Addiction is one of the pitfalls of being a footballer. It stems from being so focused on the game – in order to be good at what we do we have to be obsessed with it. Also, we have a lot of free time. The best thing that’s happened to footballers is DVD box sets. Watch those in the afternoons and they’ll keep your mind occupied. Although once I get started on one I’ll be up until 4am just to finish the set.
The craziest thing about football and celebrity is the whole PR machine that’s grown up around it. PR agencies are constantly churning out images of footballers looking glamorous on red carpets – people begin to believe that’s actually how you live your life. It’s a complete illusion.
Some people plan it all. Their PRs tell the papers which club they’re going to, or which shops their missus can be seen walking out of. It’s part of a whole lifestyle. People like Jodie Marsh and Danielle Lloyd are driven by it – they crave being photographed. I know there are people who could arrange things for my missus if she wanted to raise her profile.
A footballer could go out every night of the week and never get photographed if he wanted to. But because so many of them choose to go to certain clubs where the paparazzi camp out, they end up in the papers. It’s never going to happen if you go for a quiet pint at your local, is it?
People say I’m the new David Beckham. I don’t mind that at all, it’s nice being compared to a legend. I grew up watching him and admiring him, and I still do. He’s better looking than me, though. Much. You can actually lose yourself thinking about what a good-looking guy he is. And he’s even better close up. My missus says I’m more rugged, whatever that means.
With all of that going on you need strong leadership from your manager to keep you focused. My gaffer at Blackburn [Mark Hughes] gives me that. He won’t try to be your friend, having a laugh and a joke. He doesn’t want to sit down for coffee. He and Mr Capello are my favourite kind of manager: disciplined. You give a player an inch and they’ll take a mile, that’s just the way young rich footballers are. We need managers to rein us in. It’s a bit like when you’re at school – if you have a strict teacher, you respect them; if you have a teacher that’s always larking about, you lark about yourself. We need to be kept on a leash, otherwise we lose our focus.
Anything different and the team stops winning. I’ve seen it happen. You look at the clubs that are struggling in the Premier League and it’s always for those same reasons. Players have to be controlled, if they’re not it’s a disaster. Look at Newcastle (damn! he’s talking about my team! LOL).
Under the guidance of Mr Capello I can see things going only one way. With him we could win the World Cup. If it was solely down to individual talent we would already be the best team in the world, we just need to learn to play together and we will do well. I’d put money on it, if I gambled.