- Jul 7, 2003
- 47,640
Interesting interview with Kitson in the Guardian today, in which he comes across as surprisingly decent.
Perhaps he's just misunderstood (although his moaning to the press every time he gets tackled does him no favours): his attitude to life is certainly refreshing compared to a lot of Premier League players.
"I would rather be regarded as a human being than as a footballer. I don't like being bracketed as a footballer.
"I don't own a car. I refuse to shell out the amount of money for a car that I should be worthy of playing at this level. If I spent more than £10,000 on a car, if you could see where I came from, and you could see what my Dad is driving around in and you could see my friends who I used to play football with driving round in their Sky vans, it just wouldn't be right. I'm no better than any of those.
"Some of those players were ten times the player I was. If I went back into my neighbourhood with a Porsche or Bentley there would be hell to pay. That's just cars. I have no jewellery. I don't wear any chains or watches. I wear plain clothes, no logos. I don't have a boot deal- I refuse to have one. I am just happy going along being me and I really don't want to be that fella what I see every day. I really want to avoid it.
"I'm not particularly good at communicating with [players] and talking with them because I just find I have nothing in common. It's difficult to be different. People think you're arrogant because you don't entertain the usual 'shag anything that moves'- but I hate all that. If one of the lads has a new watch I'll try it on and then say 'have it back'. If someone's got a new car, I might have a little sit in it, but I could never draw attention to myself unnecessarily, Why do people want to do that- to be a showman? It's on the pitch that I want to stand out from everyone.
"My biggest motivation is to say 'this guy cost £10m and he's won God knows what. Well I'm Dave Kitson, I cost £150,00 from Cambridge and I ran the show today".
Perhaps he's just misunderstood (although his moaning to the press every time he gets tackled does him no favours): his attitude to life is certainly refreshing compared to a lot of Premier League players.
"I would rather be regarded as a human being than as a footballer. I don't like being bracketed as a footballer.
"I don't own a car. I refuse to shell out the amount of money for a car that I should be worthy of playing at this level. If I spent more than £10,000 on a car, if you could see where I came from, and you could see what my Dad is driving around in and you could see my friends who I used to play football with driving round in their Sky vans, it just wouldn't be right. I'm no better than any of those.
"Some of those players were ten times the player I was. If I went back into my neighbourhood with a Porsche or Bentley there would be hell to pay. That's just cars. I have no jewellery. I don't wear any chains or watches. I wear plain clothes, no logos. I don't have a boot deal- I refuse to have one. I am just happy going along being me and I really don't want to be that fella what I see every day. I really want to avoid it.
"I'm not particularly good at communicating with [players] and talking with them because I just find I have nothing in common. It's difficult to be different. People think you're arrogant because you don't entertain the usual 'shag anything that moves'- but I hate all that. If one of the lads has a new watch I'll try it on and then say 'have it back'. If someone's got a new car, I might have a little sit in it, but I could never draw attention to myself unnecessarily, Why do people want to do that- to be a showman? It's on the pitch that I want to stand out from everyone.
"My biggest motivation is to say 'this guy cost £10m and he's won God knows what. Well I'm Dave Kitson, I cost £150,00 from Cambridge and I ran the show today".
