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Danny Murphy put in his place by angry LMA

Sam Allardyce was one of Danny Murphy's targets when he addressed the topic of tough tackling © Getty Images

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The League Managers' Association has leapt to the defence of Stoke, Blackburn and Wolves after the trio of clubs were singled out by Fulham's Danny Murphy as being too "pumped up" in the tackle.

Murphy, whose Fulham team-mate Bobby Zamora suffered a broken leg following a tackle by Wolves midfielder Karl Henry, said the managers of those teams had to take responsibility for the robust style and reckless tackling by some of their players.

The tough tackling debate has been in the headlines for a number of weeks following a slew of high-profile injuries, most recently to Newcastle's Hatem Ben Arfa, who suffered a broken leg after a tackle from Manchester City's Nigel De Jong.

However, a statement from the League Managers' Association said Murphy's comments were inappropriate and insisted such violent tackles were not encouraged by coaches.

"It is inappropriate for individuals to direct criticism at certain managers who are honest, professional and continue to achieve success on the field with their clubs," the LMA statement read.

"The accomplishments of the managers mentioned should be applauded rather than publicly judged. Professional football managers certainly do not incite their players to go out and cause injury to fellow professionals. Two of the three clubs mentioned have yet to receive a red card in the Barclays Premier League this season."

The LMA statement pointed out that the speed of the game and the fact that players are stronger and quicker makes the impact of mistimed tackles far greater than in the past. Coaches instruct players not be lured into early challenges and to stay on their feet, the LMA said.

"Mistimed tackles by fractions of a second will happen and with that will be a potential risk of impact or injury but in no way does it follow that the actions are either deliberate or encouraged," added the LMA, which said managers' support staff would not back a manager who encouraged violent or reckless play in any direct or indirect way, and that if they did so it would quickly leak out.

Murphy's remarks at the Leaders in Football conference in London last week caused a storm.

Murphy said: "Your manager dictates what your players do and how you behave. You get managers who are sending their teams out to stop other teams playing, which is happening more and more - the Stokes, Blackburns, Wolves.

"They can say it's effective and they have got to win games but the fact is the managers are sending out their players so pumped up there is inevitably going to be problems. Every ship has a captain and that's the manager who is in charge."

Murphy said there should be tougher sanctions for dangerous tackles - especially for repeat offenders.

He added: "The pace in which some players go into tackles now is ridiculous. There's no brains involved in the players who are doing that."

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