Football Food For Thought / Dan Fitch / 08 December 2009 /

After the reported fight between Stoke City's Tony Pulis and James Beattie, Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch examines just what motivates managers to get physical.

Whilst we all know that Christmas is a time for forgiving, peace on earth and goodwill to all men, it nonetheless doesn't stop the odd punch up from occurring.

If reports are to be believed, such an incident occurred between the Stoke City manager Tony Pulis and their striker James Beattie following their 2-0 loss to Arsenal at the weekend.

The fisticuffs came about over a row involving the Stoke Christmas party. Now it's actually quite normal for a fight to break out at a works party. Everyone's had too much sherry, allowing resentments that have been deeply suppressed, to come bubbling to the surface.

However, this fight was unusual, because it erupted during a discussion about the Christmas party, rather than at the event itself. They didn't even have the excuse of being drunk (well, at least I hope they weren't, although it would explain the loss).

An angry Pulis had told his players that they were to report for training on Monday, only for Beattie to argue against the decision, because he had organised the Christmas party for the Sunday in London and it had been agreed that everyone could have the Monday off.

Now if you've ever been out in Stoke on Trent, you would be able to understand just why Beattie was so keen to hold the event in London. Due to being appallingly lazy at school, I ended up at university there. It was the only city I've ever been to where the classiest place to go out was a Yates's Wine Lodge.

So I can understand Beattie's dismay at the thought of having to report for duty early on Monday morning for extra throw in practice, but I can also see why Pulis made this decision.

Stoke might be doing well in the league and losing away to Arsenal is hardly a crime, but if you rest on your laurels in the Premier League and start to believe that you're part of the establishment, it's easy for the results to start slipping. The Potters are far from being too good to go down.

The current price for Stoke to go down is a distant [18.5]. That they're looked on as a team unlikely to go down, after just one-and-a-half seasons in the Premier League, has been down to hard work. So Pulis was right, even if trying to headbutt your centre forward is rather an excessive way to put your point across.

Pulis wouldn't be the first manager to resort to violence to get his point across. When a young Roy Keane was seen to be guilty of under-hitting a back pass against Crystal Palace, Brian Clough punched him in the face. Cloughie later commented: "I only ever hit Roy the once. He got up so I couldn't have hit him very hard."

Clough also once asked Nigel Jemson if he'd ever been hit in the stomach, following a reserve game in which the young striker didn't perform. "No" replied Jemson, before the eccentric Clough gave him a dig and said: ""You have now, son..."

Then there was Fergie 'accidentally' kicking a boot into David Beckham's face and the recent spat between Martin O'Neill and Nigel Reo-Coker. In an era when the player is god, sometimes the manager needs to assert his control in the only way possible.

They say violence is never the answer, but sometimes it is a valid response.

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