I HEARD there was a report earlier this week saying that Palace are one of a number of clubs singled out for homophobic abuse towards Brighton & Hove Albion.
Well, I heard their fans sing homophobic songs about themselves. I don't know about the rivalry between the clubs but I do know what they did on the pitch against my team the other week.
I haven't been at Palace long enough to understand that sort of rivalry but down there I thought the songs they were singing to our fans were a little bit near the knuckle to say the least, but with some sort of humour in it.
I'm not homophobic – whatever anybody's choices are is down to them and that's the way the world should be.
I believe there's somebody for everybody, and even things are being brought to the law if you look at what the Conservative party are looking at.
I love football and I love banter. If banter offends someone, it turns to bullying, and there's a very careful line you've got to draw under it.
If that's the case and it's offended some people, then everybody should stop saying it, but if you're going to go into it in that detail, some comedians are going to be banned aren't they?
They take the mickey out of absolutely everything and sometimes in bad moments in life, humour can be great to get you out of it – sometimes you need a bit of banter.
You can't take everything so seriously all the time, but I don't think I'm qualified yet to talk about Palace and Brighton.
It's a very touchy subject and I don't want to go against our supporters because I want to learn about their club. Meanwhile, it's a weird scenario up at Sunderland – they had Martin O'Neill, a sought-after manager, and all of a sudden they've gone and given the job to someone from League One.
Good luck to Paolo Di Canio, but we're seeing managers leaving their jobs every week at the moment.
It's Sunderland's decision to do what they've done, and who I am to criticise?
I'm not going to, but I don't understand what these fascist claims are against Paolo.
What is a fascist? Is it someone who believes in their own country or their own tribe? What is it?
The management and I looked it up on Tuesday to see what it actually means. I have never worked with Paolo over the years or ever seen him, so I don't know him at all.
But I know what he did at Swindon.
He created a fantastic atmosphere there and I was talking to a mate of mine who watched them a lot, and he said he's never seen a team play with so much energy and vibrancy every time you watched them.
He's definitely got ability and we saw that as a footballer, he was a genius at times, and sometimes that opens doors for you, so good luck to him in his new job at Sunderland.
