GIVE ‘EM A1 GAMEBAN
Duffy and my old pal Lenny were only showing a bit of passion ... we can’t hang them out to dry for that Barry Ferguson
THERE’S something Jim Duffy should take from me. Fighting with Neil Lennon is nothing to be embarrassed about.
I know, I spent the best part of my career doing it and that’s why I couldn’t help but have a wee laugh to myself when I saw Duffy and my old sparring partner squaring up on the touchline at Easter Road the other night.
Now, before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not condoning violence in football or saying it’s acceptable for grown men to be knocking lumps out of one another on the side of a pitch.
I know young kids attend matches and we all have a duty to toe the line. I accept all that.
But I also know how it feels to be right there in the heat of the battle trying to win a match when the stakes are as high as they were for Hibs and Morton on Wednesday night.
And now and again even I may have crossed a certain line. You might have noticed.
But I must admit I don’t feel embarrassed when I see two managers get involved with one another the way Jim and Lenny did the other night. I love it. If anything, I’d say the trouble with football these days is there’s not enough of that kind of passion on display.
Now I realise some people out there will not want to hear it said. I know we live in the kind of country where a wee row between the men in charge of Rangers and Celtic leads to a full-scale public inquiry at the Scottish Parliament.
Down south Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Roberto Mancini and Alan Pardew have all been involved in much worse and no one raised an eyebrow when compared to the bed-wetting that went on when Ally McCoist and Lennon famously came nose to nose.
Honestly, it could only happen in Scotland. The home of the permanently hysterical.
I had my own touchline run-in with Lenny in the League Cup Final in 2009 when he was part of Gordon Strachan’s backroom team.
I went to get the ball off him to take a throw-in. He tried to hold on to it and we ended up in a bit of a scuffle. To be honest, had we been at Celtic Park I probably wouldn’t have done it!
But I knew I had half the stadium backing me up so it felt like a good idea at the time.
Sometimes, when you’re on the edge with your blood pumping – in the moment – you do things you instinctively know will get a reaction from your team-mates and the fans.
You have to know how to play the game. In football you have to use any advantage you can or at least within reason.
And that’s what was going on the other night when Duffy took his turn. For me, it was just two passionate managers trying to win a game of football and protect their own players at the same time.
Maybe even send out a message that they are all in it together. And I’m sorry but I really don’t see the problem with that.
I’m not condoning what went on. I’m not saying scenes like this should be the norm. But what I am asking is why, on the odd occasion when there is a flare-up or flashpoint in the heat of the moment, do some people have to throw their hands in the air and act as if it’s the end of the world?
Did Duffy take his jacket off, throw it on the ground and start coming at Lennon throwing haymakers?
Did Lenny undo his coat and start IBROX LEGEND WRITESEXCLUSIVELYFORYOU EVERY WEEK
trading blows back the way? No. There was a bit of barging and a few verbals were swapped. Big deal.
Jim says he’s embarrassed and I understand that because managers know they have a responsibility to conduct themselves properly when they are on that touchline. He’ll be embarrassed because he left his own technical area to get involved.
In retrospect – and in the cool light of day – I’m sure he would have reacted differently.
But this is football we are talking about. And – as no one knows better than me – sometimes football gets the better of you.
It’s a sport that makes passions run high. If it didn’t do that then no one would bother turning up to watch it. I know I wouldn’t.
On the contrary I love to see people who care about winning.
Sometimes I wonder if there are enough people in the game who feel as strongly about it as I do.
I was in bother with the SFA earlier this season when I was sent off in a game against Elgin. One of our boys went in with a solid tackle and although he won the ball my opposite number, big Jim Weir, reacted badly.
The two of us ended up in a bit of a disagreement. There were no punches thrown but I admit it did get fairly heated.
Next thing we knew we were both watching the rest of the match from the main stand feeling pretty daft about ourselves.
The bottom line is we were both standing up for our own players and, yes, we stepped over the line.
We ended up being invited to talk it over with the compliance officer at Hampden but I explained my emotions were running high and I was just a passionate guy.
I was given a fair hearing and a one-game ban from the dugout. That was fine. I knew I had gone overboard and accepted my punishment.
I just hope the SFA take a similar commonsense approach to Jim and Lenny. There is no need for a massive overreaction or huge touchline bans.
Slap them on the wrists and tell them to behave themselves. Then take both of them aside and quietly thank them for showing the kind of passion that Scottish football so badly needs.
In the meantime if there are tickets going for the rematch at Cappielow a week on Saturday I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on one.