Quarrels wouldn't last that long if the fault were only on one side.
That should perhaps be the conclusion to an article about the row that has erupted over Exeter City captain Danny Coles' tweets following Exeter City's 2-2 draw with Bury on Saturday.
But there has been a lot of insults, opinions and counter opinions issued on the subject already – 19 pages and counting on Exeweb and plenty more retweets and replies – therefore I thought I'd get to the point quickly.
For those that have not come across the row, that has now been dubbed Cole-gate, you are obviously not aware of Twitter or indeed the internet, but I will run through a quick summary.
In the 72nd minute of Exeter City's game with Bury on Saturday, with the Grecians trailing 2-1, manager Paul Tisdale substituted Danny Coles and David Wheeler for Arron Davies and Tom Nichols.
Coles' substitution brought cheers from the crowd, while Wheeler's departure was accompanied by boos and chants of 'you don't know what your doing' directed at the City boss.
Tisdale reacted by sarcastically applauding the crowd, while Coles took to Twitter later that day to label the fans chants as embarrassing.
I have to say it was not nice to hear the fans cheer Coles' substitution.
I think even Coles will admit that he had one of his worst games in a City shirt, but Tisdale had recognised that an elected to take him off instead of his cenrtal defensive partner Scot Bennett.
I get the sense that there is a section of the St James's Park crowd who don't want to see Coles in the starting XI and perhaps that was their motive for cheering the substitution.
But Coles is a big part of the side and had a large part to play in the club's excellent defensive run in February and March last season, which saw them keep seven clean sheets in 11 games.
Surely the fans should just want to see their skipper to return to the same form he showed last campaign?
Their part in Cole-gate won't have helped that.
As for Coles' taking to Twitter, and Tisdale applauding the fans, I think they were ill-advised moves also.
You could argue that Tisdale applauding the fans was a heat of the moment thing.
Frustrated by the scoreline and angered by the fans' refusal to back the team and instead have a go at him, he reacted.
Coles took to Twitter after the match, but I still think this is a heat of the moment action.
He arguably took a bigger brunt of the criticism than his manager, it can't be nice for any player to hear cheers go up when he gets substituted.
Would he have still been angered by that two or three hours later? I think so. But should either have reacted the way they did? No.
I think it is fair to say Tisdale and Coles just want the fans to get behind the team and get rid of the negativity that is currently around St James's Park.
But unfortunately negativity breeds negativity.
Fans cheering Coles and booing Tisdale brought a negative response from both player and manager.
Their responses in turn have produced lots of negative reactions from supporters who no doubt feel alienated by the club.
This in turn will probably lead to a much more negative atmosphere when the club approach their match with Chesterfield at St James's Park on Friday, December 20. It is a lose-lose situation for City. In fact the only people to benefit are Chesterfield, who will no doubt be relishing the trip to Exeter. It is therefore fair to say nobody comes out of Cole-gate looking whiter than white.
