lose the dressing room
v.— «The Irishman’s placidness was also perceived as a handicap in a job which requires infectious animation and this was confirmed by a player who said Brady had “lost the dressing room and when that goes, everything goes.”» —“Can Macari be Kellys’ hero?” by Glenn Gibbons Observer (U.K.) Oct. 10, 1993. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Penny in Savannah, Georgia, recalls that her father, a Navy veteran who served in the South Pacific, would say of someone who was clueless or didn’t know what he was talking about: That person doesn’t know if he’s punched, bored...
There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little seven-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding — and all in Latin. A new book argues that this rigorous curriculum actually nurtured the creativity that later flourished...