Compiled by JOHN O'SULLIVAN

Managers should let football do talking

THE TELEVISION footage of Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish and his Arsenal counterpart Arsène Wenger walking down the touchline towards each other at the end of a tumultuous Premier league encounter at the Emirates stadium offered a five-second microcosm of the problem football faces in trying to shed its tawdry image, where respect and sportsmanship are regularly cast aside in favour of a self-serving, one-eyed strop.

Two penalties both correctly awarded, in the eighth and 11th minutes of additional time, produced an emotive conclusion. Wenger, incensed by the second spot kick decision, walked towards Dalglish with his hands splayed, articulating his disgust.

Dalglish was smiling initially, at least until he came within earshot, his features then contorted in anger, launching an expletive filled riposte before turning away with a dismissive hand gesture.

These are the managers of two of the biggest clubs in world football. They couldn’t even manage to summon the grace for handshake no matter how perfunctory, couldn’t wait until they had walked down the tunnel or met in the dressingroom area to argue their concerns. Instead in front of their respective players and supporters they behaved like a pair of alley cats.

Wenger then went onto the pitch to harangue referee Andre Marriner – he said in a post-match interview it was to get his players away but given that the only player who dallied around the officials was Emmanuel Eboue who had conceded the penalty it was a brittle assertion – and to his credit the official, unmoved, pointed towards the tunnel.

The message was abundantly clear; he would talk to the Arsenal manager in the privacy of his room. Wenger had to be content with a whinge to a linesman. In a subsequent television interview the French man claimed the referee had played too much additional time and that Eboue had done nothing wrong in challenging Liverpool’s Lucas. It was petulant, delusional nonsense but far from a rarity for the managerial caste.

Apologists will point to the tension, the passion of the moment that pre-empted the heated contretemps and some of what ensued but to do so is to miss the point. It’s easy to be charming, erudite and articulate when in a benign mood but pressure often peels away the carefully constructed layers that camouflage more base emotions.

Alex Ferguson has accumulated warnings and bans like confetti for castigating referees and eagerly embraced verbal spats with sundry rivals. Why then would one of his players Wayne Rooney think twice about the right and wrongs of his actions before launching an expletive-laced volley into a television camera lens?

Managers set the tone for what is acceptable and not acceptable in terms of behaviour at a club. If they impose strong disciplinary codes of conduct then breaches will be a rarity. But if they are ambiguous in their adherence it is little surprise players will take their cue from the gaffer. Players are role models for children and the young are quick to ape their heroes; virtues and vices.

Fines or touchline bans are not an effective deterrent or correctional method; most players or managers could find the stipend in loose change down the back of the couch. If the English FA was serious about protecting referees, if they wanted to pay more than lip-service to the virtues of respect and sportsmanship, they would deduct points from a club whose management or players abuse referees or bring the game into disrepute by their actions.

There could be a sliding scale in terms of the offence and any repetition of same. Maybe then the football would be allowed to speak for itself.

R and A verbally shrug shoulders yet again

EIGHT years ago in 2003 and prior to Royal St George hosting the British Open, Tessa Jowell, Britain’s then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport urged the R and A to “set an example” over discrimination, a reference to the club’s policy of male-only membership at the Kent links.

The British Open returns there this summer; the membership policy still precludes women and the R and A continue to advocate the Pontius Pilate defence. Peter Dawson, chief executive at the R and A, suggested Royal St George’s membership policy was their own business. He maintained: “The fact it is male members only is not something I’m overly concerned about. I know that is not as correct as it might be but I do think that these things are a matter for the members. We have never been particularly concerned about a club’s policy. We don’t use the Open for social engineering if you’d like to call it that.”

It is not as if the Kent course is the only one on the British Open roster that advocates a men-only membership. In 2013 Muirfield, another male only bastion, will host the tournament.

Trump versus 'untouchables'

THE FIRST sod was laid at Trump International Golf Links this week, the multimillion golf, hotel, villas, and holiday homes development of the American tycoon Donald Trump in Aberdeen. It was an auspicious occasion no doubt for the a man whose mother hails from Stornoway but this week also saw Trump’s lawyers jump into action over proposed plans for a dogs’ home next door to his €852 million development.

The American's legal team contend the noise from the kennels – there is also plans for a cattery too – will ruin the peace and tranquillity of the luxury development in Aberdeenshire. It's likely to be an interesting dispute because Trump's neighbour and the man behind the venture is, according to the Scottish Daily Record, "a notorious drug dealer and a hardened criminal".

The newspaper explained: “Jason McAllister, 35, was jailed for 10 years in 2003 for his part in a planned £1.8million heroin deal. He was also named as Scotland’s fastest speeder after he did 156m.p.h. on the A90, earning another five months in jail. McAllister and his brother Derek – who was jailed for 12 years in 2003 – once bragged that they were ‘untouchable’.

“Jason McAllister has now asked Aberdeenshire Council for permission to turn the garden of Menie Cottage into dog kennels and a cattery. The premises are next door to Trump’s £750 million resort, where work has started on 950 holiday apartments and 500 homes.”

The American’s lawyers have written to the council saying a noise impact assessment should be carried out, pointing out, “our client has serious concerns that the dog boarding kennels and cattery would have a negative impact on their approved plans for residential housing, holiday homes and hotel.”

The newspaper contacted Aberdeen architects, Bennett Architectural, who are working on the kennels and cattery and they confirmed their client was Jason McAllister. A spokesperson said: “It’s definitely the same guy. I don’t think Mr Trump knows who Jason is. I don’t think the fact Donald Trump’s objecting to the application has anything to do with Jason. It’s more to do with the noise element and . . . Trump has got plans for a high-class hotel. Jason’s just keeping his head down. He doesn’t want to be upsetting anybody.”

Henry admission highlights concerns not a crisis

IT’S currently fashionable in New Zealand, judging by the outpourings of NZRU chief executive Steve Tew and All Blacks coach Graham Henry, to point an accusing finger at the IRFU over a perception that the latter are surreptitiously raiding the rugby-playing larder down in the land of the long white cloud.

It’s a subjective argument and one that is completely at odds with a professional sport. The tenet of the Kiwis’ objections is that the deep pockets of Ireland and France are whisking away players with outlandish sums of money in a pied piper cavalcade to Europe: they maintain they are unable to compete financially.

Now this column is assuming that none of these players were taken by force or against their will and instead chose to play where they could earn the greatest financial return; a popular philosophy than spans all walks of life.

It is not Jared Payne, John Afoa and Matt Berquist that the New Zealand rugby authorities are concerned about but the prospect of losing a Dan Carter, a Richie McCaw or a Sonny Bill Williams (again) to the Northern Hemisphere.

Henry recently pointed out that there was probably only one player currently plying his trade in Europe, tighthead prop Carl Hayman (right), who would make the current All Black squad.

It’s hardly a crisis then.

Notre Dame student's tweet proves poignant

THIS WEEK one of the USA’s most famous universities, Notre Dame, released a 130-page investigation into the tragic death of one of its students, Declan Sullivan, who was killed when the hydraulic lift on which he stood was blown over by a gust of wind recorded at 53mph.

The-20-year old was videoing the Fighting Irish as the football team practiced last October when the accident occurred. The report, while acknowledging procedures and safeguards weren’t adequate, didn’t find anyone responsible. University president, the Rev John Jenkins, admitted: “We did not find any individual who disregarded safety or was indifferent to safety. Consequently, there was not any individual discipline. Our conclusion is that its a collective responsibility that must be dealt with collectively as we move forward.”

Sullivan checked the forecast noting that gusts of up to 60mph were possible. The confirmation of his misgivings was manifest in a gallows humour quip. He tweeted the weather was “terrifying” before adding “gusts of wind up to 60 mph today will be fun at work . . . I guess I have lived long enough”. The last sentiment proved especially poignant.

Investigators were unable to prove whether he felt pressured to go up in the lift because he often used the word “terrifying” in a joking capacity, an assertion corroborated by his fellow videographers. Sullivan’s parents were satisfied with the college’s investigation.

However the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Notre Dame $77,500 for six safety violations, including knowingly putting its employees in an unsafe situation.