Hayes' PowerPoint and other famous football motivation techniques

Emma Hayes has used a unique motivational technique on her Chelsea side as they gear up for the final weeks of the season. 

In a recent team meeting, the 47-year-old manager prepared a PowerPoint presentation with a difference. 

It featured just two slides. The first showed images of the four trophies they could possibly win — the Women's Super League, Champions League, FA Cup and Conti Cup. 

Then Hayes cut to the second, which featured just a blank screen, to emphasise they could also win nothing. 

Ahead of Chelsea's crucial WSL clash with West Ham on Sunday, we have taken a look back at some other famous football managers with unusual motivational methods. 

Coal man

When Mauricio Pochettino was manager of Southampton, he was concerned that his players did not believe in themselves enough. 

His solution was to organise a pre-season session of left-field motivational techniques, which included the Saints staff and squad walking over hot coals barefoot. 

They were told to focus on something that motivated them as they walked across, demonstrating that fear could be overcome with desire. 

Pochettino tried the same thing at Tottenham before the 2019 Champions League final. As well as the hot coals walk, he also tasked his players with breaking arrows with their necks.

Klopp flop

Liverpool would beat Spurs in that 2019 Champions League final and they were in some way motivated by the reaction of their manager a year before. 

When the Reds were defeated by Real Madrid in 2018, Jurgen Klopp's response demonstrated to his players that it was just a blip on the journey, rather than the final destination. 

Instead of lamenting the loss, the German manager was seen joining fans and players in singing Liverpool songs after the game, instilling a sense of togetherness and resilience. 

Klopp once summed up his attitude to defeat: "It's not a problem that you lose. The problem is how long it takes to win."

Gladiators ready

The Champions League final is the sort of huge event that seems to inspire managers to think outside the box. 

In 2009, Pep Guardiola was plotting a way for his Barcelona team to overcome Manchester United in Rome. His solution was inspired by his surroundings. 

He showed his players a video in which their best moments were on display, interspersed by clips from the film Gladiator, showing scenes of battle at the Colosseum. 

They would win the contest 2-0, with United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney proving no match for a Barca side inspired by a potent mix of Guardiola and Russell Crowe. 

Pork life

Many managers have sought to inspire individual players by offering them performance-based incentives.

One of the most unique examples came from Jose Mourinho during his time at Tottenham. 

He promised his Spanish left-back Sergio Reguilon an Iberian ham, if he could prevent tricky winger Riyad Mahrez from dribbling past him during Spurs' match with Manchester City. 

The Special One had to shell out £500 for the ham, after his defender came out on top in all four duels between the players. 

Clough bluff

Brian Clough introduced Mark Crossley into his Nottingham Forest team when he was just a teenager and he quickly made sure the youngster did not get too big for his boots. 

In one of his first appearances, the goalkeeper made a mistake in a victory over Coventry. Expecting to have the following day off, the eccentric Clough had alternative plans for his prodigy.

Crossley was instructed to turn up at the manager's house the next morning, where he was informed that he would be playing for AC Hunters FC in Derbyshire Sunday League Division Five. 

The side were managed by Clough's son Simon and after they were fined £50 for fielding a professional player, the sum was deducted from Crossley's wages.