Of course, we're sorry for Glenn Roeder, and all managers with heart problems who collapse under the strain (and there have been some dramatic ones over the years), but come on, managers are not the only ones in football under stress. It's easy to think footballers don't feel such pressures. They are on long contracts, big money, able to switch off after each game and think more about their hearty dicks than their dicky hearts, but they suffer, oh yes, they do. In three ways.

When they are new to a club, at whatever age, they find it very hard to adjust to new colleagues, new systems, perhaps a new language and culture. Young ones can get depressed, give up and go home, as George Best and Graeme Souness both did as teenagers. Older, so-called established players, who come for big money, can feel equally nervous and isolated. I remember Ralph Coates, a big signing at Spurs, coming out in a rash with the worry of it all.

Being injured, that's another terrible time for them, the petals, fearing their career might be over, or someone will get their place. And while injured, it's as if they don't exist, become non-persons. Managers can be pigs when a player is out, treating the injured as if it's his fault, while the first-team squad think only of themselves.

Being dropped, stuck on the bench, that's also hell. Beckham has done so well, taking it, not moaning, not giving in to paranoia. It's no use saying he's got all that money, all that fame and his own hair. Nothing makes up for not being picked, especially at his age. He's 28 on 2 May - happy birthday, Bex. For a footballer, he's at the height of his powers. Next stage, it's downhill.

However, save your sympathy, hold back the tears. The people who really suffer in football are the fans. No commentator puts on his caring voice, the one used for poorly managers, to express their sorrow. Dead players from long ago, chairmen you've never heard of, get one minute's silence before a match and black armbands, but I've never heard a crowd being asked to stand in memory of a fan who's had a heart attack at a game. Yet it happens all the time. I've seen them being carried out.

There's a young bloke, slightly overweight, shaven head, who sits in front of me at Arsenal who works himself into a total rage each week. I can't see him making 40. Arsenal, in theory, should be an easy club to support, as they have been so successful, yet they are putting their supporters through agonies at present.

Even if Man Utd win the league, they have also given their fans some awful moments, humiliated by Real Madrid, failing once again in Europe. The higher you go, the worse the disappointment can be. At the bottom of the leagues, for supporters of Sunderland, West Ham, Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton, Northampton, Carlisle United, Shrewsbury, Exeter, oh and loads more, the whole season has been one of pain and agony and constant stress.

I used to get hellish earache when watching Spurs, from grinding my teeth and clenching my jaw. It also happened when I got in a panic over work, doing too much, or in a state in traffic jams. Stupid really, but it went on for years, and endless dental surgeons buggered around with complicated solutions and plates to wear in my mouth. In the end, I taught myself to relax when I felt it coming on. And if that failed, I used a hot-water bottle on my ear, a little one, which I now always carry when travelling. Works a treat. That will be five guineas.

Now at Spurs, I sit with my jaw open, a forced smile on my face, making myself relax, while all around are losing their heads, moaning and groaning, frothing at the mouth.

So don't say fans aren't under stress. But there is one vital difference between managers and players suffering and supporters suffering. They get paid for their pains, handsomely, and in the Premiership, all managers and players are now millionaires. We pay to suffer. Spending a thousand or so each season. And we don't have to do it. Nobody forces us. Which makes it worse. Madness. So before turning to the next page, please, a moment of silence for all fans. Respect.