From Ryan Babel to Carlton Cole, in light of Ashley Cole’s piece of FA baiting on Friday, it’s a good time to have a look at a few of the most infamous moments involving footballers on the site.
Ryan Babel – This will have to go down as the greatest action by a footballer on Twitter. Babel’s photo of Howard Webb in a Manchester United shirt was not only surprisingly well done from a photo shop point of view (you would to assume Babel’s didn’t make the photo himself), but actually quite funny.The accompanying tweet to this piece of work was “And they call him one of the best referees? That’s a joke. SMH.” SMH means shaking my head, which is exactly what the FA did, fining the Dutch player £10,000. For those keeping track, Babel did this in response to Webb awarding Manchester United a penalty in the first minute and later sending off Steven Gerrard in Liverpool’s 1-0 loss.
Darren Bent – In 2009, Bent was attempting to maneuver himself a move to Sunderland from Spurs, something that was taking longer than he liked. Those familiar at all with Daniel Levy’s transfer dealings will know that patience is very much a virtue. Bent however, decided to make his feelings known on the transfer: “Seriously getting p***** off now Why can’t anything be simple. It’s so frustrating hanging round doing jack s***. Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go stoke NO do I wanna go sunderland YES so stop f****** around, Levy. Sunderland are not the problem in the slightest.” Bit harsh on Stoke and Hull in my opinion.
Darron Gibson – In April 2011, @dgibbo2 was set up by the midfielder. However he clearly decided Twitter wasn’t for him, as the profile was shut down after a couple of hours of more or less constant abuse.
Ashley Cole – Until last week, the main target of Cole’s twitter rants were Arsenal fans, in fact he seems to have joined the site mostly for this purpose. The peak was when Chelsea claimed the Champions League, and Cole put out this lovely photo with the accompanying tweet. ‘I am what I am!!! Winnerrr!!!! Hahahahahahah, 11 to me 0 for you!!!’. Just a terrific guy.
Carlton Cole – Though my personal favourite Carlton Cole tweet was when he acknowledged the nickname “Can’t Control” several years after it had first arisen, this would have to be a close second. During England’s friendly with Ghana, Cole (who was sadly overlooked for international duty once again), took to Twitter to deliver: ‘Immigration has surrounded the Wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! Hahahaha,’ said Cole. ‘The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face with the St George’s flag!’ . The striker was fined £20,000 by the FA and apologised.
image: © vincentteeuwen
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