarthy back again, McAteer shared a story about him.

"I'm very close to Mick," said McAteer of their relationship.

"He's more like an uncle to me. Me and him hit it off straight away. We knew where each other stood."

"There's a bang on the door"

That close relationship bore fruit after got dropped for a derby at Liverpool.

"I joined up with the [Ireland] squad on Sunday. I was absolutely devastated and thought I'd never play for Liverpool again and was going to get sold," he said.

"'How am I going to play for Ireland when I'm not playing at club level?'

"Sunday night at meal-time, I stayed in my room and ordered room service. There's a bang on the door. I opened the door thinking it was the room service and it's Mick.

"He walked in and gave me the biggest talking to. He sat me down on the bed and was in my face. Mick grabbed me, threw me out the door and went, 'Get up there and have a meal with the lads. And you start mixing with the lads'.

"My mood changed. I was like 'Wow'. My mood changed and I trained on the Monday and Tuesday. I played on the Wednesday - played well. He was straight on the phone to me on the Thursday. 'You get back to Liverpool now, train hard and you get back in that team'. I got back in the team.

"And I went through some personal stuff as well and he was first on the phone. He'd come and see me and he's a very, very good man-manager.

If you are in a position to help the Sean Cox Rehabilitation Trust, either by attending the game yourself or by buying a ticket to donate, you can do so here.

You can watch the full chat with Jason above via our YouTube channel.

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Read more about

Football Ireland Jason McAteer Kevin Kilbane Liverpool Mick McCarthy Off The Ball