Chelsea's coach, Jose Mourino, was accused of inciting Liverpool fans by putting his finger to his lips after Chelsea's equaliser in the League Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium. His defence was that he was not getting his own back for the abuse Liverpool fans had given him when they had scored first. Instead the sign was to the media correspondents preparing to write off his boast to win four trophies this season.
The FA chose to believe him, despite the media being perched way up in the stadium opposite to where he was making his gestures. Other managers supporting him however, seemed happy to accept it was a reaction to the opposing supporters but blame it on spectators being allowed to be too close to the dug-outs.
The volatile Neil Warnock of Sheffield United said he has to suffer it every week and so do all other managers. 'If you heard what fans say, you would react,' he said. 'They refer to your family, they get personal but you, as manager, aren't supposed to respond'. Frank Clark of the League
Managers' Association said they had campaigned to have a 'sterile' area behind the dug-out but it had not received support from the clubs who are loath to loose gate receipts by restricting capacity. Therefore it is down to how clubs deploy their stewards.
I have an idea how the managers can save themselves from being cat-called, or at least if they are, they probably wouldn't hear it. I know it's revolutionary but I think it could work. The managers/coaches could abide by the rules of the dug-out or more properly - the Technical Area.+
It may come as a surprise, even to some managers and coaches, that there are rules laid down, which they are supposed to obey. These rules can be found in the Laws of the Game, strangely I always think, under Law 3 - Number of Players. There are also guidelines about the technical area itself, which really only relates to stadiums where there is a designated seated area for substitutes and club officials.
The technical area extends one metre on either side of the seating area and to within one metre of the touchline, The officials must remain within the technical area, except for special circumstances, for instance the physiotherapist attending an injured player.
The first thing it says in Law 3 is that 'A team official may convey tactical instructions to the players during the match and he must return to his position after giving those instructions'. In other words, only one person at a time is authorised to stand up and shout instructions to the players and, having given the instructions, should return and sit back in the dug-out. What you are more likely to see is one or more of the coaching staff standing up for the whole of the game and not always inside the technical area, shouting at their players. Managers don't see anything wrong with this.
John Gorman, manager at Wycombe Wanderers, when asked why, after they had trained all week, it was still necessary to tell players what to do on a Saturday afternoon, said, 'having coached them all week, of course managers want to coach their players at the match itself'. Imagine though if they only gave instructions when needed and returned immediately to sit in the dug-out. The spectators wouldn't have much opportunity to shout abuse and in the dug-out, it would literally go over their heads anyway.
Of course, for those of us whose refereeing is mainly confined to grounds without technical areas, all these rules are somewhat irrelevant but they end up saying 'club officials must behave in a responsible manner' and that applies everywhere, from the local parks to the Millennium Stadium.