Read all about it (From Croydon Guardian)

Read all about it

10:24am Monday 14th January 2008

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Brentford doing well makes life tough for the facetious and sarcastic blogger.

But fortunately for times like these there is always the match day programme to fall back on, and the programme for our cracking win over Chesterfield was like manna from heaven.

The endlessly amusing “Getting to Know You” section was filled with the usual lunacy. It turns out that if Craig Pead could be an animal he would be “a cross between a bear, a lion and a shark.” As if that monstrous distortion of biology isn’t ridiculous enough, he then goes on to reveal his biggest fear is sharks. Get your head round that one Dr Freud.

Peado also reveals he once met Justin Timberlake, but unfortunately with no further elaboration the question of under what circumstances this unlikely meeting took place is left hanging frustratingly in the air.

Elsewhere in the programme, it’s all about the National Year of Reading, which Brentford, along with a clutch of Premiership stars, are supporting.

John Terry, don’t you know, is a "reading champion".

Those nasty tabloids got it wrong. The England skipper doesn’t spend his spare time cavorting with strippers and urinating on nightclub floors. Instead, he loves nothing more than settling down with the latest Paul Auster or a classic bit of Dickens.

Ryan Giggs, David James and Brentford’s very own Ryan Peters have also revealed themselves to be bookworms.

Peters says he reads whenever he has “spare time, which isn’t a great deal in this profession”. (Would it be too cruel to suggest Ryan could spend those extra hours he gains from sitting on the bench or in the stands each Saturday to sneak in an extra chapter or two?)

He loves An Inspector Calls, Of Mice and Men and, er, Rio Ferdinand’s autobiography and says his favourite books to read are “Shakespearian plays”.

Imagine the bus journey up to Accrington.

“Oi, Ryan,” shouts Pooley, “Come and play cards with the lads.”

“Sorry, Glenn,” retorts Ryan, a copy of the Complete Works on his lap, “I’m half way through The Two Gentleman of Verona and I want to finish it by the time we reach the ground.”

Ryan’s debut appearance on Newsnight Review, arguing about the latest RSC production of Hamlet with Germaine Greer and Mark Kermode, is surely only weeks away.