Let me set out my stall so readers know where I am coming from. I am not a fan of Arsenal or Birmingham City and I had barely heard of Martin Taylor before Saturday.

I am a fan of football and have been since I was hooked after being taken to my first game in 1961 at the age of six. I had indeed heard of Eduardo da Silva before Saturday. He is the kind of player fans like me hand over our hard-earned money to see. He's got an abundance of talent and he excites.

I'm not interested in what Arsene Wenger should not have said, did say, wanted to say, missed saying. Nor am I interested in Alex McLeish's sanctimonious claptrap about Taylor not being 'that type of player'. I'm only interested in what caused Taylor to wreck the career of a young man in his prime.

'I'll bet that the manager told his back four to ''get among'' Eduardo and Emmanuel Adebayor early, to unnerve them and to make sure they knew who was going to boss the game'


Let's give the Birmingham defender the benefit of the doubt that he did not cross the white line with the intention of inflicting GBH on Eduardo after three minutes. But I'll wager that in the back of his mind was McLeish's team talk as the City players were rubbing in the linament oil. And I'll bet that the manager told his back four to 'get among' Eduardo and Emmanuel Adebayor early, to unnerve them and to make sure they knew who was going to boss the game.

I'm equally sure McLeish did not tell Taylor and his fellow defenders to go out and permanently maim a player, and this is not a rant against the Blues boss. But we have now reached a stage in our football where Saturday's incident is no surprise - and that's the alarming thing.

I'm sorry, but the main culprits here are not only the players who perpetrate these atrocities. To use a chilling phrase from another context, they are only following orders. When Emmanuel Eboue tried to carve Patrice Evra in two last week, was he acting unilaterally? I think not.

Again I'm not singling out Wenger; it's becoming clearer to me that Premier League managers are sending their troops out to settle scores with niggly private conflicts between players playing to packed galleries.

In my day it was Norman Hunter and Billy Bremner against Ron Harris and Peter Osgood; a few years ago it was Roy Keane, Ruud van Nistlrerooy and Patrick Vieira. Today there is hardly a game without a challenge that looks tasty at best or thuggish at worst.

Calling players thugs gets us nowhere. Players are generally ordinary lads with an abundance of skill who are under massive pressure to deliver. It's how they react to the pressure that matters.

Taylor's challenge was a disgrace and he knows it is. What matters is why he made it and will Eduardo's misery be a watershed for the violence to stop? The League Managers Association and the PFA need to get together and work out a code of conduct where directives come from within, not from the FA, the Premier League or Football League.

By within, I mean the sanctity of the dressing room moments before kick-off where McLeish and Co talk about how to play football, not how to neutralise the opposition. Managing is not about talking inane platitudes after a game or cosying up to an agent for a quick bung. It's about managing the company workforce.

In this regard McLeish has failed miserably. He may well not have pulled the trigger, but older readers will remember well the trial of Derek Bentley, who was sent to the gallows because he shouted to his accomplice: 'Let him have it'.