Mikel Arteta’s tetchy touchline temper has once again hit the headlines this week.

After his infamous St James’ Park meltdown and a haul of four yellow cards racked up before Christmas, the fiery Arsenal boss was at it again as his gutsy Gunners battled past a tricky Porto side on penalties.

Arteta has been accused of ostensibly insulting Porto head coach Sergio Conceicao’s family during the heart-thumping Champions League last 16 contest, an allegation that came after he earned his fifth booking of the season for his protest that followed Martin Odegaard’s disallowed second-half strike.

During matches and in the media, the belligerent Spaniard is forging a reputation as one of the country’s most animated managers and as a result, rubbing a lot of rival fans understandably up the wrong way.

Of course, Arteta is far from the first high-profile foreign manager who struggles to keep his cool as he prowls the Premier League touchline, following in the footsteps of Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Jurgen Klopp in his relentless harassment of officials and opposition staff.

But with yet another yellow on his record and an unsavoury accusation about his language, it’s about time some serious questions were asked about his increasingly unpalatable exploits.

Yes, it can sometimes make for great theatre and the sort of box office entertainment fans desire in the modern game.

But it’s difficult to escape the feeling that Arteta’s exploits - that also include unnecessarily over-the-top reactions to his team missing big chances and hot-headed post-match interviews - are a sign of his inexperience and lack of composure when the going gets tough.

The same certainly cannot be said for David Wagner.

Through all the adversity, rotten autumn run and anti-Wagner sentiment from both the Carrow Road and away end terraces, the Norwich City boss has remained the epitome of calm throughout his turbulent time in charge.

Granted, his memorable, Mourinho-esque Ashton Gate celebration after Adam Idah’s dramatic last-gasp - and potentially job-saving - winner and his post-Watford comment instructing fans who booed to ‘stay at home’ have seen Wagner show his emotional, human side during the struggles of the last few months.

But both on the touchline and in the press, the level-headed German has conducted himself admirably and with a rejuvenated, Josh Sargent-inspired squad now at his disposal, has miraculously managed to turn things around.

I think it’s fair to say very few of us - Ben Knapper and Delia Smith aside - envisaged a scenario where Wagner was able to arrest City’s mid-season slide and propel us back into the play-off picture. 

But credit where it’s due, that’s exactly what he’s done and despite intensifying fan frustration, injury setbacks and decisions going against his players, the City boss has stayed as cool as a cucumber throughout.

It’s Wagner’s measured mentality and amenable demeanour that make it impossible not to feel thrilled for him and how he has hauled City back into contention, a run of results where things remain admittedly far from perfect but equally, a far cry from some of the miserable performances we were forced to put up with throughout October and November.

Of course, the away form remains a serious area of concern – and it will be fascinating to see how we fare at struggling Stoke on Saturday afternoon.

At both QPR and Blackburn, it’s difficult to escape the feeling that two massive opportunities went begging owing to Wagner’s propensity to set up his team more defensively – rather than grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck – with his team a goal to the good.

So with what promises to be a telling trip to Staffordshire looming, all of us travelling fans will be hoping to see a more sustained front-foot, high-intensity and cohesive attacking performance.

Regardless, Wagner has successfully defied the odds to inject new life into City’s season and tee up a nerve-jangling nine-game shoot-out for a once unlikely-looking place in the play-offs.

And if he is able to deliver that, he will be able to look back with pride on the way he has conducted himself throughout this most testing of Championship seasons – unlike Arteta and so many other modern managers.