As soon as I respect someone I can have high expectations of them. Outside of my social life this only has a bearing on me. I am building myself up for disappointment, why? In some cases I needlessly defend the actions of these people I respect (to myself more than anyone).

This week Sir Alex Ferguson has been attacked by many people in the media and sport for writing his opinions in an autobiography.

Former United player Roy Keane was given some negative feedback via the medium of Ferguson’s book. Keane responded, on national television, questioning Ferguson’s knowledge regarding the semantics of the word loyalty. I wouldn’t necessarily hold a person’s actions to represent their knowledge of the meanings of words. If so lexicographers would be open to all kinds of hypocrisy and apparent schizophrenia.

Keane questioned the need and number of books Ferguson has published, the implication was that he had done too many. The one book Keane has released thus far seemingly the OK amount of books to have published. These men are both heroes of mine. Do they not realise the effect the bickering has on me? I don’t want to have to take sides.

What happens if Keane reads this blog entry and we bump into each other next week? It would be frosty to say the least. [Roy, if you are reading please don’t see this as me taking sides; I just think SAF has the right to publish a book and state his opinions in this book, to be honest some of the thing he has said annoyed me too – how’s about we all just move on for crying out loud?]

Russell Brand is another one. His interview on Newsnight has prompted a lot of people to come out and praise him addressing the structure of modern society, more precisely the imbalance of wealth in the world. I love Brand but I can’t help but feel that for all the genuine concern in his words there is a degree of constructing the idea of Russell Brand in what he has done. The idea of Russell Brand is the anarchist, the man who rattles the gates of parliament. But it’s easy to be romantic about the handsome, eloquent comedian and film star pointing out what’s wrong with the world. But what’s the answer?

When people complain about things at work I suggest they are just moaning unless they have an answer, or at least a possible solution to the problem. Now capitalism is a little more complicated than someone not replacing paper in a printer but there isn’t really a really vague plan to Brand’s manifesto.

Paxman asks him challenges him on this and Brand uses humour well to respond, saying, “Jeremy darling, don’t ask me to sit here in a bloody hotel room and devise a global utopian system.” Which is a fair response – and would be even fairer had Brand’s espousal been the result of an ad hoc conversation but it is rhetoric he has been putting out there for some time. There doesn’t, for another example, seem to be an answer here (which may or may not have been devised in a bloody hotel room).

See this makes me seem like I don’t think he’s doing a good thing when I do (think that he doing a good thing). Maybe, though, he could be challenging the rich people a bit more and staring some kind of campaign for those 5% of people who control the money to solve child poverty or something. Sorry, I don’t really have a plan as such. Such a fucking hypocrite.