"Any team sport -- including cricket sledging, and (in) rugby union -- there is abuse or winding people up," said Strachan, who made his name as a player at Aberdeen and Manchester United.

"The funny thing is it goes on and I used to have it with (Celtic's) Roy Aitken, Danny McGrain and Tommy Burns. You notice I am the common denominator in there.

"We were laughing at that because that's what men do."

Strachan said that any player involved in a game of verbal tennis while on the pitch should simply accept what they give out.

"If you start the verbal and your opponent gets the last word in then you've lost.

"But if you have lost please do not go crying away to the headmaster about it. Don't go crying, 'he started the fight and he battered me'. Sort it out yourself. Be a man about it.

"If you want to start it, accept it. That's what we did when we were players. Some of the things that were said were nasty, but if someone wants to start a verbal in any walk of life, they have to accept it.

"We are disappointed it has come to this. If you don't want to play a man's game then go play with kids."

Questioning an opponent's status as a man, as Strachan did Tuesday with Shields, is just about the greatest insult in the macho cultures that pervade most sports and certainly within British football where phrases such as "he tackled like a girl" have yet to be eradicated.

'Sledging' is a term for the way in which cricketers, initially members of the Australian Test side, verbally abused opponents.

Although derogatory, such comments could have their lighter moments.

During an Ashes Test, England batsman Robin Smith was informed in no uncertain terms about his ability by paceman Merv Hughes.

But after striking the Australian for a boundary, Smith reportedly said: "We make a right f.....g pair. I can't f.....g bat and you can't f.....g bowl."