A while back on here I recounted a tale where on holiday I’d met a lad called Scott Vernon – who is currently playing for Aberdeen, but played under Ian Dowie at Oldham.
He said that Ian Dowie was the best coach and manager he’d ever played under, but was only successful with teams who played the ‘Ian Dowie way’. In lower leagues and with young players it wasn’t a problem as his team would do exactly as he instructed and it nearly always worked, but as in the Premier League there were always big egos and players who thought they knew better, his methods rarely worked and usually resulted in him getting the sack.
I wondered if this was the case when Martinez took over, and the only one I could think of who might be the ‘ego who knew better’ was Paul Scharner. He’s certainly never been shy at coming forward (vocally and on the pitch) has he? He’s even managed to blag his way into the WBA midfield.