• Faye's flip-flop warm-up provokes Stoke City team-mate
• Whelan 'belted in the face' by Faye after 7-0 defeat
* Dominic Fifield
* The Guardian, Tuesday 27 April 2010
Stoke City's warring team-mates Glenn Whelan, left, and Abdoulaye Faye, right, prepare for the kick-off at Chelsea. Photograph: Tom Jenkins
For the second time this season Stoke City have been left to deal with the fallout from an ugly dressing-room row after Abdoulaye Faye allegedly punched Glenn Whelan in the face after Sunday's 7-0 thumping at Chelsea.
The incident comes only four months after Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, was widely reported to have been embroiled in a confrontation with James Beattie in which he is alleged to have head-butted the striker following a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal. Sunday's spat leaves the club with another embarrassing internal disciplinary matter on their hands as the season draws to a close.
The latest altercation is said to have taken place after an alleged row between Faye and Whelan in the dressing room at half-time erupted again at the final whistle, although the seeds for the argument had been sown before a ball had even been kicked.
Whelan, 26, was apparently frustrated with Faye's attitude before the game because the Senegalese had been the only player taking part in a warm-up drill in the dressing room prior to kick-off wearing flip-flops rather than boots. It is alleged that the Stoke midfielder felt that Faye was not approaching the match in the right way and, when the defender subsequently lasted nine minutes against Chelsea before pulling up with a thigh strain, he took the opportunity at half-time to tell his team-mate that his failure to take things seriously was contributing to his injury record.
The 32-year-old centre-half is said to have reacted furiously and squared up to Whelan, asking the Republic of Ireland international how many games he had played in the Premier League. It is alleged that Whelan stood his ground and told the former Bolton and Newcastle player, who was being restrained by Ricardo Fuller, that he should speak to him at the end of the game and not during the interval, at which point Stoke were losing 3-0. When the half-time buzzer sounded to return to the pitch the argument was still in full flow.
A club source suggests that Faye decided to take Whelan up on his offer once the players had returned to the dressing room at full-time and, after Pulis had finished his post-match team-talk and confirmed the players would be forfeiting their day off because of their abject performance, he confronted Whelan again. The Irishman reiterated that he had been unimpressed with the Senegalese's attitude before the game and in training, and Faye responded by, in the words of a club source, "belting him in the face".
Most of the players and some of the backroom staff then became involved as they separated Faye and Whelan. Pulis is understood to have spoken to both players on an individual basis today although it is unclear at this stage what disciplinary action, if any, he proposes to take. He will, however, inevitably face fresh questions about his control of the dressing room.
Stoke City declined to comment.
• Whelan 'belted in the face' by Faye after 7-0 defeat
* Dominic Fifield
* The Guardian, Tuesday 27 April 2010
Stoke City's warring team-mates Glenn Whelan, left, and Abdoulaye Faye, right, prepare for the kick-off at Chelsea. Photograph: Tom Jenkins
For the second time this season Stoke City have been left to deal with the fallout from an ugly dressing-room row after Abdoulaye Faye allegedly punched Glenn Whelan in the face after Sunday's 7-0 thumping at Chelsea.
The incident comes only four months after Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, was widely reported to have been embroiled in a confrontation with James Beattie in which he is alleged to have head-butted the striker following a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal. Sunday's spat leaves the club with another embarrassing internal disciplinary matter on their hands as the season draws to a close.
The latest altercation is said to have taken place after an alleged row between Faye and Whelan in the dressing room at half-time erupted again at the final whistle, although the seeds for the argument had been sown before a ball had even been kicked.
Whelan, 26, was apparently frustrated with Faye's attitude before the game because the Senegalese had been the only player taking part in a warm-up drill in the dressing room prior to kick-off wearing flip-flops rather than boots. It is alleged that the Stoke midfielder felt that Faye was not approaching the match in the right way and, when the defender subsequently lasted nine minutes against Chelsea before pulling up with a thigh strain, he took the opportunity at half-time to tell his team-mate that his failure to take things seriously was contributing to his injury record.
The 32-year-old centre-half is said to have reacted furiously and squared up to Whelan, asking the Republic of Ireland international how many games he had played in the Premier League. It is alleged that Whelan stood his ground and told the former Bolton and Newcastle player, who was being restrained by Ricardo Fuller, that he should speak to him at the end of the game and not during the interval, at which point Stoke were losing 3-0. When the half-time buzzer sounded to return to the pitch the argument was still in full flow.
A club source suggests that Faye decided to take Whelan up on his offer once the players had returned to the dressing room at full-time and, after Pulis had finished his post-match team-talk and confirmed the players would be forfeiting their day off because of their abject performance, he confronted Whelan again. The Irishman reiterated that he had been unimpressed with the Senegalese's attitude before the game and in training, and Faye responded by, in the words of a club source, "belting him in the face".
Most of the players and some of the backroom staff then became involved as they separated Faye and Whelan. Pulis is understood to have spoken to both players on an individual basis today although it is unclear at this stage what disciplinary action, if any, he proposes to take. He will, however, inevitably face fresh questions about his control of the dressing room.
Stoke City declined to comment.
class fair play to both of them for standing their ground 
haha
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