Watching from up high gives you best picture

I KNOW exactly how Neil Warnock and David Moyes must have felt trying to manage their teams from home.

- Sam Allardyce

I did it myself whilst manager of West Ham. Not because of Covid, obviously, but due to a severe chest infection. I couldn’t move, couldn’t get out of bed.

I had a live link to the game in my bedroom so I could get on the phone to my assistant Neil McDonald.

We played Swansea away and I think we drew 1-1. But it was murder being at home - for me and for Neil. He wanted to concentrate on the game, not keep answering my phone calls!

You’re seeing things constantly and your natural instinct is to ring every two minutes and say ‘Be careful about this’ or ‘Watch out for that’. But I had to stop myself and let Neil make his own decisions.

Part of the problem was that we both had a different view of the game. He was in the dugout, but cameras film from above.

Personally, I’ve always preferred to watch a game from the stand. It’s much easier to see and understand what’s happening. I even used to have a TV with a ten-second delay, so I could review what had happened and communicate that to the bench.