David Moyes is adopting an All Blacks-style recruitment policy as he bids to keep West Ham challenging towards the top end of the Premier League.
The New Zealand rugby team famously have a simple rule when it comes to squad selection, namely ‘no d***heads’.
Moyes has so far relied on his “humble” set of players to lift West Ham into the top four, a position they will try to cement when they head to Manchester United on Saturday.
So, when quizzed about possibly taking a leaf out of the book of the three-time rugby world champions, he said: “That’s a really good question because I don’t think any manager wants d***heads.
“And I don’t know if you can correlate d***heads with big egos, there is a difference. You can have a big ego and not be a d***head.
“We are still building here at West Ham. We have to keep putting a few layers on before we can be talked about as challenging.
“If possible I would like to give the West Ham supporters someone else they can shout about, someone else they can see a continued line of us trying to keep it going.”
At Old Trafford West Ham will come up against arguably the biggest star in world football in Cristiano Ronaldo.
Interim United boss Ralf Rangnick had to speak to the Portugal forward after he showed his displeasure at being substituted during the second half at Brentford on Wednesday night.
Moyes, whose brief spell in charge of United ended almost eight years ago, says managing the egos of the top players is part of the job at the big clubs.
“It’s a big thing, it really is, for all coaches at all the clubs. It will be the same at a lot of the other big clubs,” added Moyes.
“But I have to say you’re talking about, what, the best player in the world? He’s phenomenal, that he can do what he’s done. For me the biggest thing about Ronaldo is his hunger to play and his hunger to not let up.
“For a manager he must be a great player because he’s got a level of commitment, preparation, dedication to the game and himself which will always give him a chance of being effective.
“At the big clubs you’ll always get players with egos and that’s a part of the job.
“We’ve got a humble group of players. Very honest. I’ve got to say a great group who have got a tougher mentality now than they’ve ever had.”
