THE incident at Newcastle last Saturday with Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer fighting each other was manna from heaven for some journalists.

It certainly provided plenty of copy to fill the column inches.

It was an extraordinary sight and has very rarely happened in professional football, although I do recall one incident not long ago with David Batty and Graeme Le Saux squaring up in a European game. But that was mild compared with what took place on Saturday at St James's Park.

When you have 20 or so professional players, they do not always see eye to eye.

The famous case where players were supposedly at odds in the dressing room was Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole at Manchester United. But on the pitch they formed a formidable partnership and that is where it counted.

Occasionally I have known bust-ups on the training ground, more often than not caused by a mistimed tackle in a five-a-side. A disagreement of that nature has led to a confrontation but not of a serious nature.

I have had players whom I have had to bring into the office afterwards, talk to them, have them shake hands and then promptly fine them.

Outsiders talk about team spirit or spirit in the dressing room and it is a massive advantage when you get good players who get on well and work and, to some extent, play together.

It used to be almost compulsory for the players to go out and have a drink together. Often the skipper got everybody together and organised things but that has largely disappeared with players not always moving into the vicinity of the club and a lot of commuting going on.

For all the time I have been in football, you cannot quite define what brings along spirit in the dressing room and what makes players gel together.

We always try to do background research on players - whether they want to play the game, whether they are good pros.

I believe that being a good professional is not just the training and the playing, it is preparation away from the club in what they eat and drink, the times they sleep.

Consequently, there have been quite a number of players I have turned away from because of reputations earned for misbehaviour.