AS a player he was never afraid to say what was on his mind - and Jim Magilton seems no different in the dug-out. Not for the first time, the northern Irishman is likely to find himself out of pocket after an altercation with an official at Stoke last Saturday.

AS a player he was never afraid to say what was on his mind - and Jim Magilton seems no different in the dug-out. Not for the first time, the northern Irishman is likely to find himself out of pocket after an altercation with an official at Stoke last Saturday. The spat was typical of a man who has always worn his heart on his sleeve. But is a passionate manager the key to success - or should the boss show a little more restraint? JOSH WARWICK reports.

IPSWICH Town manager Jim Magilton could be sitting in the stands for sometime following his rant at referee Mick Jones during his team's defeat at Stoke City.

It is the third time in a year that the 38-year-old has vented his fury at an official, leaving him vulnerable to a six-game touchline ban.

An occasionally overzealous determination to win spilled over at Preston last March and at Burnley in October, leaving Magilton facing an uncomfortable meeting with football league

bosses.

The Northern Irishman is clearly a man who has a passion for his profession.

He makes full use of the technical area, gesticulating, pointing and screaming instructions to his players, barely pausing for breath.

It's a style which appears popular with the fans. As Magilton put it: “The supporters can identify with me - I wear my heart on my sleeve and they're going to get passion and a will to win.”

And the players seem to respond to his methods, too.

Upon his arrival at Portman Road, midfielder David Norris admitted his new manager's approach to the game had been a big draw.

“Jim Magilton was a big reason I came here,” he said. “He had spoken well about me in the past and I have been impressed with his passion for the job and for this football club.

“He's very ambitious for Ipswich Town and knows where he wants to take the club and that matches my own thoughts about the future.”

Magilton's style of management is in keeping with many others. Martin O'Neill, one of the game's eccentrics, dances around the dug-out like a man possessed, while Neil Warnock is never afraid to scream at his team - or the officials.

Indeed, the country's two biggest clubs, Arsenal and Manchester United, are run by two of the most vocal and proud coaches in the game.

Wenger famously had a touchline bust-up with Alan Pardew at Upton Park, while Sir Alex's row with David Beckham in 2003 - the one involving a football boot - was seen as a raw desire to win rather than GBH.

Warnock, meanwhile, continues to be the man the fans love to hate.

“I'm a passionate manager,” he said understatedly, “who's always shouting and encouraging his players - and I believe that's what is often misconstrued.”

Even the usually placid Paul Jewell has shown his fighting spirit in recent weeks - his anger induced by truly woeful performances from his Derby County players.

Jewell has traditionally kept his rants inside the dressing room, but he pulled no punches in his condemnation of County's defeat to Wigan as his side set a new club record of 21 league games without a win.

The 43-year-old said: “I can't defend what I saw. I'm not going to name players, but I'm not saying anything that I've not said to them.

“There's no desire, no effort, a lack of determination, and that is totally unacceptable. Not all of them, but a lot of the players don't deserve to be here.

“It's embarrassing because Derby County deserves better than this.”

It seems most supporters appreciate some passion, desire and honesty from the man running their club. If he cares as much as you about how the team is doing, he must want the same thing - or so the theory goes.

But the animated and outspoken way isn't the only approach.

Kevin Keegan's middle name might be “enthusiasm”, but his tactical naivety has been brutally exposed on Tyneside, leaving him winless.

At Eastlands though, Manchester City's quiet revolution is being built by the usually restrained, sedate Sven Goran Eriksson.

The former England boss was castigated for his lack of passion while in charge of the national team. Television cameras regularly caught him as he sat motionless while England toiled in the Far East, Portugal and Germany.

However, Eriksson's record in management is held in high regard and he has turned a sinking City ship into a European contender.

Meanwhile, Avram Grant is ensuring The Gunners and United don't have it all their own way this season.

He may look like a funeral director but Grant is proving himself a shrewd boss.

And then there's the smouldering mass of anger that is Roy Keane, the warrior who tore into opponents at will - and even unleashed an unprintable outburst at his national manager on the eve of a World Cup.

Only Keane seems to have been calmed by the experience of leading a club from the touchline and not the midfield.

The pundits lazily assumed Keane the manager would be like Keane the player, and the first bad decision would see him crossing the line and facing up to the referee.

It is an assumption which has proved to be false.

“As a player you could physically go up against people,” he said. “As a manager it is not really allowed. I've made a conscious effort.

“When the players cross that line you can't tackle, you can't pass, you can't score.

“The major part of it was to try to keep a calm head. If you do lose it, do it in the dressing room, otherwise you'll go to an early grave.

“Martin O'Neill leaps around and at the end says he physically feels like he's played a match. That's his style. Everyone's different, but I can guarantee we all love winning as much as anyone else.”

IT'S AS much a part of the Premier League's history as the introduction of the Sky Streakers or green referees' shirts.

The video clip of Kevin Keegan, wearing over-sized headphones, ranting like a mad-man at Sir Alex Ferguson will always be remembered.

The Premier League trophy had already got Newcastle United's name etched on it when Keegan's Magpies went into freefall.

Manchester United were rapidly making up the 12-point deficit and the Geordies' dream of a first major trophy in a million years was slipping out of their hands.

After a crucial defeat to Nottingham Forest, Keegan lost the plot, bellowing those immortal words: “I will love it if we beat them, love it.”

Unfortunately for King Kev, pictured above this year, United took the title on the final day of the season.

WHILE Jim Magilton occasionally earns the wrath of Football League bosses, his antics are nothing compared to the behaviour of a manager in Spain,

In La Liga last month, Osasuna boss Jose Angel Ziganda was forced to apologise after he tangled with referee Iturralde Gonzalez after the 2-1 defeat at Estadio Sanchez-Pizjuan.

The manager jumped on the referee after the game, clearly exasperated with Gonzalez's decision to award Sevilla a last-minute penalty which enabled them to claim all three points.

A contrite Ziganda said: “I am very sad that we have to speak about that rather than on the good display we achieved.

“I made a mistake at the end of the game, lost my mind and I apologise for it. I should have thought, not gone to the pitch and acted like I did.

“I am asking him (the referee) to forgive me for what I did.”

Meanwhile, police were forced to launch an investigation into a touchline brawl at a junior football match in which an off-duty policeman was injured.

The manager of Poynton under-12s, Paul Dawson, who ended up in hospital after the brawl, is a police constable based at Stockport police station.

He was injured after a fight broke out over a referee's decision. It is alleged the incident involved one or more parents and up to four 11-year-old boys.

Pc Dawson received hospital treatment for severe cuts and bruises to his head.

The semi-final match was abandoned and the Poynton team and their opponents, Failsworth Rangers, were, unsurprisingly, disqualified from the tournament.