TO BOO OR NOT TO BOO...

....that is the question. And I`m not too sure about the answer. This evening, the might of English football recorded an expected 5-1 win over `plucky` Kazakhstan at the new Wembley Stadium.

One of my sons won a competition at work and his prize was a ticket for the match. I did wonder whether second prize might have been two tickets, but I`m sure he enjoyed the occasion in the new £750million home of English football. He, like the rest of the footballing nation, was doubtless relieved by the result, which seemed a long time coming, but finally arrived with a late flourish of goals in the second half.

For me, the most intriguing episode of the game was the hostility shown by the home fans towards Ashley Cole, England`s left back. Cole committed a dreadful error in placing a lazy pass straight to a Kazakh forward who in turn placed it in the corner of the net to reduce the score at the time to 2-1 in England`s favour. Each time Cole touched the ball after that,he was greeted by a cacophany of boos, which went on for most of the remainder of the game.

At first I wondered why. Normally, when a player makes a mistake like that, the loyal supporters do their supporting and encourage the player to get over it. Not this time. Maybe because it was Ashley Cole. Now Cole is one of life`s annoyances. He was perhaps at his most annoying when rejecting an Arsenal contract offer of £50,000 a week by declaring it `an insult.` His subsequent transfer to Chelsea was fraught with intrigue - clandestine meetings, claim and counter claim, court proceedings, fines and appeals; and all because of the transfer of a footballer from one club to another.

And then there is his `lifestyle,` which has always had an air of sham superiority about it; he truly believes he is a bit special and adopts a kind of disdainful pose when `out and about` with his trophy wife, the long suffering Cheryl Tweedy Cole, who has, by the way, just popped up on tv as a `mentor` for would-be warblers in the indescribable X-Factor. Last season, Ashley was at the centre of a disgraceful scene turning his back on referree Mike Riley during a fractious encounter with London rivals Tottenham and there have been tales about alleged excesses involving Cole`s night-time activities, which have put yet more strain on the lovely Cheryl but seemingly not troubling her husband that much.

An understated couple

All very annoying. And the footballing public see all this and begin to react against all the excesses displayed by Cole and his ilk. So when he makes the kind of blunder he made this evening, they seize on the chance to express their displeasure not only at the blunder itself, but at what Cole represents. A man who kicks a football around for more money in a week than they make in a few years. A man who regards himself as above the reach of authority on the field of play and above the need to show restraint off it. So they booed him tonight when Cole presented them with a chance to do so. And I`m not sure I can find it in my heart to denounce them.