Ruud Gullit blamed his failure at Newcastle because of Alan Shearer's high status - "more important than the manager". But the fact remains, it's OK treating players as equal, but it's a simple fact of life ... players are NOT equal.
If we had 10 outfield Alan Shearer's we have won the Premiership, Champions League and probably the Boat Race and Rugby Challenge Cup. The fact you have players with exceptional talent must be a bonus, not the route to disaster.
The bottom line is how the manager copes with it. Every fan wants to see the best players at their club, that goes without saying. If there is a circus surrounding an individual it is up to the manager to put a stop to it.
Gullit's theory was to trample on the player, and in Shearer's case, drop him for the most important fixture of the season. And we all remember what happened. The team of "all equal" certainly produced a result for the record books THAT night ... Newcastle 1 Sunderland 2.
But, it is so easy these days for inferior managers to blame the media.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's friend and leading agent Pini Zahavi has claimed the Swede has told him "the whole story" behind England's disappointing campaign in Germany last summer.
Don't Blame Beckham And Shearer - Blame The Manager!
Zahavi said: "There was a big problem with jealously at the World Cup - something no-one has ever talked about. A lot of people didn't like Beckham's position within the team. It was one of the biggest things that hurt England.
"A lot of players didn't like the 'super player' Beckham. They didn't like his status in the team.
"If Sven told the whole story of what went on in Germany - and I know the whole story because I have talked to him a lot - people would understand what happened.
"One of the main problems was Sven had too much respect for several players. If you look at it professionally, Beckham shouldn't have played at certain times. But Sven put him in anyway.
"Now, at least, all the players are equal under McClaren."
McClaren first job as England manager was to dump Beckham, and recently he has hinted he was perhaps a little hasty. England have been far from impressive under his leadership, and McClaren is under the spotlight like never before.