Managers have no defence if they hit players

Hopefully, it departs as soon as it arrives. Not just because it's probably not a terribly clever thing to do but also because the moment you resort to physical violence, you've lost the argument. You've certainly lost respect.

For parent-child, read football manager-player. It's often a fraught relationship but the one thing the 'parent' must never do (no matter how often the thought enters his mind) is resort to thumping one of his star turns.

We may never know the truth of what happened in the two high-profile bust-ups at QPR and Stoke but while it is clear the players concerned, Akos Buzsaky and James Beattie, may have behaved like ... players, it is the conduct of the two managers, Jim Magilton and Tony Pulis, that prompts the most debate.

Pulis's confrontation with Beattie happened after the final whistle on Saturday when Stoke lost 2-0 at Arsenal. The story goes that Pulis went back on an agreement to extend the players' Christmas celebrations by a day and then, behind closed doors, the two of them came to blows. The manager subsequently apologised to his squad for his part in the incident.

Magilton's spat with the Hungarian came at full-time on Monday when Rangers lost 3-1 at Watford. In one of the most bizarre sporting images of the year, Buzsaky was then seen wandering round the edge of the pitch still in his kit before returning to the dressing room half an hour after the final whistle. Magilton 'categorically denies any wrongdoing' and his backroom staff support him, so, if the Hungarian is shown the door, we'll probably have to draw our own conclusions.

Players often have rows with fellow players on training grounds and during matches. But it's the job of the coach or manager to stand apart. To be passionate but dispassionate. To inspire, to assess and to have a clear head when all around are losing theirs. Half-time rants are all well and good so long as they are followed by proper analytical thought about what to do next.

The occasional tea cup may find itself flying across the dressing room but then it's down to business. How are we going to win this game?

As in the parent-child scenario, any suggestion of violence is a tacit admission that not only have you run out of patience but you've run out of ideas as to how to solve the problem.

Pulis is doing a good job at Stoke. He's also admitted he made a mistake. Beattie has had a run of injuries and, at 31, is probably dispensable. There is only one winner in that argument.

The situation is less clear at QPR. Magilton is under huge pressure. A play-off place is within the club's grasp, however, so all is by no means lost.

But his position is undermined, considerably if not irrevocably, by what we are led to believe may have occurred in the dressing room on Monday. If he really 'lost it' with Buzsaky, even if, as he insists, there was no physical contact, what matters is, whether as a consequence, he has lost the respect of the rest of the players. If he has, he may be wandering the streets outside Loftus Road very shortly.

Time for a permanent break, Hendry

Several ages ago, I interviewed Ivan Lendl, multi-grand slam winner, as he slid down the rankings into what was effectively tennis oblivion.

Shouldn't you just retire gracefully, was the general line of questioning.

He stared out from beneath those brooding East European eyes and said that he would make that decision when the time was right and no idiot from the media was going to encourage him to leave the stage before he was ready. That rather uneasy encounter came to mind earlier this week when Stephen Hendry was ignominiously dumped out of the UK Snooker Championships at Telford.

Seven-times world champion and world No1 for eight consecutive years, he was also one of the most charming interviewees from any sport that it's ever been my pleasure to meet. But now he is a shadow of his former snooker self. And were we to meet today, shouldn't you just retire gracefully, would probably be the general line of questioning again.

He also might say that no idiot from the media was going to tell him what to do but, surely, he must know. What is it they say? Always leave a party while you're still enjoying it.

Reason to be cheerfuL . . .

On one side there's Jenson, Jessica and Ryan. On the other there's Joe, Stacey and Olly. Was there ever such a televisual dilemma facing the British public as the one that confronts them on Sunday night? The very thought of all the fights over the remote controls in the households of Britain as the Beeb's sporting personalities go up against the X-Factor starlets is enough to bring a smile to even the surliest of faces.