How might a Bill Bellichick or Eric Mangini react if two of their charges were photographed looking as dignified as Spurs’ Peter Crouch and Jonathan Woodgate (above)?  The Tottenham pair made headlines with their Saturday dance party antics after a 2-1 win at Portsmouth, resulting in the following sage words from boss Harry Redknapp, as supplied by the Guardian’s David Hytner :

Redknapp does not mind their having a few quiet drinks; what the manager cannot tolerate is their “rolling out of nightclubs at three in the morning”. He has spoken of the need for them, as “highly paid athletes”, to ensure they are always in “great condition”.

The players, who were with their wives and girlfriends, maintain that they did not drink to excess and are dismayed at the perception they are not allowed a night out. Redknapp has some sympathy, particularly for the goldfish-bowl existence in which they can be snapped constantly by members of the public on camera phones. Yet Redknapp feels the weekend’s episode only reinforces why his players should avoid late nights out at all costs.

Longtime CSTB readers will recall this is not the first time former QPR striker/Rodney Trotter lookalike Crouch has found himself the center of nightclub attention.