What women want? Man manager clueless

“How can I train them? I can’t get inside their heads. When I ask them to do things they never say no, never question, they just say yes. They don’t get involved. When one player was angry, everybody else goes silent and they slowly go down. Boys are not like that.”

His remarks may be controversial but he’s not alone.

The former manager of Scottish football team Albion Rovers, Paul Hetherston found himself in hot water when he claimed there was no place in the professional game for female referees.

“She should be at home making the tea or the dinner for her man who comes in after he has been to the football,” said Hetherston.

“This is a professional man’s game. Crucial decisions are being made which affect players and managers.”

Women officials in Britain believe they are more than a match for the men.

“There is a degree of condescension,” said Janie Frampton who has refereed in England.

“I remember (current Ipswich town manager) Joe Royle making a comment about women referees not understanding the game because they had never been tackled by a 14-stone man, I thought, ’who on earth does he think he is?’ I’ve been tackled by a 14-stone woman and that is scary!

“Joe is from the old school and there is that element of sexism, but attitudes are changing for the better.”

Moody Chilean tennis star Marcelo Rios was equally unimpressed by women in his sport.

“All the matches in the men’s game are tough,” said Rios. “Anybody can beat anybody. It’s not like the girls where they can win 6-1, 6-0. It’s a joke.

“It is ridiculous what is going on in women’s tennis, and I think everybody agrees.”

Jennifer Capriati was not impressed. “Stupidity really deserves no answer,” snapped the American.

Major-winning golfer Vijay Singh found himself backtracking on comments he was supposed to have made about women’s number one Annika Sorenstam playing in a men’s tour championship, the PGA Colonial tournament last year.

“What I actually said about missing the cut was that if I miss the cut, I’d rather see her miss the cut as well,” said the Fijian.

“Hopefully, I won’t miss the cut, because I don’t want to go back and have a woman beat me.”

However, he insisted that the PGA Tour should not give women invitations to take part.

“This is a man’s tour, and there are guys out there trying to make a living,” the Fijian said.