Manager completely loses the plot with referee, accuses him of ruining his kids’ Christmas

Professional football management is a stressful job to say the least but a line has to be drawn somewhere when it comes to the acceptable behaviour of managers.

We are all well familiar with the famous meltdowns from managers in the Premier League or at international level, they provide us with shocking and sometimes downright cringeworthy entertainment. Remember Paulo DiCanio and Leon Clarke? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otbpOUx1ZF8 However, perhaps managers operating in the lower divisions are under even greater pressure. The yo-yo nature of clubs in the lower divisions means that most clubs will have aspirations of playoff positions at least, which means you have a huge number of teams attempting to achieve the same goal. This, in addition to the shoe-string budgets and constant hiring and firing of managers means that there is undoubtedly a huge level of stress associated with the job. Former Republic of Ireland international footballer, John Sheridan, is not unfamiliar with this stress. He managed a number of clubs in the lower division including Oldham Athletic, Chesterfield, Plymouth Argyle and Newport County to name but a few. Sheridan is currently in his third stint as manager of Oldham Athletic but he only took over recently after being sacked by Notts County at the beginning of the month. Things did not go well for Sheridan during his time in Nottingham, he equalled the club record of nine successive defeats which ultimately led to his departure. However, it was during one of these defeats that Sheridan was sent to the stands which subsequently led to a five-game touchline ban. The referee report from that game has been published and it offers an insight into why Sheridan was sent to the stands in the first place.

'In the 55th minute, 4th official Matthew Donohue informed me that Notts County manager, John Sheridan, should be removed from the technical area for his behaviour towards himself. I then asked Mr Sheridan to leave the technical area and take his place in the stands. Mr Sheridan then said to me: "Your a f****** disgrace, you're f****** useless, you've not got f****** anything right today, you should be f****** ashamed, you're f****** shit, my kids aren't going to get any f****** Christmas presents because of f****** you." Mr Sheridan then took his place in the stands for the rest of the game.'

You can tell Sheridan was really furious when he levelled the accusation of cancelling Christman at Eddie Ilderton's door. The full referee's report can be seen below. He may have over-stepped the mark when he later called Ilderton a C-U-Next-Tuesday and threatened to knock him out. Too much John, too much.