Date: 31st March 2011 at 5:07pm
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Rio- one of the few footballers not to rant on twitter

Rio- one of the few footballers not to rant on twitter

There’s been some great comedy duo’s over the years- Laurel and Hardy, Morecombe and Wise, Cygan and Stepanovs.

Now it seems we can add another double act to the pantheon of comedy greats- footballers and twitter.

For those of you that have just been released from prison- or live in Burnley- twitter is a social networking site which allows users to ‘tweet’ updates to their ‘followers’ keeping them informed of what’s going on in their lives.

As it’s easy to follow pretty much anyone, users often follow their favourite celebrities -including footballers- to get all the latest news and insight into their lives. Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand is twitter royalty with over 700,000 followers, not to mention the fact that Rioferdy5’s tweets are actually news sources for the likes of Sky Sports. During the Wayne Rooney saga, Rio tweeted- “The manager and Rooney will sort it out” which while turning out to be true, was treated by various new agencies as some sort of guarantee.

Ferdinand, is however an exception to the rule, as while his tweets have never come close to being offensive or bringing the club into disrepute, some footballers seem to think of twitter as the perfect way to have a pop at someone – be it their own fans, chairman or even manager.

Carlton Cole recently had to remove a tweet he posted after the England Ghana game which read:

“Immigration has surrounded Wembley. I knew it was a trap! The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey.”

Quite why Cole thought that tweet was a good idea, is beyond me, although he’s never struck me as a Mensa member to be perfectly honest.

The new ‘saviour of English football’ Jack Wilshere’s got himself into hot water a few weeks ago,  for unruly tweeting. Following Arsenal’s 4-4 draw with  Newcastle where the Gunners had led 4-0 at one point, Wilshere tweeted:

“Inconsistent refereeing needs to stop. It’s killing the game. If Diaby goes, what’s the difference between that and Nolan on our keeper?”

Wilshere should perhaps concern himself a bit more with his sides inconsistent defending and goalkeeping.

Another player who got himself into trouble for an inappropriate tweet is Aldershot Town striker Marvin Morgan who responded to fans booing him, by tweeting: “Where’s that going to get you! I hope you all die.” The real question is where on earth did Morgan think that outburst was going to get him? Fined two weeks wages and transfer -listed is the rather unsurprising answer.

Morgan’s cyber-rant was just one of many from footballers who’ve used the site to vent their fury,  the Aldershot front man joins a small but illustrious group of players who probably wish they’d let their feet rather than their thumbs do the talking.

Every Liverpool fan’s favourite former bench warmer Ryan Babel responded to being left out of the squad’s trip to Stoke last season by tweeting: “Hey people I’ve got some interesting news, I’m not travelling to Stoke , the boss left me out of the squad- no explanation.”

Not finished there, Babel poured more petrol onto the fire by adding: “What happened after a good first season? Scoring ten goals, being young talent of the year” – no doubt a question many Liverpool fans were asking as they watched Babel produce one inept display after another- “and then second and this season don’t play at all.”

Babel finished his diatribe with: “Where did it all go wrong? You have people that support me and don’t support me, one day you will see what I’m capable of it will be with LFC or somewhere else.” Call me cynical but I feel that day may come in the Israeli third tier or somewhere equally as challenging.

Darren Bent had a somewhat turbulent time at Spurs, not helped by Juande Ramos selling all his striker partners and then ‘Arry Redknapp claiming he was not quite as good as the Mrs ‘Sandra’ at finishing certain chances.

Bent finally lost it when his proposed move to Sunderland seemed to be stalling, the former Ipswich and Charlton striker tweeted: “Do I wanna go Hull. NO Do I wanna go Stoke City. NO” – so that’s a no then is it Darren?

Bent continued: “Stop f*cking around Levy. Sunderland are not the problem in the slightest.”

Bent’s outburst brought him a £120,ooo fine and his twitter page was taken down following a grovelling apology- although he didn’t end up at Hull City so he was probably pleased.

Everyone’s favourite panto villain Robbie Savage is no stranger to twitter controversy, the Derby midfielder quit  that bastion of journalistic integrity the Daily Star criticised a tweet of Savage’s where he appeared to defend football player’s high wages.

The world breathed a sigh of relief however as Savage decided to stay on twitter with some accusing him of attention seeking.

Savage responded by tweeting “If I want attention I’ll just go to the Trafford Centre in my Lamborghini” probably best as to be fair no one really takes any notice of him on ESPN.

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2 responses to “Footballers And Twitter- When Will They Learn?”

  1. Chudi says:

    Didn’t Jonjo Shelvey have to shut down his account after some of his pals tweet a pic of his tackle?

    Seems that Twitter isn’t for every one!