Don’t make bosses shake hands

IT SOMETIMES seems as if modern football is as much about public displays of affection and friendship as kicking the ball into the other team’s goal.

Tomorrow, Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez meet again at Stamford Bridge for the FA Cup quarter-final replay between Chelsea and Manchester United.
Plenty has been made of the fact Fergie did not shake hands with Rafa at the end of the first tie at Old Trafford three weeks ago — a brilliant game in which Chelsea came back from 2-0 down after just 11 minutes to draw 2-2.
Just as the eyes of the country have been on players and their handshakes this season, now we switch to two supposedly feuding managers and whether or not they will press the flesh before and afterwards.
Let’s be honest — not everyone likes everyone else in football, or in a factory, office or school playground.
That’s life.
And if someone doesn’t like me then, sure, I’d be disappointed but I’d rather they were up front about it and refused to shake my hand than go through some fake ritual for the cameras, the fans and the FA disciplinary committee.
Take Fergie and Rafa.
They’ve clashed before. There’s also a fierce rivalry between United and the Spaniard’s old club Liverpool.
Shaking hands in the dugout does not make the slightest difference to that.
As managers, we all get het up during matches.
I always offer to shake the other manager’s hand at the end of a game but then you forget it and move on.
For example, Arsene Wenger clearly doesn’t like doing it. He walks over, looks the other way as he is doing it and it is hardly a warm gesture.
So I don’t know why he bothers.

BEST OF ENEMIES ... Fergie walks past Benitez

Years ago, you could be in the home-team manager’s office 10 minutes after the final whistle, looking him in the eyes while you both had a glass of wine.
Alone in the same room, two people tend to get on much better than down in the bear pit of the dugout.
Nowadays, there’s an hour’s worth of interviews with TV, radio and newspapers to do first and by then the players are waiting to get on a plane. No bus home any more.
But the management game is changing as quickly as it is for the players and supporters these days.
Hardly anyone goes to the functions any more.
Fergie goes to the League Managers’ Association dinners because he is a big supporter.
But you turn up at a lot of get-togethers and no one else is there.
The only time you see your fellow managers or rivals — depending on your viewpoint — is for a few seconds on the touchline before and after a game.
So much window dressing is applied to the game nowadays.
Not so long ago, it was quite normal for the teams to come out separately.