Irate managers making a right show of themselves is exactly what the fans want to see...

THE best moment of Sky’s Super North West Derby Sunday was caught outside Old Trafford on United’s version of Exploding Fan’s Head TV.

A hyper-ventilating Ricky Hatton lookalike interrupted an interview to tell the world of the rage and devastation he was feeling: “F*** Lukaku off. Herrera? What is he on the f ****** pitch for? What were Mourinho’s tactics? We’re not f ****** Stoke, we’re Man-f ****** -United, we should be f ****** battering them. That was diabolical out there. Hoof, hoof, hoof.”

Every second of it was a riveting watch for fans of all clubs. Much-needed confirmation that football does to others’ heads what it does to yours. And that one fan’s misery is another’s ecstasy.

Kopites had been streaming out of Anfield hours earlier, many howling about Jurgen Klopp’s team selection, Sadio Mane’s greed, and Dejan Lovren’s deficiency in the brains department.

Meanwhile on the other side of the ground the laughter from Evertonian throats, at a beautiful point gained by ugly means which left their neighbours distraught, bordered on delirium.

It’s what derbies are about. No, make that football. At Stoke railway station the night before, dozens of angry fans confronted and abused boss Mark Hughes and his players as they disembarked the train following their 5-1 mauling at Spurs.

Three years ago, almost to the day, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had to run a similar gauntlet at the same station from angry Gooners.

And for anyone believing this is a modern phenomenon I refer you back to Evertonians jostling Harry Catterick outside Blackpool’s ground in 1966 when they lost 2-0 after he had dropped Alex Young for 16-year-old Joe Royle.

It’s called losing emotional control over something you have an unhealthy obsession with and, as anyone who has texted, tweeted or podcasted their raw feelings after a dismal result knows, you can often make a right show of yourself. So if the fans can get caught up in the emotion, why not the managers?

The only reason Jose Mourinho (above) can be rebuked for walking into Manchester City’s confetti-popping, Oasis-booming dressing room and demanding respect is that few managers have merrily danced on more graves than him.

He rose to the bait, no one was hurt, it was very funny, and Mourinho ended up with milk all over his face.

And anyone moralising about the behaviour of supposed role models (Part 3,265) should first admit they didn’t want to know every juicy detail about Milkgate and tittered like a Year 12 pupil when they heard them.

It was the same hours earlier when Klopp (above) questioned the footballing brain of a TV reporter who had told him he thought a “soft penalty” had cost him a derby win.

The only difference being Klopp was left with egg, not milk, on his face, as most observers agreed with the reporter that the spotkick was legitimately awarded. But he’s not the first Liverpool manager to try to belittle a journalist in an Anfield corridor.

Bill Shankly often turned his acid tongue on those who questioned his decision-making.

And I’ve been on the end of a withering assessment of my footballing credentials from Kenny Dalglish for asking a question he thought I shouldn’t have. The difference is, back then, there were no cameras.

A microphone wasn’t being shoved up a manager’s nose on live TV, minutes after the final whistle when his adrenaline is still rushing and he may be fuming at the game’s outcome.

One of the main reasons the Anfield faithful never took to Roy Hodgson was his lack of passion, his deference to the opposition, his diplomacy when he should have been raging. There are times when fans want their managers to be as irate as they are. Even if they are part of the reason for the anger, as both Mourinho, with his tactics, and Klopp, with his selections, were on Sunday.

As that veteran of Old Trafford’s infamous Pizzagate, Wenger, said this week, when you’ve just committed 100 per cent to the pitch it’s tough to be an angel afterwards.

And no journalist, fan, player, or ex-player-turned-pundit, should really want it any other way.