Drug abuse is Mutu much

I also think that as the substance Mutu has taken is illegal maybe there's a case for making an example of him and treating his offence as a crime with charges considered.

Whether the drug is performance enhancing and you are cheating, or it's recreational and there are moral issues, in my opinion the harsher the penalty the better

I'm sure it would be if the ordinary man on the street was caught taking the drug.

It's hard to put a length on how long he should be banned and you do not want to scapegoat anybody but, if I had paid £15.8million for a player and he was on £70,000 a week, I'd be disappointed that he does not look after himself in the way he should.

There's no place for drugs in football and that's the message the sport needs to be sending out. I have never felt the need to take anything and am very anti-drugs.

There have never been any drug incidents at clubs I have been in but I know there have been cases when young players, in particular, might experiment.

That's to do with their age but you should not go down that avenue. If I heard anything like that, I would tell the player: "What the hell are you doing?"

I do not know if the tests differ now at the highest level but in the Football League, as a club, we were only tested five times in the course of last season and will be again in the Conference.

They are random tests and lots are drawn to pick two or three players but I don't see why there shouldn't be mandatory tests as well.

I know Sebastian Coe is trying to get more regular testing but there are cost issues and that might be what's preventing Sport England getting more stringent.

Perhaps the clubs need to contribute money. Stricter testing would probably get rid of drugs completely.

The tests at our level can either happen after games or during unannounced visits to the training ground.

We had them visit the training ground three times last season and at games twice. I was selected at one match and you still get nervous about the results because you are completely responsible for your own test, which includes sealing the urine sample bottle right. Stuff like Lemsip is also banned and you have got to be careful with your caffeine dosages.

I think footballers can be ignorant of such things but, luckily, our physio Jeff (Miller) makes all our players fully aware of what's on the banned list and the message is if you are in any kind of doubt don't take it.

It's sometimes hard because if you have got a cold you just want to reach out for something to make yourself better but I don't tend to take any kind of tablet any more. Even when I broke my jaw, I made sure I checked what I could take first.

Aside from drugs, we also have a drinking ban of 48 hours before matches. I don't think there's a big drinking culture in the game any more. The old days of a beer keg on the coach on the way home have been replaced with trips back drinking water and eating pasta.

Everybody needs a blow-out from time to time but the key word with alcohol is moderation.

I don't mind players letting their hair down but it has to be at the right time.

Smoking is a different matter. I know footballers who have done but it seems to be dying out.

As a person, I am very anti-smoking and, as a manager, it would not impress me at all as it hinders a player's performance. It's something to steer clear of as a footballer although it does seem to help some managers.

I know Stan Ternent used to smoke like a trooper at Burnley and you knew about it if he was trying to stop.

Hopefully things are improving though. I think the education of young players about drugs, alcohol and smoking started in my era and the younger lads are now seeing different examples set by professionals.

They also attend college once a week and are being taught the right way to look after themselves in sports science, while PFA promotions and counselling help too.

Updated: 10:39 Thursday, October 21, 2004