IT WAS a week when European games should have made the main headlines.

The opportunity to see the likes of Juventus and Bayern Munich play against our own top teams still has a certain magic about it.

And intrigue, too, as we wondered whether Jose Mourinho was or wasn't in touch with the man in the woolly hat on the bench, or whether the Chelsea fitness coach usually sits like that, with one hand to his right ear and his head inclined away from the pitch.

But no, the headlines, which went all around the world, were about two Newcastle players having a punch-up in the middle of a game going out live on television.

When I was a young coach at Sheffield Wednesday, the manager Alan Brown was as strict a disciplinarian as there's ever been in the game, but even he had to accept the odd fall out between teammates.

Our two star midfield players were Peter Eustace and a young Jimmy McCalliog, newly arrived from across the border with an abundance of talent and a short fuse.

The two respected each other's ability but for a time just didn't get on. Lots of verbals and the odd tussle took place on the training ground but never during a game, until one day we noticed that they were purposely trying not to pass the ball to each other.

In my career I've had many players who looked as though they weren't trying to pass to anyone on our team, but these two had it off to a fine art and while in some ways it was a credit to their skills and ability, it didn't do much for the team

Suffice to say, Mr Brown sorted them out very promptly.

When there are so many players living in each other's pockets day in day out for ten or 11 months of the year, there are bound to be differences, but what we saw at St James's park was totally unacceptable.

We have been hearing from schoolteachers and youth football officials how they have been having problems with more children swearing because they tend to imitate the star players they see on television.

The man in the street at times can't understand why players aren't dismissed from their jobs, as they themselves would in their own walk of life.

Footballers are on contracts which are always for at least one year and in the case of so-called stars, who have been bought for an enormous fee, the contract can extend as far as four or five years.

This is more so since freedom of contract came in, which means a player can walk away at the end of a contract without a club receiving a fee - so having already paid out, they put them on a long contract to hopefully get value for money.

There is no such thing as a week or a month's notice. Certainly a club can, in such a case as last week, tear up a contract because every one in the small print has a clause saying the player shall not bring the club into disrepute.

So why didn't Dyer and Bowyer, in particular, get sacked? Obviously because Newcastle had invested so much money in them.

The club is a plc, players are marked down as assets and the hard truth is it would not necessarily be an example to all other professionals because being available on a free, no doubt another club would have signed them.

So the club were left in a cleft stick really, fining Lee Bowyer six weeks' wages, which apparently worked out at nearly £250,000. It looks a big deal, but really when his annual salary is over £2m a year, I don't suppose it will bother the bank manager too much.

Both players will miss at least three games, including the FA Cup semi-final, and Bowyer, the instigator, will probably get a longer sentence .

This is a player who as a youngster had troubles off the field at Charlton and Leeds, and is back in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

I'm reminded of a speech the chief constable of Hampshire made last year when he asked whether we'd ever seen anyone doing community service.

I always believed the worst punishment for a player was to stop him playing, and I very rarely fined players. However, I think more of a gesture back to the public has got to be made.

Recently a player in our own area, after driving through nine red lights while two and half times over the drink limit, was, as the judge said, extremely lucky only to receive a small fine and be given 100 hours community service.

The club fine was supposedly being given to charity which, if this happened, is a good thing. Being connected with so many charities in Hampshire, I know there are many deserving causes. Just imagine how many charities in the north-east could benefit from Bowyer's fine.

The chief constable suggested wearing red jackets while sweeping the streets to prove community service was being done, and while not necessarily going to those lengths, I do think it should be seen that the sentences are carried out.

Coming from the north-east myself and knowing how passions run high, Bowyer would be wise to stay indoors for a bit. Supporters feel badly let down by his actions and would certainly let him know exactly what they think of him.

After all, they were so excited by the semi-final, thinking fate had decreed it was their year because it's 50 years since they last won the big one. Now, through the actions of a hot-headed idiot, they see their team weakened.

But they will still turn up at Cardiff paying massive amounts out of their wages, which in most cases don't add up in one year to what Bowyer gets in one week.

A little item which should interest some of our prima-donna superstars is that Age Concern Hampshire are having to issue a guide to make our elderly people more aware of what they can do to get extra help to pay water, gas, electricity and council tax bills.

For more information and a free copy, the number to ring is 0800 3287154.