Alan Smith's stubborn resistance to change, by refusing to quit Old Trafford, has me wondering whether the peroxide has finally bleached his brain as well as his barnet.

My immediate reaction to a recent article claiming Smudger wanted to stay at Old Trafford was "Oh Alan! What are you like?" I can't believe he's considering staying in Manchester. Oh no! He deserves better, and if Sir Alex Ferguson really wanted him he would've told him so by now. I feel like screaming off the top of my voice "Don't do it Al!" I worry that even if he stays, and Louis Saha is out for a while, it would be just like when Ruud Van Nisterooy and Wayne Rooney were out, he'd be playing out of his skin then suddenly dropped like a hot potato in favour of the tried and tested glory boys, even when he'd done all he could.

I do understand his thinking though. European football, being part of defending champions, looks like a glossy advertisement for another United based English player making the grade for Euro 2008, the opportunity to continue gracing the likes of the San Siro and the Nou Camp. The alternative is (with respect) a dogfight with also rans for a UEFA Cup space on the hallowed turf of White Hart Lane, and company, who are undoubtedly one of the better bunch of the rest but sparkle more like Cubic Zircona than DeBeers diamonds to a Premiership footballer with high aspirations - rightly or wrongly.

'If he doesn't go with his head held high now, he'll be pushed into the proverbial cooking pot of the transfer market quicker than you can say lamb chop!'


But what about the famous Yorkshire pride? The snarly, full blooded Alan has been exchanged for a moody, "doormat " character who is blinded by the light of false promises and false dreams by his agent and the false sense of security offered by United's lack of transfer activity. Like a snake in the grass, they are just slithering along nicely waiting for a chance to pounce on the right target. They'll get their man but not before they've pushed out Smudger first, reluctantly or otherwise.

Bleating for a chance won't wash with a wily character like Ferguson. If he doesn't go with his head held high now, he'll be pushed into the proverbial cooking pot of the transfer market quicker than you can say lamb chop! And anyway, doesn't he get bored chewing chuddy to oblivion and only getting a few minutes here and there despite months of pain pushing for an opportunity?

It would drive me mad. He's either more deluded than Jade Goody claiming she's not racist on Big Brother or a canny businessman who's milking United for all its worth for 45 or 50k a week doing very little. Either way, it all seems a bit bleaker than an episode of Eastenders on continuous repeat if he stays at Old Trafford.

I look at it this way, I really want to be a journalist but have gone for training to be a Literacy tutor  supporting adults with learning difficulties. I diverted my path for job satisfaction and working somewhere I feel valued and they'll pay for the training. I could stick around doing more work experiences and hope that one day someone big will spot my online articles, but I want to be happy.

I don't want to sit around deluding myself I still write and contribute to papers and sites but it's more for pleasure than in the vain desperate search for a job. Why hasn't Alan Smith got that same get-up-and-go feeling?

I'd feel like a desperately lost soul clinging to every half-hopeful job offer or promise of "we'll get back to you" as if I were on the verge of winning the lottery any day now, but secretly fearing that the debt collector would call if my lottery numbers didn't come up this week. Why isn't Alan Smith in the same mind-frame?

In a nutshell, I'm saying perhaps Alan has to alter his mindset a little. The comfort zone of lots of cash in return for collecting splinters up the leg on the bench and the odd chance here and there, or the opportunity to divert traffic towards more unknown but, perhaps, long term, more challenging territory. Deal or No Deal Mr Smith?