Manchester derby boils over and the clubs are to blame

The Carling Cup this year has been sodding magnificent.

As a passionate League Cup advocate, I couldn't be happier about this. A really exciting quarter final lineup was brimming with Premier League sides and each and every one took their last eight match seriously. The semis drew Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers, two clubs desperate for success, against one another in one of the ties.

In the other, a diamond on a landmine: Manchester City v Manchester United, their first encounter since United's dramatic stoppage time win earlier in the season. With City's bottomless pit of money allowing them to edge closer to the club that overshadows them, this one was bound to be a classic.

But the tournament has had its ugly side this season too. West Ham United and Millwall's second round match was ruined by ugly clashes outside Upton Park and several pitch invasions during the game itself. In October, Manchester United fans caused trouble at Oakwell during a visit to Barnsley. Two entered the field of play and a food kiosk was ransacked amid reports of terrified staff.

And in the two-legged Manchester derby this month, the rivalry got out of hand.

United supporters were caught trying to enter the City of Manchester Stadium for the first leg in possession of darts and golf balls. Darts, for Christ's sake! Greater Manchester Police must have been fuming after the first leg, in which former United striker Carlos Tevez took it upon himself to turn his transfer into some kind of professional wrestling storyline with various gestures designed to wind up Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville, Alex Ferguson and thousands of United supporters. I was amazed he didn't run around giving the United players the D-Generation X crotch chop or climb the corner flags shouting "Stone Cold! Stone Cold!"

Neville's one-fingered reaction was equally ill-advised, and the sum total result of the first leg (thanks in no small part to City's 2-1 advantage) was that the second was certain to be a policing nightmare at Old Trafford. Sure enough, Craig Bellamy found himself preparing to take a corner and getting showered with missiles including a cider bottle and a smaller object which struck him on the back of the head.

Charmingly, a section of United fans cheered the incident. And although I didn't see this first hand, I would imagine it was the same delightful chaps that reportedly pointed gun gestures at City's Emmanuel Adebayor, the captain of the Togo squad which suffered unimaginable fear - and loss of friends - in a Cabindan separatist attack on their team bus as it travelled to their Africa Cup of Nations base.

As often as I bang the drum about footballers having no empathy with supporters, I genuinely believe both Manchester United and Manchester City should be hauled up on charges of failing to control their players. On the pitch their conduct has been disgusting over these two matches. Tevez in particular has demonstrated no understanding of the consequences of his pathetic melodrama and completely lost control. Neville's behaviour in the first leg did nothing but poke the fire. And, as a result, the second leg was beyond ludicrous.

Clearly, supporters must take responsibility for their own actions, but clubs of United and City's standing should be more than capable of refraining from further increasing the intensity, which they wholly failed to do. Tevez's wanton outbursts were compounded by badly timed comments from City chief executive Garry Cook, who told supporters the club is on course to overtake United (obsessed much?), nullifying manager Roberto Mancini's admirable attempts to calm the situation.

The whole affair has been so unsavoury that the footballing nation is simultaneously laughing into their sleeves at United and City and welcoming the element of rivalry. But there's a line here, and the Carling Cup semi final crossed it in a heartbeat. Sadly, the clubs fanned the flames instead of calling for calm and actually meaning it.