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Five reasons not to pick on Joe Jordan

Joe Jordan has long known how to take care of himself and Gennaro Gattuso maybe should have squared up to someone other than Tottenham's coach

Joe Jordan is 59 now but Gennaro Gattuso was unwise to cross Tottenham Hotspur's first-team coach, who has scarcely shown an inclination to back down from confrontation. During a 20-year playing career for Scotland, Morton, Leeds, Manchester United and Milan and subsequent years in the dugout, Jordan – known as Jaws for a toothless grimace on the pitch – has given more than fair warning of what will happen should anyone provoke him. Gattuso's theatrical throat-grab and head-butt were hardly likely to impress a man with the following pedigree:

1 In the early 1970s and then a powerful centre-forward at Leeds United, the Scot earned his nickname after losing four front teeth in a game. And not even an important one, either, with the incident happening as he challenged for a ball when turning out for the reserves.

2 Still at Elland Road: Jordan's dismissive glance towards Brian Clough at the manager's first training session with the club set the tone for a disastrous 44 days at the helm. One look was all it took – and the look was captured in what has become an iconic photograph of Clough's ill-fated reign

3 On to Manchester United: a series of scuffles with Jordan during an FA Cup tie at Old Trafford in 1980 ended badly for the Tottenham goalkeeper Milja Aleksic. The Scot took umbrage to Aleksic bumping into him at corner-kicks, land he flattened his opponent in an aerial challenge. The outcome? A dislocated jaw for the goalkeeper. By the time Jordan joined Milan, he had been nicknamed "The Shark" on account of such predatory instincts

4 Within just weeks of joining the Tottenham coaching staff in autumn 2008, Jordan clashed with two peers: Roy Hodgson and Paul Ince. The latter, then at Blackburn Rovers, accused Jordan of trying to get one of his players sent off and the pair clashed in the White Hart Lane tunnel at half-time.

5 Gattuso had a more recent warning. Earlier this season, Jordan was heard to shout: "Any time you like, any fucking time you like," at the Newcastle United goalkeeping coach, Andy Woodman, after the dismissal of Younes Kaboul in a meeting between the teams. Jordan and Woodman had gone head to head on the touchline. "I think Joe can look after himself," said Harry Redknapp, who had separated the pair. Which is probably why he did not feel the need to step in on Tuesday night.