It never ceases to amaze me the lengths that some people will go to in order to try and speak to me or meet me. The latest incident nearly caused me a great deal of embarrassment at Aston Villa, as one of my fans phoned the club claiming to represent Milan! The caller was so convincing that I received a message from Villa telling me to return a call to the Italian giants.

I think the people at Villa Park must have thought I had some kind of deal going with Milan, but that of course was not true. Fortunately for me, my agent Chantal was able to slip into her Sherlock Holmes role and get to the bottom of it. She soon discovered that the call was really from a fan who had watched me on A Question of Sport on Monday night and been so impressed that they felt they just had to call me! It is very flattering, and comes with being in the public domain, but it really is a bit much. I am able to laugh it off now, but it could have been a very embarrassing situation for me had Chantal not got to the bottom of it so quickly.

On to brighter things, and I am happy to report that my customised Steiff bear raised £3,000 for the Red Cross at auction. I chose to dress mine in a miniature Aston Villa kit and the bear looked really great. I am glad it did so well for charity, and it was nice to take part in an event which was supported by so many others.

I am gearing up for a massive fixture this weekend - the visit of my former club Newcastle to Villa Park, so come back later in the week to read my thoughts on facing the Toon army.

David Ginola

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