When things get really personal between two managers it starts to bring both of their clubs into disrepute.
Which is why the League Managers Association have to get involved in the growing spat between Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
The LMA need to pull them aside and say, ‘Look, we’ve no problem with a bit of sledging but it’s getting a bit unsavoury and below the belt –and it shows all bosses in a bad light’.
Manchester United and Chelsea are two of our biggest clubs and their managers need to remember that.
I like Mourinho. It took me a bit of time to get used to his ways but after spending a bit of time with him around the #GameForGrenfell, I realised that he is more than happy to play the pantomime villain if it deflects from performances.
But Mourinho and Conte have already gone beyond the Arsene Wenger v Sir Alex Ferguson stuff that was the benchmark of what should and shouldn’t be deemed acceptable.
And if they go any further they need to be seriously punished because other managers will start to think this is the norm.
Then things will really get chaotic.
Coutinho could be brilliant business
A lot of Liverpool fans wanted to drive Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for £60million in the summer so £142m represents a great deal.
Financially, but also because with Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Co, my old team have the personnel to cope with losing the Brazilian and with a couple of additions it could be a fantastic transfer window.
Virgil van Dijk is already through the door, and if they can bring forward the Naby Keita deal and sign Riyad Mahrez — who I’d rather see them go for than Thomas Lemar — then it’d be a job very, very well done.
Magic memories in the Cup
I spent Sunday evening wondering why Nottingham Forest’s FA Cup triumph over Arsenal had made my weekend in quite the way it had.
And in the end I decided it was because the performance reminded me so much of the sort the Forest team I used to play in were capable of.
The way they played under pressure, the way the back four played the ball out, the little triangles, the really attractive counter-play with a striker holding it up…
There were some lovely challenges going in to turn defence into attack and in my mind’s eye I could see Steve Stone and Scot Gemmill doing that.
It made me think, ‘Yes, the Forest way does actually exist’.
Where Hughes went wrong
Mark Hughes's mistake at Stoke was that he spent a lot of money on players who had very little resale value and that created a them-and-us camp.
He had the Tony Pulis loyalists on one side and players like Xherdan Shaqiri, who were on Manchester United and Manchester City-type wages, on the other.
When you’re getting results people will have the disparity, but once they stop fingers get pointed at the bigger names, that translates into worse performances and results, and the only person who gets the blame is the manager.
Collywobbler
To all Premier League managers who field weakened sides against teams from outside the top tier in cup games: Don’t. Don’t take the Mickey and send your reserves.
A lot of clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two have rich histories and traditions that will always be with players in these games and failing to recognise that can be a spectacular mistake.