ALAN SMITH, EASILY BORED

Last updated : 08 November 2004 By editor

The Mirror's arch-weasle McDonnell unashamedly nicks fellow United fanzine Red News' interview with Alan Smith without acknowledging the fact (let's hope he, um, doesn't bump into them on a Euro away). Here are the best bits:

'Smith admitted he still finds it hard to believe his ears when he hears Manchester United fans chanting his name.

"I never thought I'd hear the Stretford End sing my name," said Smith. "But when it happened it was ******g brilliant. The fans have been unbelievable since I joined. In the back of your mind you have a little bit of doubt when you join a new club, but you just want to prove to people you will always do do your best. I knew that with me coming from Leeds - and being a Leeds lad as well - people may have been thinking 'he's not trying as much for us as he did for Leeds. But that's not me. People have got to realise that my loyalty to Leeds was the same kind of loyalty players like Gary Neville and Nicky Butt have shown to United. I think people appreciate you can support the team where you come from but that when you go to another team it doesn't take away your desire to do well for them.

Smith maybe should have read the interview, he gave at the end of last week, before yesterday's game.

"You want to prove to people you're trying but you don't want to try too hard because you can end up going over the top," said Smith. "I think at Leeds I sometimes got carried away and got sent off loads of times, but that's all about growing up. I've learned since coming here that no-one likes Manchester United. I've experienced it first hand and it's down to jealousy. When you're a player and not playing for Manchester United, you have respect for what they've achieved. But that makes you want to beat them all the more. If anyone manages to beat Manchester United, it's a big scalp for them."

Smith finds it hard to sit still and gets bored very quickly.

"I live on my own and when I'm on my own I'm a nightmare," he said. "I get so bored. I need people there all the time or I just go insane. I try to stay at the training ground for as long as I can unless I've got someone coming to see me. If we get a day off I go back home to see family and friends. But when I'm here I don't like going back to my flat and doing nowt. I just can't do it. I'm hyperactive."