Watching brief

Confirmation from the FA that the Silver Fox will be banned from the touchline for the next two league matches and also fined £20,000 following his inappropriately hands-on confrontation with assistant referee Peter Kirkup during the opening-day victory over Spurs. He may have dismissively described the incident as "ridiculous" and "comical", but there's nothing much comical about our manager being confined to the stands at a time when the players look in real need of his pitchside input.