Alex Ferguson lashed tea cups, footy boots and pizza around the gaffing he was lauded, gravel gob aims one playful slap and he's worse than Pol Pot.
Millenials, tsk, (rolls eyes)
None of the following is intended to excuse angry or abusive behavior on the part of anyone, famous football manager or not. Nor to comment on the alleged softness of recent generations.
But it is understandable for there to be a difference in the reaction to this incident and Ferguson's behavior, for a couple of reasons:
1) We all know that - rightly or wrongly - in the world of professional sport, winning forgives a multitude of sins.
2) That a 52-year-old man
thought it was funny to slap someone 30 years his junior reeks of David Brent-levels of self-awareness on his part, at best.
A lot of football fans - maybe most - would expect their manager to be surly. Very few would expect him to be immature. For a manager who is on increasingly thinner ice with his club's fans, it's an especially bad look.