In a thinly veiled criticism of Nick Faldo’s captaincy, Colin Montgomerie yesterday promised a back-to-basics policy for the Europe team when the Ryder Cup gets under way at Celtic Manor, Newport, little less than a year from now.

Speaking after playing an exhibition match over the Twenty Ten Course with Corey Pavin, his American counterpart, the Europe captain said that there would be no place for celebrities, drummers or DJs in his team room. The quest to regain the cup, he implied, is far too important for such frippery.

“I don’t think there will be any drummers in there. Or drums,” Montgomerie said, in clear reference to Faldo’s invitation to the Iron Maiden drummer, Nicko McBrain, to join his backroom team at Valhalla, Kentucky, in 2008. And despite his friendship with Chris Evans, the television and radio celebrity who partnered him against Pavin and Bryn Terfel yesterday, “there will be no DJs, either”.

Faldo, for reasons known to himself but to few of his team, also handed DJ Spoony, of BBC Radio 1, a motivational role. But what Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson and Soren Hansen — two Swedes and a Dane — made of such nonsense is anybody’s guess.

The feeling is that a line was crossed and that Spoony had no place in the team room or on the 1st tee.

“That won’t be happening this time,” Montgomerie said. “We’ll have three or four vice-captains who will be of current player status.”

It is also vital, Montgomerie argued, that the captain and his assistants are able to get on to the same wavelength as the players. That is not one of Faldo’s strengths — never has been — and so a change of tack was called for. “I think one of the reasons I was asked to become captain was because I was still playing,” he said.

“Nick had not played for a number of years fully on our Tour and was over in the States in a commentating position and I think he found it more difficult, therefore, to communicate with the team on a day-to-day basis than I would be able to do. I mean, I’m off [this morning] to Portugal to play in the Portuguese Masters, and this is another area where I’ll be looking at potential players who will be here in a year’s time. Nick didn’t have that advantage.”

Montgomerie also confirmed that he would be e-mailing members of the European Tour and encouraging them to commit themselves next year to playing the Wales Open at Celtic Manor, the BMW PGA Championship, at Wentworth, and the Johnnie Walker Championship, the final qualifying event, at Gleneagles.

“The BMW Championship is our flagship event,” he said. “The course at Wentworth has changed dramatically. Every hole has been dug up and redone. So the excuse [that certain players cannot get to grip with the course, as Ian Poulter and Padraig Harrington said last year] is no longer appropriate. I was disappointed that certain members of our tour were not playing our flagship event. ”

There was much banter between the captains and both stressed that they wanted the match played in good spirits. No, they said, it would not be acceptable — as Paul Azinger, the US captain, had suggested to American fans on the eve of the 2008 event — to cheer the opposing side’s mishaps.

“No, it’s not OK to cheer for a missed putt — it never has been and never should be,” Montgomerie said.

Pavin agreed. “Cheering for missed putts or missed shots is inappropriate, and I think true golf fans understand that and they know that,” he said.

No talk of the Ryder Cup would be complete without the name of Tiger Woods coming into the conversation.

It did not go unnoticed that the world No 1 sank the winning putt for the United States the previous day in the Presidents Cup match against the International team. Not only that, but he put to bed the received wisdom that he plays poorly in team events by winning all five of his matches.

“Well, it’s very interesting that he seems to have this team game down as well as the individual one now. We’re all thrilled,” Montgomerie said, with heavy irony.

“It will be difficult enough to try to regain the Ryder Cup without Tiger Woods playing, never mind if he’s back to his top form and winning five points out of five.”