While the Premier League is best known for its lively encounters on the pitch, as an added attraction we often witness some unscheduled entertainment on the touchline, courtesy of that curious breed of people, the gaffers.
It used to be that Sir Alex Ferguson hogged the limelight in this respect. Over the years many a fourth official has been on the receiving end of his withering "hair-dryer" treatment and a few choice words.
But with Fergie's departure, there seems to be three managers bent on giving the spectators full value for money, led by Arsenal's Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and Newcastle's Alan Pardew.
Last weekend at Stamford Bridge we were treated to a diverting cameo from Wenger, who initiated a comical shoving match with old rival, Mourinho. It wasn't quite Laurel and Hardy, but wasn't far off it. The crowd sensibly treated the incident as good for a laugh, although the FA might not have seen the funny side of it.
It was really little more than "handbags", two grown men acting like spoilt children in public. The newspapers loved it of course, the Times even getting in on the act with the headline "When the Push Comes to a Shove''.
Mourinho, who last season called Wenger a "specialist in failure'', has definitely got under the skin of the Frenchman, who has never beaten Chelsea in 12 matches against the 'Special One'. It is obviously getting to the Arsenal manager, but venting his frustration in such a silly way suggests he is losing the mind games.
In recent years we have seen a number of managers spitting the dummy and Wenger will not be happy that his name frequently crops up in such incidents.
Back in November 2005 Wenger was involved in an unseemly touchline spat with Pardew, then with West Ham, after the Hammers had scored an important goal.
While Pardew's celebrations were a bit over-the-top, they were understandable for a manager under much pressure. (Nothing seems to have changed in that respect for Pardew). An angry Wenger squared up to his opponent and later refused to shake hands.
Former Arsenal star Paul Merson wrote in the Daily Mail: " I was shocked… and have to admit I was embarrassed for Arsene because it looked so bad.''
Pardew, of course, is no stranger himself to touchline indiscretions. Earlier this year he was in trouble after appearing to head-butt Hull City player David Meyler. He explained it away as a "heat of the moment thing''.
Through the years, Pardew has regularly run into trouble for assorted pantomime-like incidents and verbal abuse of match officials. Maybe it's because he invariably seems to be in charge of struggling teams.
But Pardew was not involved in the infamous incident at Old Trafford in 2004 when Manchester United put an end to Arsenal's 49-match unbeaten run in an ill-tempered match often called "Pizzagate".
Wenger was in a filthy mood and as the players trooped off there was a confrontation between the teams in the tunnel. Ferguson ended up with pizza, apparently thrown by an Arsenal player, dripping off his face and suit.
Ferguson recalled in his autobiography, "He [Wenger] was livid. His fists were clenched… the next thing I knew I had pizza all over me!"
Back to Mourinho, who certainly has an uncanny knack of irritating opposing managers and fans. Back in 2005, Mourinho and Bryan Robson, then at West Brom, had an ugly confrontation at the Hawthorns. Robson had quite a few words to say to Mourinho and he wasn't inviting him out to dinner.
But Mourinho's darkest hour was as boss at Real Madrid when he appeared to deliberately poke Barcelona assistant manager Tito Vilanova in the eye. It took a whole season before Mourinho finally admitted "I should not have done what I did.''
One of the more entertaining touchline confrontations in Europe took place at the San Siro stadium in February 2011, when Spurs assistant manager Joe Jordan was on the receiving end of a "Glasgow Kiss'' from AC Milan captain Gennaro Gattuso .
As the final whistle blew after Spurs' memorable victory over Milan, Gattuso saw the red mist, stormed to the touchline and head-butted Jordan. No doubt the Italian had been provoked by some verbals from the Scot during the match, but his reaction was madness. The "Pitbull of Milan"' as he was known, certainly lived up to his name.
Finding himself in the thick of things was Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, who had to intervene to keep the peace.
"When he came over at the end of the game I thought he was going to apologise to Joe," said Redknapp, referring to an earlier incident when Gattuso had shoved Jordan. "Next thing I knew he had nutted Joe,'' said Harry, adding in his own inimitable style "Not that it had any effect on him, all those balls he's headed over the years."
The London tabloids had a field day. As usual the Sun didn't mince words in its headline: "Nutters 0 Heroes 1".
Something that has really changed over the years is the profile of the managers, primarily a result of the exhaustive television coverage which puts incredible pressure on them. You couldn't imagine the likes of Sir Matt Busby, Bill Nicholson or Bill Shankly getting involved in such tacky touchline altercations.
The unpleasant truth is that defeat is hard to take, especially in the top flight. You don't have to be Nostradumus to forecast that several more managers will be making fools of themselves on the touchline before the season is over.