It’s been obvious for some time that there’s been some social media orchestration going on in football
But it was only listening to Phil Lynch, head of Manchester United’s media channels, this week that I understood just how ridiculous this has become
A player at Old Trafford is now given a bespoke dossier of “fan sentiment graphs”, algorithms and analytics to work out if he should say sorry for having a shocker on a Saturday afternoon
It pretends to help players while doing precisely the opposite. We want footballers to take responsibility, but it treats them like fools
I want our footballers to communicate
Social media attracts a lot of negative coverage — and undoubtedly those in charge need to do much more to stamp down on the worst abuse — but I still believe in the upsides
There are lots of successful ways of running a social account
Take the Gallagher brothers. Noel’s Twitter (@NoelGallagher) makes clear that it’s run by his label. It’s about album releases
Liam’s is, well, Liam (@liamgallagher). It’s unvarnished. It’s raw
It’s definitely him
What matters is that it’s clear which style is which
What we have with footballers is them wanting to have their cake and eat it — proclaiming it to be authentic when it is their management team’s words
There is a place for media advice, and social media teams and managers. I have people who help me with my output, whether that is putting out messages with my podcasts or my LinkedIn
But it must be done right
Let’s say you’ve lost a game of football
I think players would be better off posting a quick selfie-video than some long-winded apology that has obviously been written for them, or a clichéd tweet about “going again”
But some of these tweets and posts are diversion tactics. You feel manipulated reading them and this is meant to be football, not some Putin-esque plot to control the narrative
I do believe in our footballers
Through development, learning and independent thinking they can become leaders and communicators
Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, has been injured in a shooting and taken to hospital, according to local reports ⬇️ thetimes.co.uk/article/slovak…
🔺 UPDATE: Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, is in a life-threatening condition after being shot in the street ⬇️
🔺 EXCLUSIVE: The police investigation into Angela Rayner is examining multiple allegations and is not merely limited to potential electoral law offences ⬇️ thetimes.co.uk/article/angela…
At least a dozen officers at Greater Manchester police are investigating the Labour deputy leader over where she lived in the 2010s and the sale of her former council house in Stockport
They are examining tax matters and other issues on top of the question of whether Rayner gave false information for the electoral register when she lived between two former council houses in Stockport in the 2010s
🔺 EXCLUSIVE: top universities recruit foreign students on low grades
Young Britons need straight As to get into Russell Group institutes. But their international classmates may have bought their way in through secret routes thetimes.co.uk/article/cash-f…
Foreign students can buy their way on to highly competitive degree courses with as little as a handful of C grades at GCSE. The courses require British students to have A or A* grades at A-level
Representatives of the elite Russell Group universities were secretly filmed discussing the “back door” routes used to recruit overseas students, who pay much higher fees than their UK counterparts
Ukrainians are resorting to extreme lengths to flee the war as Zelensky wants to lower that age of conscription to 25 as casualties mount in the war with Russia ⬇️ thetimes.co.uk/article/ukrain…
More than 17,100 Ukrainians have been detained by the DPSU trying to leave the country illegally since the Russian invasion thetimes.co.uk/article/ukrain…
Those numbers look set to climb as a contentious new bill seeks to mobilise another 500,000 men for military service
🔷 Could the China outbreak be the start of a new pandemic?
The simple answer is, almost certainly not — but we don’t know for sure
This is how the first days of a new pandemic would look, and the World Health Organisation has already made a request to China for more information on “clusters of pneumonia in children”
In the next few days, 29 motorists will receive warning letters from police reprimanding them for exceeding the speed limit on the cramped streets of a Cornish village
Despite being accused of breaking the law — one of the cars was logged doing 36mph in a 20mph limit — these drivers will not be fined, will receive no points on their licences, and will not be asked to attend a driver awareness course