Alex Ferguson v David Beckham, Brian Clough v Roy Keane and 10 managers on the attack
According to reports from the Emirates away dressing room James Beattie was foolish enough to end up in a head-to-head with hardman Stoke boss Tony Pulis on Saturday after a row about the Potters Christmas party.
It may be quite rare these days but this is far from the first time a manager has laid into one of his players. Here is MirrorFootball 's run-down of the ten best dust-ups between bosses and their players.
Brian Clough Vs Nigel Jemson
Poor little Nigel Jemson was one of Cloughie's many victims in the days when you could get away with it. The young striker was just 19-years-old when Cloughie accused him of not trying hard enough in a reserve match. The Forrest gaffer asked him: "Have you ever been hit in the stomach?" Jemson timidly replied: "No" before Clough unleashed a right-hook and said: "You have now, son..."
Winner: Clough
Alan Shearer Vs Joey Barton
Fighting to save Newcastle from the drop, desperate Alan Shearer gave Joey Barton his 53rd "last chance" in a game against Liverpool - just days after he had come out of prison. In typical Joey Barton fashion he was sent off after
this
horrendous tackle on Xabi Alonso. In the changing room after the 3-0 defeat Shearer told him: "It was a mistake bringing you back in the team". Cue mayhem. Barton shouted "I'm the best player at this club, your a s*** manager with s*** tactics." This sparked off a full-scale brawl and they had to be dragged apart.
Winner: Barton
Graeme Souness vs Craig Bellamy
The petulant striker has a history of run-ins with fellow players and managers, but his biggest feud was with Newcastle boss Graeme Souness. In 2005 Souness asked him to play out of position in right midfield and Bellamy flatly refused, saying he’d fake an injury if asked to. He was subsequently dropped, then let rip at Souness, calling him a liar. An £80,000 fine followed for his troubles. In a separate incident the Welshman had a bust up with Toon assistant coach John Carver at Newcastle Airport. Bellamy reportedly threw "quite a heavy chair" at Carver during the fracas.
Winner: Bellamy
Brian Clough vs Roy Keane
You wouldn't fancy taking either of these two lunatics on but Keane was just a young player at Forest in 1991 when he under-hit a back pass against Crystal Palace. Cloughie was not impressed and punched him, knocking Keane to the floor. He later admitted "I only ever hit Roy the once. He got up so I couldn't have hit him very hard." Thats alright then!
Winner: Clough
Martin O'Neill Vs Nigel Reo-Coker
A training ground feud
led to fisticuffs between the Villa pair. One stunned onlooker said: "It was really heated and at one point they fell to the ground grappling with each other like school kids." He was sent home and was left out the first team for a month. He later
apologised
and was fined two weeks wages.
Winner: O'Neill
Alex Ferguson Vs David Beckham
Manchester United lost 2-0 to arch rivals Arsenal in the FA Cup fifth round; which meant Fergie unleashed his famed hairdryer treatment on the team. But Becks' got more than just a hairdry he got a nice cut too after Fergie kicked a boot which flew into Beckham's eyebrow leaving a nasty gash. “Just f***** patch him up," Fergie was said to have told the club’s physio after the incident.
Winner: Ferguson, as always
Lawrie McMenemy Vs Mark Wright
After a poor display from Southampton, and in particular centre-back Mark Wright, Saints boss McMenemy let rip in the dressing room post-game. Wrighty wouldn't back down and give an apology though, instead he shoved McMenemy into the showers - where both men, still fully clothed, began to slap each other silly until pulled apart by ashen-faced colleagues.
Winner: Score draw
Brian Laws Vs Ivano Bonetti
The lovable Italian was a hero to the fans at Grimsby, shame Mariners boss Laws didn't feel the same level of affection towards Ivano. After a 3-2 defeat to Luton in February 1996 Laws decided to throw the nearest thing to him at Bonetti. Unluckily for the Italian it was a plate full of chicken wings. He was unable to shift himself out of the way and took the plate full in the face and ended up with a fractured cheekbone.
Winner: Laws
Trevor Francis vs Alex Kolinko
Francis must of learnt a thing or two from his his time under Cloughie after he spotted Kolinko laughing when Bradford took the lead at Crystal Palace. The red mist came over the Palace boss and he gave the Latvian an old skool thump around the back of the head. He was fined by both Palace and the FA for his troubles.
Winner: Kolinko
John Sitton vs The whole of the Leyton Orient team
The legendary John Sitton never actually struck any of his players (as far as we know) but he was surely only a hair's breadth away during
this rant
(contains VERY strong language) and he makes the list because of the unbridled fury and sheer brilliance of his tirade. "And you can bring your dinner!" Genius.
Winner: Insanity
Have we missed any out? What are your best memories of managers losing it? Sign in and leave your comments below...
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