Some managers give you a decent post-match interview, complete with a little meltdown and a whinge over the ref. Think Jose, Arsene, Pardew and just about every other football manager alive.

Then there are those who just trot out the same old cliches – the boys tried hard, put their bodies on the line, we’ll learn from this yada yada yada.

Sometimes, though, in amongst all the routine questions and answers, someone manages to stand out.

Brendan Venter did just that back in 2010, his interview after a defeat to French outfit Racing Metro grabbing headlines.

Congrats, champ, you’re now rocking the 2OV Throwback Thursday feature:

Spare a thought for Sky Sports interviewer Martin Gillingham, who didn’t have the faintest idea what was going on. He spoke to ESPN:

“I’d been down to training at Saracens earlier in the week for research,” he [said]. “There was no inclination of what was going to happen.

“After the game I got a call to run down to do the post-match interview, and I did the interview, and, you know how it goes, at the time you’re listening but it doesn’t sink in because of the adrenaline. I thought it was a bit strange, and when we stopped, I turned around and saw the dropped jaws. Then it sank in.”

So what the bloody hell was Venter actually thinking? Turns out he was inspired by a film called Mike Bassett: England Manager, a mockumentary focusing on Britain’s obsession with football:

In the 2001 film, England football coach Dave Dodds is interviewed by the press and does nothing more than repeat the questions put to him…

Venter watched the film on a recent away trip to Gloucester and subsequently chose to use it as the model for his apparent protest against the €25,000 fine handed down to him after he aired what he considered an “honest” opinion following his team’s loss to Leinster in October.

A creative protest, if you will, and one that many sports fans still remember to this day.

Well done, everyone – we are one day closer to the weekend.

[source:espn]