The thought that Sir Alex Ferguson deployed the hairdryer treatment every time he needed to motivate his players is a popular one.Yet it wasn’t Fergie’s only tactic - and it wasn’t one that he used very often.“There was a lot of myth about it. It happened about half a dozen times in 27 years and the players will tell you that," the Scot said in 2016.There are many managers who look to Ferguson for inspiration and it’s not hard to understand why. This is a man who lifted the Premier League titles 13 times during his time at Old Trafford.A serial winner, Fergie earned the respect of his players at Manchester United.In 2017, Gary Neville corroborated Ferguson’s claim that he didn’t use the hairdryer too often, saying: “People talk about the hairdryer and it never happened that much to be honest with you during a season, but the most consistent place you would see it was Anfield.”So how did Fergie get the best out of his players? Owen Hargreaves has explained how.

Fergie's envelope tactic

Appearing on BT Sport on Saturday evening, the former Man United midfielder, who joined from Bayern Munich in 2007, admitted that his old manager used an envelope to do the trick.

"I remember when I first signed for United, we were in Asia somewhere, pre-season,” Hargreaves said.

“He said we have all these players from all different countries, we should win the league and the Champions League. And he had an envelope and had some names in it.

"He said, 'there are some names in here of people I think are going to let us down. Make sure your name is not in here.’

“And everybody ran out of the room and basically tackled through the door not wanting to let the gaffer down.

“That's what he did well, he made you want to not fail him because you didn't want to disappoint him." 

It is, of course, the same psychological tool that Brendan Rodgers used at Liverpool.

In reality TV series Being Liverpool, which aired in 2012, Rodgers told his players: “I think there’s three players who will let us down this year - the cause, the fight, everything. And I have written them down already.

"Now my point to you as players - and staff - is make sure you are not the one in the envelope, because you are so important.”