Has the world gone mad?

Dave Kitson, Reading FC's flame-haired striker has been a particular friend of the press this season. Witty, erudite, down-to-earth, and with a rather interesting background, at least in footballing terms, he is a writer's dream.

Rio Ferdinand is another friend of the press although for altogether different reasons. He is one of those footballers you love to hate. The press love him if only for the amount of copy he generates. Where to begin: the Ayia Napa sex-tape, long before sex-tapes were a part of celebrity bling; the drugs ban for missing a test; his autobiography that read like a guide to late 90s/early noughties London nightlife; his slightly heated contract talks with Manchester United. Erudite is not a word you would use to describe Rio who tends to lapse into the lazy footballerspeak that marks so many of his peers. Even now he is in the press as the chief organiser of United's infamous christmas party.

Kitson is a throwback, a player whose rise to becoming a Premiership footballer is almost Disneyesque. The player who worked in Sainsbury's and who was playing for non-league Arlesey Town around the same time Rio was moving from West Ham to Leeds for 18 million is reknowkned for this fortrightness, his ability to rise above the bullshit that clings to top level football.

This is why it was a bit of a shock to hear his rather disparaging remarks about the FA Cup this past week. Come on Dave, would you really rather finish 17th in the Premiership than try to win the FA Cup? What was even more shocking was that it was Rio Ferdinand, who is depicted as being out of touch with the common fans, who encapsulated what football is about or should be about for the players at least. "You want to win every day in training, let alone a match in front of 30,000 people"

“We are not going to win the FA Cup and I do not give two s**ts about it, to be honest with you.” This attitude is rather disgusting, to be honest with you. Let's look at Reading's season so far. They may not have hit the heights of last season and may be in the lower half of the league, but they are, dare I say, safe from relegation, if only for the mere fact that there are at least three teams more incompetent than they are. In fact, Reading need only 18 points or thereabouts from 17 games (that's 18 out of 51) to reach the 40 point mark and be assured of safety. They didn't play in Europe, so I fail to see how giving it a go in a prestigious cup competition would otherwise jeopardise their chances of survival, its not as if they are tired, or they shouldn't be.

As a footballer, you should always give your best no matter the match- the same is true for life actually. If you get into that mindset of turning your passion off and on as each game comes, then it will become a habit. Take Charlton Athletic for instance. They were one of the pioneers of this disdainful attitude to the cup. However, once survival was achieved, usually around February or March, they usually collapsed. The side which performed so admirably from August would suddenly become a bunch of cloggers as winter gave way to spring, you could set your watch by it. If it had continued for much longer, then perhaps it might have replaced Groundhog day as the marker for spring or whatever that tradition means.

I know this may seem a little hypocritical given my comments in the past about the UEFA Cup, but rest assured that if we were to be in that (God forbid), I would want us to do well in it. I am sure that fans of all 731 teams that entered this year's competition hope that even if their side doesn't win it or have a hope or prayer of winning it, even if the winner has come from the so-called 'big 4' over the last 13 years, their players will at least give a good account of themselves. Saying you don't give a shit about it makes you look bad, Dave.

I hope Arsenal gets Reading next in the 4th round, it would be a nice and easy 90 minutes against a team that apparently don't give 'two s***s' about it.