MUCH has been said about Sir Clive Woodward thinking about a switch from rugby union to football coaching this week and I certainly wouldn't consider making a move in the opposite direction.

And that's even though I was once given the chance by my brother-in-law's brother. He's a coach at Sale, as well as being involved in the England set-up, and he told me that the jobs would be quite similar in terms of working on team-building, mental approaches and motivation.

He believes they are my strengths as a manager but I knew I would not feel comfortable being a rugby coach. He actually asked if I would be interested in doing some part-time work but I have never worked in a rugby environment and you need to know how players' minds work.

I don't know whether Clive Woodward has played football at a decent level. People like Lennie Lawrence and even Arsene Wenger have not played at a high standard but still have insight into footballers' characters because of the years they have studied the game. They know how to get the best out of players and have a good mental approach to management.

If Clive Woodward (who is a City fan) was serious about moving into football he would need a grounding and knowledge of the sport first. The one other thing he would also need is the respect of the players.

I certainly respect how he's gone about things in the rugby world having seen videos of England tours and he's excellent at man-management and generating team togetherness. There are differences between the football and rugby world though.

In rugby, I think a greater emphasis is made of the captain's role also and, to me, that can be brought over into football and is one of the reasons I signed Steve Davis. I think the fact that Clive Woodward lost both Lawrence Dallaglio and Martin Johnson were big factors in his decision to step down as England coach as they were both such important parts of his team.

Whether he can make the transition into a football manager, coach or director of football is an interesting one and, whatever he decides to do next, I will follow with interest because he is somebody I look up to.

Graeme Souness' appointment at Newcastle also raised a few eyebrows with his reputation as a disciplinarian cited as the main reason.

You need discipline at a club and, already this season, we have had a few situations at City. I fined Gary Pearson even though I thought his red card was harsh but he did go into somebody's face and said a few words so he was in the wrong. I showed him the incident on video and he accepted what I was saying.

Our other sending-off this season was Chris Porter but I truly felt he did not deserve it and that missing the next game was punishment enough.

Paul Crichton's much-publicised case was more difficult but I sat him down, explained what was happening and made him aware of why things had to be done. You have to explain your reasons for disciplining players and allow them the opportunity to challenge the decision. I have found nine times out of ten that they accept it.

It's always for the benefit of the club and nothing personally against the individual. It's no different as a player-manager. I have to abide by the rules and sent myself a letter after the Boston red card last season, informing myself that I would be fined.

The fact that I have several players who are friends and former team-mates now also does not make disciplining them any harder because they know what I am like.

As a player, I was never scared of telling people if they had stepped out of line and I'm no different as a manager.

Updated: 10:54 Thursday, September 09, 2004