I WAS appalled by the actions of Tim Sherwood at the weekend when he spat at Jim Magilton during the game against Southampton.

I have been a long suffering Rovers fan all season, and I have often felt like venting my anger, but I have managed to control myself. So should he!

As the team's captain, he has an extra duty, not only as a player, to behave, and to set an example of how the rest of the squad should behave.

If you ask me, it is the likes of Sherwood that are ruining this country. They know their behaviour will be reflected in the misguided youngsters who worship them. When Sherwood changes his hair style, so do they. When he plays some skilful football, the youngsters try to copy it.

Today, when I was walking through the town centre, guess what happened. A youngster relieved his mouth of extra saliva, and the spit landed on my freshly polished shoes.

Surprise of surprises, the revolting little boy was wearing the famous blue and white halves and on the backwas the name ... Sherwood.

Now, I don't blame Sherwood for this single act (if I did I would be sending him the drying cleaning bill for my trousers which also received some of the spit) but I do accuse him of making such unsociable acts acceptable.

Perhaps it is about time he grew up, and left this most filthy of habits to the animals. How would he like it if I came and spat in his designer hair do?

Percy Malpas

Mill Hill

Blackburn

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.