SOME managers need to take a close look at themselves in the mirror and ask whether they are really setting the example they want to.

A good few years ago I remember Didier Drogba berating a Norwegian match official after a Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. He was snarling, accusing him of all sorts, and clearly emotional.

But it was only after the event that the Chelsea striker learned his son Isaac had been watching the game with his friends. When he got home, his lad told him he didn’t like what he’d seen on TV and he took it to heart. He was instantly regretful.

When you look at what Nigel Pearson did against Crystal Palace at the weekend to James McArthur, you have to wonder what message he is sending out to younger fans, to his own players, about the club he works for.

Football is an emotional game and it gets the better of us sometimes. But to hold a player down by the throat, then stop him getting back on to the pitch by holding his shirt; it’s plain bizarre.

He has avoided punishment from the FA because the match officials saw the incident. But why should referee Lee Mason have a good view of it, he was keeping up with play?

The fourth official should have intervened, he should have advised the referee to send him to the stands, and in my opinion, he should be hit with a ban.

Alan Pardew got a long suspension for headbutting Hull City’s David Meyler in March last year and while this incident was a little more tame, it is still in the same ball park. He still crossed the line.

Surely the League Managers' Association don’t want to see this kind of thing happening – and I’d hope Richard Bevan sends a letter to Leicester this week to express his disappointment.

At Bolton, Neil Lennon has already found out to his cost that getting a bit over-excited on the touchline can lead to trouble. He was sent off in his first game against Birmingham City back in October.

Since then he has sailed close to the wind on a couple of occasions and I think there have been times where he needed to take a step back and think hard about whether it’s the image he wants to portray. It can very easily translate on to the pitch.

But Pearson’s example is much more sinister in my view and warranted another look. I accept managers are under pressure and that Leicester are scrapping to stay in the Premier League – but you don’t need to take that literally.

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IF a well-known lager brand did local derbies, then this weekend’s offerings would probably be the best in the world.

Isn’t it nice to say that the Everton v Liverpool and Arsenal v Spurs games passed off without a key match incident for us to moan and groan about.

Anthony Taylor did really well in the Merseyside derby but I haven’t seen many of those games down the years with such a lack of passion and aggression.

He put his stamp on the game early on with a caution for Aiden McGeady and after that had no trouble at all.

It was the same for Martin Atkinson in the North London derby – he cautioned a few Arsenal players to get a grip on things but I don’t think his performance was bad at all.

Arsene Wenger would beg to differ. He was incensed about a challenge by Danny Rose on Danny Welbeck and another one on Johan Djourou. Maybe the Spurs player got a bit lucky – but they were incidents that looked worse when slowed down, in my view.

I think the Frenchman was just deflecting from a bad performance and that’s a shame.

If only us referees were allowed to hit back in the same way. Could you imagine if we came out and started blasting one of the managers to the cameras after a game, or pinned him up against the wall? There would be uproar.

Believe me, there have been plenty of times I have gone back to the dressing room and thought about doing just that.

But we’re meant to take the moral high ground and even though there are a few refs around who can handle themselves, it’s just not the done thing.

Meanwhile, me and some colleagues from youaretheref.com welcomed a delegation of Nigerian officials last week – and we’re getting some rave reviews in the press over there apparently.

We attended a couple of games, did some training and some classroom exercises with them. I think they got a lot out of the trip.

I’m off to Disney today to give some feedback on American officials at a massive youth tournament they hold each year.

They are open to advice on how to improve refereeing – it’s just such a shame that people over here are not quite so open minded.

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SO the Premier League is set to get another record-breaking television deal worth £5.136billion.

It is quite incredible to think how much cash circulates in this game of ours but how much of it is being used to make it even better?

We’ll have the Championship play-off final in May – dubbed the richest game in the world. It used to be worth £100m but goodness only knows what it is valued at now.

So the most lucrative game anywhere on the planet will be played at Wembley Stadium but because the Football League do not endorse goal-line technology, a controversial goal could end up settling it. How does that even happen?

We have to take some of this money and use it to bring in some technology to help our referees because the game has advanced but they are being left behind.

I’m interested to see what information is passed on from the Dutch FA to FIFA about their trial with video technology.

A player was sent off after 25 seconds the other day but it was later rescinded.

You look at major games in other sports using video replays to their betterment and wonder – why on earth is that not happening in football?

And it shouldn’t just be the big clubs who benefit. The whole Football League should improve too. Leagues One and Two should not be second-class citizens but in terms of standard of officials, they are being overlooked each and every week.

The vast sums of money we are talking about could make a lasting difference to the way we operate – but I think it will just end up going into the accounts of the big clubs again. The rich get richer, as they say.