Opinion | Alan Pardew's apology a PR patch-up job
Crisis managers move to make the Newcastle boss appear contrite after a headbutt worthy of criminal prosecution
Not so long ago a football club's first response to a PR disaster was to keep shtum or confront the sneering finger-pointers and holier-than-thou critics.
Here in the touchy feely 21st century, English Premier League clubs spend vast amounts on PR whizz-kids to crisis manage blunders big and small, such is the price of reputation and having so many sensitive sponsors.
Clubs, like conglomerates and governments, see grovelling and humility as the best form of attack.
He must therefore be banned from football grounds for a minimum of a year - possibly longer
The strategic thinking is to immediately admit the mistake, promise to change all wicked ways and apologise profusely (and relentlessly) until the story or controversy drops off the 24/7 news agenda.
As a result, we have become desensitised to apologies; to many they've become meaningless, the shallow request for forgiveness insulting.
When Newcastle manager Alan Pardew headbutted Hull City's David Meyler last week, he was instructed by the PR gurus to ooze contriteness.
Pardew's attack was shocking and appalling - up there with Eric Cantona's kung fu kick, though at least the then Manchester United star could argue he used a hard-learned martial art originating from an ancient civilisation to attack his protagonist.