Intro:

Europe's Ryder Cup captain, Paul McGinley, faces the media at Gleneagles on Wednesday (September 24th) and discusses preparations - and the motivational qualities of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul McGinley, Europe Ryder Cup captain (on Sir Alex Ferguson's motivational speech for the Europe team):

"I was upstairs, we were upstairs having a rules meeting at the time and even though it (Europe's team room) was one floor down and about five rooms across, I could hear the laughter coming up and I knew what it was, that he was in there with them (Europe caddies) before he came up to the players and, I think it went very well. He had some very powerful messages that, we had agreed he was going to be talking about and relating them to football and, but at the same time, it was a bit of fun. It was a bit of banter, there was a Q+A (Questions and Answers session), and it was very relaxed."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul McGinley, Europe Ryder Cup captain (what he has seen from Ian Poulter in the practice rounds):

"Just the fact that he's Ian Poulter and he loves the Ryder Cup. He's great. The crowds have given him a great reception every time he walks on to a green which I think is a great testament to him and what he's done for them as fans of Europe over the last decade or so as a Ryder Cup player."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Paul McGinley, Europe Ryder Cup captain (on the USA calling themselves underdogs):

"I don't know where the Americans are coming from. As I say, I mean, honestly, my dealings are 95 per cent what we're going and what we're doing. I don't even know what the American pairings were yesterday, I don't know what they were today. I haven't really paid attention, and that's honest. I'm really concerned with us. I have enough things going on here. If I start thinking over there as well too I'm going to lose my focus on what I'm trying to achieve here. So I'm paying attention to that more than anything else."