Studs Up

Athletes getting in trouble over social media isn’t a new phenomenon, but Darren Bent has got to be the first to do it in such spectacular and blatant fashion. No doubt, revealing his feelings about Levy in public was probably a lot easier when he knows he’s on the way out of the club – although he may have wanted to wait until they couldn’t fine him.

In the states, professional athletes have even gone so far as to accidentally reveal their coach has been sacked before the media even knew, as well as setting up their own incredibly self-absorbed live-streaming feed.

It’s only going to get worse, and I gain endless satisfaction from knowing that we’re in an age where media is progressing far faster than corporations (or in this case, sports teams) will be able to figure them out. By the time football clubs know how to manage Twitter for themselves and their players, the rest of us will have moved onto something else.

The sports media isn’t safe, either. What’s going to happen to all those bollocks Sun “exclusives” when the players decide to break the news themselves on Twitter or Facebook? Why would a professional athlete, sick of being misquoted and exploited, give an interview to a paper when he can make his thoughts public all by his lonesome?

It’s going to be fun, and I will be laughing (or cackling) my arse off.

RIP Sir Bobby.