There have been random acts of stupidity, specifically the drunken Celtic fan's one-man pitch invasion, that have been as embarrassing as they have been costly to his club. Thankfully the days of idiots like these being cheered as they are led off to an uncomfortable appointment in the back of a police van are long gone.

A number of fans down south also made me feel nauseous this week when I heard some of their remarks after Didier Drogba 'returned' a coin to the Burnley support. The Chelsea forward will be punished and he will deserve it, but a bit of perspective is needed. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone, whereas the idiots who threw the coins clearly were.

I am certainly not an apologist for Drogba, but there was a picture in many papers showing the Burnley fans as he chucked the change back. Along with the coins, it was clear that there was also hatred, vitriol, expletives and hand gestures aimed at the striker. He was weak for reacting, but many of those who were quick to contact the phone-ins, were loathsome in their hypocrisy.

Having said that, as a football fan at heart, it was the passion in the stands that I missed most when I became a player. There is something wonderful about being in the middle of that madness and for me it is often as enjoyable as being the focal point on the field used to be.

In five years at Chelsea I only missed a couple of games through injury. On both occasions, much to the amazement of my team-mates, I hobbled round and watched the game from the middle of the Shed End. I could hear people whispering 'that looks like… isn't that?… no it can't be.' And to my surprise and delight they left me alone to shout and bawl and sing along.

Part of the joy of being in the crowd are those unscripted moments when something unusual and unexpected happens. At Celtic Park in the recent Manchester United game the home side were running out of energy with 12 minutes to go. Suddenly from the stands came an extraordinary eardrum-bursting roar to spur the team on, it was as if 60,000 people all had precisely the same thought at exactly the same time. It wasn't a song or a chant but simply an extended explosion of noise and it was precisely what the players needed to lift them.

Another phenomenon that is so rare that I have only witnessed it once is when the supporters actually cheer an abject defeat, and not with irony. At Chelsea we were challenging for Europe when we came a cropper over Easter. A 4-0 defeat at home was followed by a 6-0 defeat away at QPR, the jokes about Jesus not being the only one to be crucified in that period were coming thick and fast. However, the fans decided that jeering wasn't what was needed. Instead of booing they sang their hearts out and bounced constantly for the final 30 minutes of the QPR game. There were no recriminations from the manager afterwards; just one quietly delivered rhetorical question: "We are not going to put those fans through that again, are we?" And we didn't.

Unexpected reactions from the fans are not always as positive. Hearts have been struggling to find direction for a very long time now, so three points, however they are garnered, are usually universally welcomed at Tynecastle. But on Wednesday, following the 1-0 win over Hamilton, a result that took them to fourth place in the SPL, there were boos ringing in the players' ears as they left the field. By all accounts it was a far from impressive performance. The Hearts fans have not been fooled and are acutely aware that the league table is so incredibly tight it can easily give a skewed vision of your team's abilities.

Only a few weeks ago on the other side of the capital, Hibs were sitting near the top of the league but the majority of fans sitting around me in the East Stand were not impressed either. There has been more anger and frustration than I can recall at the ground for many years, maybe even going as far back as the Bobby Williamson era.

The fans are confused. There are good players available, particularly in forward areas, but the systems used have left many scratching their heads. The changes made, and some of those not made, have been equally puzzling for the fans, even if the obvious chronic lack of width they have been screaming about may have finally been addressed by the signing of Jonatan Johansson who will join in January.

Dean Shiels is a player whose talent and workrate I respect. This season Mixu Paatelainen has regularly played him at the front of a midfield diamond, the pivotal position in that formation. This is the player who should control the match, its tempo and its outcome with game awareness and football intelligence. Instead of being constantly involved 'Deano' has struggled to get into games, but instead of moving or resting the player, the manager has left him to chase shadows for long periods.

It is just one of a long list of technical complaints that fill the stands as well as the message boards almost every week now.

On Wednesday night at Tannadice something unexpected happened, this time with the Hibs fans around me, as Dundee United outclassed them. The frustration and the fury just seemed to drain away. The anger at the somewhat surprising team selection, which involved five changes from the previous Saturday, faded and even the gallows humour usually so evident in defeat, was absent. At the end of the game there was a deathly silence from the large travelling support and I suspect it was not a good sign for Mixu.

Hibs may continue to have good as well as bad results because they have some talented individuals such as Derek Riordan and Steven Fletcher. But the manager will quickly have to figure out a way of getting the best out of his charges tactically, or else that silence which was far from golden will be replaced by the most common and predictable reaction from fans towards a struggling manager.