Pardew serial offender in our list of manager outbursts
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has been spared the axe by the Magpies’ board but remains third favourite in the Next Premier League Manager to Leave betting after head butting Hull’s David Meyler.
Pardew escaped with a £100,000 fine and is as long as 7/1 to be the next gaffer out but with the FA set to discipline the former Charlton, Reading and West Ham boss the axe could yet drop.
Here we take a look at five other managerial outbursts to have hit the headlines and Alan makes the grade this time too!
Alan Pardew – Various
The Meyler incident is the latest on a fairly long rap sheet for Pardew. Highlights – or should that be lowlights – include a 2006 touchline scuffle with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger following an overzealous celebration of West Ham’s win over the Gunners.
The gaffe-prone gaffer also prompted 35 viewer complaints in March 2009 after an ill-advised quip on the BBC’s Match of the Day 2 programme and landed himself in hot water again in 2012 for pushing a match official during a game.
Brian Clough – Nottingham Forest – Fan Punch
Punching was allegedly part of the managerial ethos of Clough, with Roy Keane, Nigel Jemson and Mark Crossley all said to have been on the receiving end of Old Big ‘Ead’s right hook.
However, it was three fans that landed the Forest manager in hot water. After invading the pitch in the aftermath of a 1989 Forest win over QPR the manager inexplicably started throwing punches around and landed a couple on the unsuspecting fans.
The fans in question later met up with Clough at the City ground and apologised to him for their actions!
Tony Pulis – Stoke – Naked Head Butt
A Tony Pulis smile is as rare in football as a fairly-priced pint at a London ground but striker James Beattie has had a closer look at the Crystal Palace manager’s perma-scowled face than most.
Rumour has it that while both men were at Stoke, Pulis head butted Beattie when the pair clashed after defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates.
The manager had decided to cancel the players’ Christmas party in the capital and former England ace Beattie took exception.
This resulted in Pulis putting one on Beattie in the showers and to make matters worse the gaffer’s towel had fallen down!
Alex Ferguson – Man United – Bootgate
Sir Alex is renowned for his fiery temper with many a player offering testimonial to his famous hairdryer and crockery-throwing outbursts.
However, the Manchester United gaffer’s love-hate relationship with David Beckham saw him hit the headlines in 2003 after a heated post-match rant.
Beckham had been singled out by Fergie following a 2-0 reverse to Arsenal and when the manager kicked a stray football boot it hit the midfielder plum on the eye, resulting in a gash that required two stitches.
If it had happened to any other player it may have gone down as a run of the mill altercation, but with Becks being Becks it was newspaper fodder for weeks.
Joe Kinnear – Newcastle – Sweargate
Whether as a manager or more recently as a Director of Football, Joe Kinnear is never far from controversy but this particular outburst was played out in front of the assembled press.
Not known for his polished media performances, Kinnear lashed out in a press conference shortly after replacing Kevin Keegan as Magpies boss in 2008.
When questioned about the wisdom of giving the players a day off on his first day in charge the former Wimbledon boss blew his top and went on an extended rant at the media, reportedly using 52 words of an unprintable nature!
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