There is no sign of the bad blood between Newcastle United and Sunderland subsiding as allegations of cheating, premeditated attacks and underhand tactics from both managers followed a fiercely contested Tyne-Wear derby.
Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill accused members of the Newcastle United coaching staff of trying to influence the referee by visiting his room at half-time. He also insisted Cheick Tiote should have been sent off and said he had no intention of sharing a post-match drink with Alan Pardew, his opposite number.
Pardew, for his part, accused Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole of a premeditated attack on Tiote when he was booked for a nasty foul with the game just 40 seconds old and suggested O'Neill had told his players to drag Newcastle into a physical war.
O'Neill said: "We were coping with them until we went down to 10 men." He had no complaints with the red cards shown to Stephane Sessegnon and, after the final whistle, to Lee Cattermole. "Stephane's was a red-card offence and Lee cannot be doing that sort of thing [swearing at the referee].
Asked about putting pressure on the referee at half-time, Pardew said: "That is completely untrue. None of our staff entered the referee's room or the officials' dressing room.
"The game was a little bit unsavoury at times and we probably should have been more grown up about it. If we overstepped the mark, myself included, I apologise.