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By home, he didn’t mean just down the road in the tenement block where he grew up, but 250 miles away in leafy Cheshire. His behaviour is not correct.” Told that his confrontation with Rofe in the tunnel, like the Istanbul incident, had been caught on camera, Souness added: “I must be guilty as charged then.”. But what I was not happy with was the behaviour of Dennis Rofe – he was encouraging the referee to give Andy a red card. I don’t take kindly to staff from other clubs trying to get my players sent off. My job is to look after my players, staff at other clubs must look after their own players and not concern themselves with trying to influence the referee. Blackburn’s manager, Graeme Souness, pointed accusingly at Svensson as he left the pitch and he then turned his anger on Southampton’s assistant coach, Dennis Rofe, whom he had sacked while himself Southampton’s manager seven seasons ago.He accused Rofe of encouraging the referee to send off Cole and the pair clashed in the tunnel. Souness said: “All I saw were a lot of players pushing and shoving – I will have to take a look at the video before I comment further.

Fists started to fly amid a tangle of players, among them Cole and Southampton’s Michael Svensson. When peace was restored Cole was sent off, but all others went unpunished. Flare-ups occasionally occur between players in the heat of a match but, rather like the tension between England and Turkey players in Istanbul two weeks ago, the trouble at the St Mary’s Stadium continued off the pitch. But I saw the beautiful goals.” Pity they won’t get the headlines.Southampton 2 Blackburn Rovers 0 Beattie 59, Griffit 87Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 31,620.

Cole trudged off and Souness stood in disbelief, pointing an accusing finger at Michael Svensson.”The first goal damaged us The sending-off killed us,” he said His team chased, but in vain The chances fell to Southampton Strachan was taking the Fifth “I’m doing an Ars? Wenger here,” he said of the sending-off “I did not see it. Football showed its ugly side again when the Blackburn Rovers striker Andy Cole was sent off after a m?e on the pitch that involved up to 14 players during the second half of his side’s 2-0 defeat at Southampton. “But how could you forget that!” Blackburn offered even less, their five-man midfield was dysfunctional, but after the break a drive by David Thompson was saved while Tugay shot over.It was warming up. A free header by Beattie flew wide after persistence by Neil McCann, but the England striker quickly made amends with his free-kick.

Moments later and the contest exploded for a different reason with Cole’s dismissal.There was a tangle of bodies – Steven Reid, McCann, Anders Svensson and the disappointing Barry Ferguson – before the Scottish midfielder was pushed in the back and the fists started.Fourteen players were involved Cole took on allcomers Referee Steve Bennett waved one card and it was red. “I was wondering what had happened to football in the 21st century.”A weak header by the lumbering Jo Tessem and another free-kick by Beattie and that was it for the first 45 minutes “Someone said it was forgettable,” Strachan said. It was also out of keeping with a dire first-half.”We are a team who are not playing with a whole lot of confidence,” said Souness after this fourth consecutive defeat. “Beautiful,” said Strachan after the debutant picked up Beattie’s through ball and rolled his shot calmly past Brad Friedel to finish off Blackburn.Beattie’s earlier goal was no less superb – a free-kick from 25 yards into the right-hand corner after he had been wrestled to the ground by Andy Todd “That was brave,” said Strachan. A nil-nil draw, he said, would have been “a good result for us” Strachan concurred about the quality. Somehow his sparring partner Michael Svensson escaped censure.At the final whistle there was round two. Blackburn manager Graeme Souness clashed with Gordon Strachan’s assistant Dennis Rofe in the tunnel.