The football world was aghast and agog on Thursday after a Premier League player came right out and admitted he was cr*p. Aston Villa defender Curtis Davies hung his head in shame after the 1-0 Carling Cup defeat by Leicester City at Villa Park.

Davies, who was given the hook 10 minutes from the end, admitted: “I was just awful. I didn't contribute anything. I've been bigging myself up, saying I'm ready and obviously I'm not. I'm not good enough to get in the team yet.

''I'm honest with myself in every performance and that was rubbish – I looked like a pub team player.”

''You have to take your hat off to a footballer who cites John Steinbeck’s 'Of Mice and Men' as his favourite bedtime reading''


Crikey, whatever next? Ashley Cole confesses, “I’m a greedy git!”, while Robbie Savage comes clean with, “I’m just an annoying, dirty little t**t!”

Davies was one of the hottest transfer properties of the past summer and ended up on loan at Villa after Spurs refused to pay West Brom’s asking price of around £8m. Arsenal were also said to be sniffing around. When the season-long loan is up, Villa are thought to have an option to buy – for £10m!

Davies has three England Under-21 caps to his name and is not normally known for his self-effacing modesty. He upset West Brom fans by telling the world he was far too good for the Championship after the Baggies were relegated.

Maybe a touch of humble pie will do the young fella good. And you have to take your hat off to a footballer who cites John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men as his favourite bedtime reading.

Just before the Leicester game, Davies was almost daring Martin O’Neill not to give him his debut, insisting: "It is not that I am normally impatient – I have been here for four weeks now.

"It is just the way that I set my standards. I am not a young boy any more. I am not 19, or a young pro. I am 22 and have been a regular wherever I have been. So hopefully, sooner rather than later, I will be a regular here.

"If I get the nod, hopefully I can show the gaffer what I have to offer."

Well, you certainly did that, Curtis. But being given the runaround by a bunch of Championship no-hopers was not the way to push for a place in the Villa side to face Tottenham on Sunday.

It’s the second frightening attack of honesty that has struck football in barely a week, with Leicester involved on both occasions. Last week everyone but the Pope was applauding the Foxes for standing aside and letting Nottingham Forest take a goal start from the kick-off in the re-run of their second round Carling Cup tie. The game had been abandoned the previous week when Forest’s Clive Clarke collapsed from heart trouble with his side a goal up.

Surely football can’t be going soft. I’ll believe it if Joe Cole ever bounces to his feet with a smile after being fairly tackled. Or if Arsene Wenger concedes it was a definite penalty that Arsenal gave away.

Curtis Davies has showed a refreshing honesty for one so young and full of himself. But I fear his fellow professionals are more mice than men.

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