The Matt Holland Column: Have a flutter - but it's not safe to bet against addiction

Fancy a flutter on today's matches? No? I bet a few of you had one on yesterday's, though. See how easy it is. I am confused over the issue of gambling, or more specifically to what depth we should examine it as far as footballers are concerned. It seems to me that gambling, betting, having a flutter or a punt is such an accepted activity that the issue is the amount, not the act.

In fact most comments in the media this past week have tacitly accepted that. A game of cards at the back of the bus for a few quid is a pleasant way to relieve the boredom of a long journey. Put a few noughts on the end, though, and it becomes a problem. But does it?

I am not a gambler so I have never witnessed or been involved in high stakes. The odd go on the Grand National and occasional cards are the limit of my thrill-seeking, but if a person earns many thousands of pounds a week, surely he can spend the majority of it how he chooses.

If gambling is his thing, then good luck to him. Now Tony Adams and Paul Merson will – and do – counsel against this attitude, and quite rightly when you consider their own experiences. However, the vital aspect here is addiction.

Adams is, or was, I am not sure of the correct terminology, an alcoholic. Merson admitted to the self-destruction that his own addictions caused, and he had the lot: booze, gambling and drugs. I would wager – look, there it is again, part of our everyday conversation – that both these would have suffered whether they were footballers or not. The problem was not their activities, drugs obviously excepted, but their compulsion and addiction to them.

Addictive personalities need help. That much is clear. Any footballer who thinks he may have a problem with a vice, for example Chelsea's Eidur Gudjohnsen, needs help from his club. But we must not confuse the issue because large sums of money are involved. Footballers earn large sums of money and so spend large sums of money.

David Beckham's Ferraris are not cheap, nor is or was Sir Alex Ferguson's horse, Rock of Gibraltar. Apparently its value will plummet by millions if it is impotent and cannot stud. Maybe red or black is not such a bad gamble when compared with a horse being a successful romper in the paddock.

However, education in the potential pitfalls and dangers are a must for the youth squads and academies. In fact, maybe the teaching should not be on specifics such as gambling, but on stressing the value of money and the knowledge that the sums they might receive are beyond the imagination and scope of most. That they are privileged and should respect rather than abuse it.

The problems that Gudjohnsen and others have admitted to were born out of frustration and boredom. Young men with plenty of time and lucre will find diversions, and the challenge of pitting wits against another, either a faceless bookie or an opponent at a card table, is particularly alluring to men indoctrinated with such a high competitive drive.

Ian Botham used to defend some of his outlandish actions by claiming that he was "not a light switch that could be turned on and off". Do we expect young footballers drilled in the attitude that "winning is all that counts" to go home in the early afternoon and dust and clean the house? Not when a drink, sycophantic attention or a horse race is available.

Now I believe that the drinking culture that was so prevalent in English football is being slowly eradicated. How is the important question, and the answer is education. This is one of the benefits of so many foreign players and coaches, whose ideas and beliefs concerning the care and refuelling of the body have started to dominate our game.

So education is the key for gambling as well, but without the sweeping moral judgements. Those who want to do it should be allowed to do so. If their obsessive nature that has allowed them to excel at football is channelled into gambling, they may become exceptional at that as well.

I have studied form a lot recently, but it has been my own rather than equine. Pilates is our new training fad at Ipswich and I must admit to being very impressed. Core stability is the key, strengthening the inner muscles around the lower back, stomach and pelvis.

Prevention of injury is the ultimate aim and I have to work particularly hard on strengthening and increasing flexibility around the hips and groin, where apparently, to the great amusement of my friends, I am a little stiff. It must be working, because our recent results have propelled us up towards the First Division play-off zone.

Can we sneak into contention? I believe so, and am placing a hypothetical £10 on Ipswich being in the play-offs. It's what we are taught, to back our ability and ourselves. No wonder many footballers like a bet.

Matt Holland, the Ipswich captain, was talking to Iain Fletcher