Mark Hughes, who last week shamefully defended Adebayor's stamp on Van Persie's face, has again attempted to defend the indefensible.

"The guy shouldn't have been on the pitch, that's just not acceptable," he said. "I seem to remember Brian Clough clipping someone around the earhole because he was being daft, and maybe that's what Craig has done.

The Manchester derby was a joy to behold for football fans around the globe, but in the aftermath of the match all of the focus is on Craig Bellamy and his violent outburst.

Pictures prove that Bellamy punched a spectator that entered the field, and there is no covering up his blemish.

Video footage of the Bellamy incident After the jump you can watch the Brian Clough punch-up which Mark Hughes compared the incident to. Hughes said: "I did not see it but the guy should not have been on the pitch. That is not acceptable. Brian Clough clipped someone's ear. He was lauded a national hero.

Brian Clough's managerial career has been well documented, but it often completely overshadows the success Clough had as a player. Whilst he was often accused of nepotism towards his son Nigel whilst he was the manager of Nottingham Forest, it wasn't hard to see where the younger player got his footballing talent from.

Well you've got to hand it to him, Gary Megson must have the thickest skin in professional football. I've seen him barracked by his own fans at 4 different clubs over the years and that's some going, even in the fickle world of the football supporter. At a Nottingham Forest game, I saw fans come to blows trying to get to him, at Leicester I saw a fan throw his season ticket at him in his 3rd game in charge.

Oh the irony of it all: One of the wealthiest football clubs in the world, with a proven world-class manager who is yet to splash some serious cash at his new club, and suddenly the bank has been forced to involuntarily shut its doors until January 2011. All due to a little unknown reserve team player (unless you play Football Manager.

Last year you could argue that with West Brom, Stoke and Hull were the favorites to go down, however Newcastle and Middlesbrough filled their places.Were they too good to go down? Maybe, but there are 10 good teams above these two, who made a hash of it even more.

10. Reading, 2007/08

They say the second season is the most tricky for a newly promoted club.

The football section of The Independent online version published a featured article By Simon Rice "The Most Feared Football Managers" click here to read the original article which is supported with images guide. The article talked about 10 feared managers as following (according to the article order): Alex Ferguson (Manchester United/Scotland) Brian Clough (former manager for Hartlepool United [.

Mark Hughes on the Bellamy incident:

"I seem to recal Brian Clough clipping someone around the ear and he was lauded as a national hero. Maybe it will be the same case with Craig but I doubt it".

I'd imagine both Bellamy and the fan who came onto the pitch are probably going to be hearing a lot more about this.

It's not often I'm happy to see Man United win, and while a draw yesterday in the Man City derby would have been a better result for Arsenal, the fact that Man U won 4-3 meant I was £150 richer for the sake of a £1 bet and Mark Hughes now knows how it feels when the officials fuck up and it costs you the game.

I'm tempted to say it was dark, but it wasn't; it was just darker than I expected. The book was dark. The book was a kind of mildewy cave of rhetoric that, not unlike Brian Clough himself, could have happily contained your wine collection. The movie was...well, it was a celebration of friendship.

Robert Earnshaw: in need of a trim, if not a new car
When it comes to haircuts, nature has long since ensured that I need opt for nothing more expensive than a trip to the local barber for a simple buzz job. A trip to Tony & Guy would be not only a needless extravagance, but also a complete waste of time.

The latest video flashback takes us back to 1988 when England was a terrible football team despite finding glory just two years later in the 1990 World Cup.

This video features Brian Clough and Brian Moore. Cloughie makes a flub in the beginning of the analysis but doesn't seem to care, which is followed by commentary from the legendary Brian Moore and Trevor Francis in this match which ended 0-0.

This week's Ultimate 11's is new blogger Ashley Straws' Derby County. Now all you tennage glory hunters probably won't remember but Derby County were a top team back in the day, in fact they won the old Division 1 championship in 1972 and 1975.

Do you really know your clubs proud history or are you just a teenage glory hunter?