As an utterly biased Liverpool supporter I am naturally disgusted by the extremely harsh treatment of the sublime Luis Suarez. A ten-match ban? Why, players who have broken other players' legs with cynical high tackles have got away with much less. Players who have head-butted other players have got away with less. Yeah, he's an immature twat for biting Ivanovic (I support Chelsea as well as it happens - an extended family thang), but Ivanovic is virtually unmarked and was back in training the next day. And, of course, we had the much bigger twat Cameron wading in with his two and bloody fourpence!

Now that I have the tirade of intemperate contumely out of the way, down to the serious business. What the hell is all this "role model" stuff? The phrase is brainlessly trotted out all the time without so much as a single neurone applied to its usage. Everyone's a bloody "role model". Your teacher's a role model. Your dad's a role model. The boy scout bloke's a role model. Pop singers are role models. Footballers are role models. The vicar's a role model. Jesus was a role model. I'll tell you what, with all these role models it's hardly surprising that kids get all confused. We don't need role models. We need to tell children how to sort out good from bad, that's what we need. We need the lad watching the Liverpool-Chelsea game to admire Suarez for his stunning goal yet condemn him for the bite. You can do both. I think it's a very bad idea for your kids to go around being influenced by "role models" instead of thinking for themselves. The world is not black and white. A well brought up kid can judge actions for him or herself, not rely on the influence of "role models". Suarez is a footballer. The only thing about him that should influence your lad is his technical and tactical skills, and you should be telling your lad that. Suarez's life skills are not what puts him in the public eye. Putting people on pedestals as role models is one more pressure for those people that they don't need (in any case, like Suarez, they're far too immature to live up to it). John Terry didn't get banned for shagging his best mate's wife, and what kind of role model is that? Cameron left his eight-year-old kid in a pub by accident. Great role model there, bollocking a footballer for being a bad role model! Next time you find yourself tempted to declare that so-and-so is a great role model, stop first to ask yourself whether you're actually using your brain. Sheesh and discuss!