"Somehow, I can’t imagine one of the Nottingham Forest players refusing to be subbed against Stoke City tomorrow afternoon.

Not with Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane staring back from the touchline. Can you imagine?

They certainly wouldn’t have put up with the nonsense we saw at Wembley last Sunday when the Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa basically stuck two fingers up to manager Maurizio Sarri in front of millions of people.

Sir Alex Ferguson once said: “The day a player is more important than the club, goodbye.”

It’s a quote which Jose Mourinho apparently carried around with him, but sadly I fear we have gone beyond that point now.

Even before last Sunday, there was a story about an un-named Chelsea manager receiving a text from a high-ranking figure at Stamford Bridge asking why he had asked a particular player to warm up in the rain and then not bring him on.

Chelsea Football Club is simply the worst example, not the only example, of the tail wagging the dog when it comes to managers and players.

At Fulham, Slavisa Jokanovic gets the sack after many of the imports costing £100m last summer failed to perform, even though he signed very few of them, and this week we read that the Fulham players are questioning his replacement Claudio Ranieri.

Happier times... for Neil Warnock and Victor Camarasa
Happier times... for Neil Warnock and Victor Camarasa

Then we read in various places that Ranieri will be sacked and replaced by Scott Parker - many hours before the deed is actually done.

I know a lot of people don’t have much time for Neil Warnock, but you have to sympathise when he tells us that Cardiff player, Victor Camarasa, isn’t playing because HIS medical people say he can’t, while the club’s say he is perfectly fit.

It was Mourinho who joked - or was he joking? - that before long managers will have to consult with a player’s `people’ before he can make any substitutions in the middle of a game.

These players are like pied pipers and it’s killing the essence of the game we all love.

Stoke go into the Forest game on the back of two poor months in January and February.

Under the new manager over those two months Stoke have won one, drawn three and lost one, scoring five and conceding 11.

In October, November and December under Gary Rowett, they won six, drew seven and lost two, scoring 16 and conceding 11.

Gary Rowett... dramatic capsize in results at the end
Gary Rowett... dramatic capsize in results at the end

Ok, there was a rocky spell just before he was sacked, but maybe if the club had backed him properly we would never have hit that rocky spell, then where might we be now?

Jones needs some fighters to put out the Forest fire this weekend, if we have any left.

He has a real problem if Sam Vokes isn’t fit because I really don’t know where he turns next when you look at the alternatives currently available.

We saw Mame Diouf for the first time in a long time last week when he replaced Vokes, but we saw nothing to enourage us.

He’s willing and gives 100 per cent, but he hasn’t got the know how.

Mame Diouf... struggled in comeback game
Mame Diouf... struggled in comeback game

He doesn’t know how to seek, create and exploit space.

He doesn’t know the runs to make at crucial times because he will never have the instinct and awareness of a Gary Lineker. "


Tottenham 1, Arsenal 0. Bournemouth 0, Man City 2. Brighton 2, Huddersfield 0. Burnley 1, C Palace 1. Man Utd 2, Southampton 0. Wolves 2, Cardiff 1. West Ham 1, Newcastle 0. Watford 1, Leicester 1. Fulham 0, Chelsea 2. Everton 1, Liverpool 1. STOKE CITY 0, NOTTINGHAM FOREST 0.