Taylor v Carroll, Bowyer v Dyer, Adebayor v Bendtner and the Top 10 classic team-mate bust-ups

By Chris Hughes in Mirror Football Blog

Published 09:44 23/03/10

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What is it with players turning on each other this month? First we had Hull City's Nick Barmby and Jimmy Bullard gifting ringside seats to the Women's Institute.

And now, there seems to be trouble on Tyneside between Newcastle's Steve Taylor and Andy Carroll. Although the club haven't confirmed exactly what happened, Taylor has a suspected broken jaw while Carroll has hurt his hand - so you do the math!

Here are ten more occasions when the handbags have come out between team mates...

10) Jens Lehmann v Marcio Amoroso
The one-time Arsenal No.1 has long been noted for his idiosyncratic approach to goalkeeping, never more so than during his last season at Borussia Dortmund. In one Bundesliga game against Schalke, Lehmann ran half the length of the pitch to confront forward Marcio Amoroso over his slack defending. Lehmann had his hands around the Brazilian's neck before it was pointed out to him that the 'goal' had been disallowed for offside, but he still got an early dose of Radox for his troubles.

9) Craig Levein v Graeme Hogg
In a spectacular tear-up, the Hearts duo came to blows after conceding a goal. Levein took exception to the former Manchester United defender's criticism of his defending and broke Hogg's nose with a well-aimed punch. Both players got sent off - Hogg while he was being carried off an a stretcher. Levein was banned for 14 games and Hogg for 10. You can understand the reasons for their frustrations, though. After all, it was a pre-season friendly against Raith Rovers.

8) Derek Hales v Mike Flanagan
Back in the dim and distant days of 1979, the Charlton duo were both sent off for brawling during an FA Cup tie against non-league Maidstone at The Valley. Looking for all the world like a ruckus from a vintage episode of Minder , the scrap began after the curly-permed Flanagan played the bearded Hales through on goal. Hales was ruled offside and furiously told Flanagan that he should have played the ball a lot earlier. Hales got his P45 while Flanagan got an even stiffer punishment: he was sold to Crystal Palace.

7) Ricardo Fuller v Andy Griffin
Football got its first taste of the phenomenon of happy slapping in December 2008 when Stoke's Ricardo Fuller decided to give his captain Andy Griffin a not-so-playful smack during a match at West Ham after Griffin had failed to clear the ball, leading to an equaliser for the Hammers. The referee was unimpressed by Fuller's Eric Morecambe impression and brought out his red card, leading to a three-match suspension. He was later fined £20,000 for his slap.

6) Jamie Carragher v Alvaro Arbeloa
It's the first rule of playing for Liverpool: don't mess with Jamie Carragher. But Alvaro Arbeloa flouted that particular dictum during a Premier League match at West Brom in May 2009. Following a mix-up in the Reds back four, Carragher decided to give the Spanish right-back a few, er, handy hints on defending, a decision which Arbeloa took exception to, resulting in a fracas that briefly threatened to upset Scouse-Spanish relations, before UN peacekeeper Xabi Alonso intervened. Arbeloa now plays for Real Madrid, precisely 900 miles from Carragher.

5) Stan Collymore v Trevor Benjamin
Stan The Man's brief spell at Filbert Street in 2000 proved an eventful one, right from the moment he let off a fire extinguisher in La Manga (there was no fire). Collymore found himself in hot water once more while playing for Leicester's reserves against Charlton. During the first half, Collymore got into a spat with team-mate Trevor Benjamin, and the duo "discussed matters further" in the dressing room at half-time. Following a "frank exchange of views" (oh, all right, a couple of haymakers), Stan refused to come out for the second half, and his career at Filbert Street didn't last much longer.

4) Emmanuel Adebayor v Nicklas Bendtner
Now who'd have thought that Emmanuel Adebayor could ever land himself in bother on a football pitch? With the Gunners 4-1 down to local rivals Tottenham in a League Cup tie in 2008, the Togolese striker started bickering with Danish team-mate Nicklas Bendtner in the Spurs penalty area, before Adebayor allegedly headbutted Bendtner, who received a cut to his forehead. "Nicklas showed me the finger," Adebayor revealed last week, a few days before 3,000 Arsenal supporters felt compelled to do something similar at Eastlands.

3) David Batty v Graeme Le Saux
In the greatest fight Moscow had witnessed since the final act of Rocky IV , the Blackburn duo started duking it out in the middle of a miserable Champions League defeat to Spartak in November 1995. Both players had hared after a loose ball and ran into each other on the touchline. Batty squared up to his team-mate, but Le Saux got his retaliation in first with a punch. Unfortunately for Le Saux, he ended up breaking his hand. The pair later admitted they had learned their lesson. "If I can change," said an impassioned Batty, to the strains of a stirring Survivor anthem, "you can change. Everybody can change!"

2) Bruce Grobbelaar v Steve McManaman
During the Merseyside derby in September 1993, a mess-up in the Liverpool defence led to more handbags than the average Saturday night at Cream. A weak clearance from McManaman gifted Everton the opening goal, infuriating Grobbelaar, who promptly unleashed a verbal tirade at the whippet-like winger. McManaman issued a furious retort at the Liverpool goalkeeper, who attempted to grab him by the throat amid lots more pushing and shoving and 'I'll get you later' threats. Both players were later invited to audition for Brookside .

1) Lee Bowyer v Kieron Dyer
The Newcastle midfielders went toe to toe at St James' Park in April 2005 during a Premier League match against Aston Villa. Three minutes after Villa had scored their third goal, Bowyer lashed out at Dyer for not passing him the ball, and the duo began scrapping like a couple of kids in the playground before head prefect Gareth Barry stepped in. The pair were both sent off, and Bowyer was fined £200,000, banned for seven games and forced to write out 'I won't fight on the pitch again' 1,000 times.

What's the best scrap you've seen between a couple of team-mates? Log in below and let us know...

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