Not exactly a tunnel of love at Old Trafford
The fact that last Sunday’s Manchester derby ended up in a “dust-up” in the tunnel should not come as a huge surprise given what was at stake. One team comes off the pitch at Old Trafford in an ecstatic mood, while the other is in a state of despair after being humbled at home by their bitter rivals. All you need is someone to light the fuse by saying something untoward and you’ve got an explosive situation. Enter Jose Mourinho. According to the United manager he simply asked the City team to turn down the loud music and show some “respect”, although his language was apparently a little more colourful than that. But Jose was whistling in the wind.
After winning arguably their most important game of the season, opening up an 11-point lead in the Premier League and notching a record 14 straight wins, the City players weren’t about to sit quietly in the dressing room discussing Brexit. They were going to celebrate and it was going to be loud.
What ensued at the entrance of the City dressing room depends on who you listen to. Suffice to say insults were hurled along with some plastic milk cartons and there was a lot of shouting. Handily there is no CCTV footage for the FA to peruse.
Considering his colourful record over the years, Mourinho’s claim that City showed a lack of class felt a lot like the pot calling the kettle black, not to mention sour grapes after losing to the better team.
The sprayed milk prompted assorted “Milkgate” headlines, although some newspapers settled for “Tunnelgate”. Reactions to the incident varied, although on the BBC former Arsenal Ian Wright called it “hilarious”, although the FA didn’t see the funny side of it.
Of course it is not the first time there has been an incident in the tunnel at Old Trafford, although the previous occasion featured different combatants. It was October 2004 and United had just put an end to Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten run in an ill-tempered game.
Gunners manager Arsene Wenger was in a filthy mood at the end of the match and as the teams walked off there was a confrontation in the tunnel which became known as “Pizzagate”. Sir Alex Ferguson ended up with pizza dripping off his face and suit, thrown by an Arsenal player widely believed to be Cesc Fabregas.
Ferguson recalled in his autobiography: “He [Wenger] was livid. His fists were clenched…the next thing I knew I had pizza all over me!”
Wenger saw the incident in a slightly different light. In his recent autobiography he dismisses it as simply “a little unrest in the corridor.” However, he admitted he was feeling frustrated, claiming referee Mike Riley “had not his best day.”
Mourinho has been involved in a number of touchline incidents over the years. The most entertaining came in October 2014, as Chelsea manager, when he was involved in a comical shoving match with Wenger. It wasn’t quite Laurel & Hardy, but not far off. At least it kept the crowd amused. It was little more than “handbags” with two grown men acting like spoilt children in public. The newspapers had a field day and even The Times got in on the act with the headline “When the Push Comes to a Shove.”
Wenger and Mourinho have always had a fragile relationship, not helped by Jose’s observation in 2013 that Wenger was “a specialist in failure.”
Mourinho certainly has an uncanny knack of irritating opposition managers and fans. In 2005 he was involved in a confrontation at the Hawthorns with Bryan Robson, the West Brom manager at the time. On the touchline Robson exchanged quite a few words with Mourinho and he wasn’t inviting him out to dinner.
But Mourinho’s darkest hour was during his time at Real Madrid when he appeared to deliberately poke Barcelona assistant manager Tito Vilanova in the eye. It took a whole season before Mourinho finally admitted: “I should not have done what I did.”
It’s not just Mourinho, of course. Over the years we have seen many managers spitting the dummy and Wenger will not be happy that his name frequently crops up.
In November 2005 Wenger was involved in an unseemly touchline spat with the then West Ham manager, Alan Pardew after the Hammers had scored an important goal. Although Pardew’s celebrations were a bit over the top they were understandable as he had been under considerable pressure. Former Arsenal star Paul Merson wrote: “I was embarrassed for Arsene because it looked so bad.”
Pardew is no stranger to touchline indiscretions. In 2014, he was in trouble after appearing to head butt Hull City player David Meyler. Pardew explained it was a “heat of the moment thing.” He has regularly run into trouble for pantomime-like actions and verbal abuse of match officials. Maybe it is because he invariably seems to be in charge of struggling teams. Let’s see if he manages to stay out of trouble at West Brom.
Something that has really changed over the years is the profile of the managers, primarily as a result of the exhaustive television coverage, which puts incredible pressure on them. You couldn’t imagine the likes of Sir Matt Busby, Bill Nicholson or Bill Shankly getting involved in such tacky touchline altercations.
The unpleasant truth is that, as Mourinho demonstrated last week, defeat is hard to take, especially in the top flight where so many egos are involved. You don’t have to be a Nostradamus to forecast that managers will continue making fools of themselves, but at least it adds to the entertainment.