Wotton fined £500

and Paul Cook too for misconduct charge.

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"He should have known better" said my Mum a day or two afterwards.

On reflection I think he knew exactly what he was doing and did it all quite deliberately because as a player he always seemed to be in full control of what he did even in the most feverish of situations.

And Fratton Park that night was certainly feverish!

By standing up to Cook he sent out a clear message that he wasn't, and by extension the whole team wasn't, in the slightest intimidated either by the thousands of baying Pompeyites or by their Top Dog manager. He was the biggest nastiest son-of-a-bitch in the stadium and was quite willing to do whatever it took to prove it. It was a bit like a seemingly pointless scrap in an ice hockey match where it's all about expressing dominance psychologically on the bigger picture rather than whatever sparked it off.

Of course there was also a couple of other benefits for us as an outcome: 1) Cook was dismissed from the touchline which can't have helped them at all; 2) it deflected attention away from the mini-fracas on the pitch which might have seen Jamille Matt dismissed - and he wasn't.

Did all of that go through the mind of a gnarled old pro in the heat of battle? We'll never know but I wouldn't be surprised if at least some of it did.

I think Wotton knew exactly what was going on, what the immediate repercussions might be and didn't give the £500 a moment's thought. I suspect he's a bit miffed at having to fork out the dosh now but given the ultimate outcome of the two games he probably doesn't give a hoot and considers it money well spent.