As a football fan he was and is one of the best in the world, a model professional and someone for the young players to really look up to. Well not so much the last two anymore.
I have lost a lot of respect for him after this, there's no denying his talent but when you're a house hold name who's constantly in the spot light, I think you have to set an example, I know this sort of thing happens everyday to normal people but they don't get their stories written in the papers for all to see, that doesn't make it ok but celebrities and sports personalities have a duty of care to the future sports men and women of the future. There are too many footballers who are getting too big for their boots and doing stupid things (Rooney, Ashley Cole, John Terry. Note how these are all British players), there was a time when footballers were proud to play for their club and country. Unfortunately the game has become too corrupt with money, there's no loyalty in it anymore but that's a whole other story.