 Revie's methods were criticised – insisting on increasing players' appearance fees when no player had expressed dissatisfaction, calling up oversized squads, dropping or ignoring in-form players, the use of dossiers on the opposition and his attempts to cultivate a "club" atmosphere with the players – and his position was continually undermined by the chairman of the English FA, Harold Thompson, who Ted Croker commented seemed bent on "humiliating" Revie.Revie selected a squad to take part in a mini-tournament in South America in the summer of 1977, but initially did not accompany the players, saying he was going to scout the opposition England were still due to face in the qualifiers for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.Instead, he was putting the final seal on a lucrative deal to take charge of the national side of the United Arab Emirates.