DANNY MURPHY is a fine player and very good value as a pundit, which is something I suspect he is thinking about more and more as he comes to the twilight of his career.

Certain people realise that a lack of intelligence can be made up for with a readiness to cause controv- ersy as a neat career enhancement.

Danny does not come into that category. He is erudite, informed and articulate – and to his credit he doesn’t appear to shirk controversy.

His attack on managers who incite ‘brainless tackles’ this week, naming Sam Allardyce, Mick McCarthy and Tony Pulis, means he has taken on some of the more robust characters in the league.

But I’m not sure that there is many really bad tackles in the game as people make out.

I was at the game when Ryan Shawcross broke Aaron Ramsey’s leg and felt Shawcross was making a genuine attempt for the ball.

The Nigel De Jong challenge which has caused the recent coverage did not, to me, come into the category of a desperately bad tackle either.

At the time the ref saw fit to take no action, commentators and pundits alike thought it was more bad luck than anything else and apparently there was very little said after the game between the two clubs.

It’s only in retrospect that a fuss has been made with the Dutch axing De Jong from their squad.

As is often the case, their response is more in relation to something that has happened previously – most specifically their attempt to kick Spain out of the World Cup final.

This is just the Dutch trying to reclaim the moral high ground.