Alan Pardew has denied claims by Martin O'Neill that Newcastle United tried to influence referee Mike Dean as a bad-tempered Tyne-Wear derby ended in a 1-1 draw.
Sunderland manager O'Neill suggested a delegation of backroom staff from the hosts visited the officials' room at half-time.
It was an accusation flatly refuted by his counterpart, who saw Shola Ameobi's injury-time goal cancel out a disputed first-half penalty from Nicklas Bendtner.
"It's completely untrue. None of our staff was allowed in the officials' room," insisted Pardew, whose goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman was ordered to the stands for a half-time confrontation with Sunderland fitness coach Jim Henry.
"I've heard the rumour about one of our staff going to the referee, but it's not right," Pardew added.
O'Neill saw things differently, having been filled in on events by Lee Cattermole, his skipper, who earned a post-match red card for abusive comments towards referee Dean, who confirmed afterwards that no-one had visited his room at half-time.
"Lee was sent off for foul and abusive language against the referee. You can't do that kind of thing, but in mitigation, we'd heard some of their staff visited the referee's changing room at half-time," O'Neill said.
"Though we're not party to what was said, Lee felt a lot of decisions had gone Newcastle's way in the second half as a result.
"It's unfair of me to make a judgement on what was said. If the referee allows someone to come in and speak to him, that's his prerogative. I don't know what the rules are."
A feisty encounter saw two red cards and eight yellows in addition to a 21-man scuffle sparked by James McClean's first-half challenge on Danny Simpson.
The 146th Tyne-Wear derby game was played out to a backdrop of mounting bad blood between the rival benches, with Pardew twice squaring up to O'Neill and openly celebrating in front of the Irishman in the wake of Newcastle's late penalty award, which saw Demba Ba's effort saved by Simon Mignolet.
Ameobi's seventh goal in six games against Sunderland maintained his side's European aspirations, the substitute stabbing home a Yohan Cabaye cross from close range to cancel out Bendtner's penalty, controversially awarded for Mike Williamson's tug on Michael Turner.
Pardew was in more conciliatory mood afterwards, saying: "I saw that on the TV and it looks terrible, but it was just relief. It shows that the pressure can get to even experienced managers.
"There's a lot of emotion. Maybe both benches could have handled things better but as far as I'm concerned, we shake hands and move on. If I over-stepped the mark, I apologise."
Stephane Sessegnon saw red after the break for elbowing Cheick Tiote, though Pardew felt the visitors should have been down to 10 men well before that as Cattermole earned a booking inside the first 40 seconds for a wild lunge at the Ivorian midfielder.
"Cattermole set the scene for the game and it was ugly if I'm honest," Pardew said.
"It was premeditated and he could have gone off at any other time. It set a physical pattern to the game."
O'Neill felt equally aggrieved: "Tiote is a fine player, but he's lucky to be on the field at the end. Newcastle would consider themselves lucky to still have 11 men on at the end."
Pardew was keen to calm the waters over a post-match glass of wine, but O'Neill declined the invitation. "I think I'll just jump on the bus," he said.
Source: AFP
