Will Rio bring Twitter to a Holt?

Oliver Holt has waged war on Rio Ferdinand after the Manchester United defender sent him an unsavory direct Message. But as a journalist, has Holt foolisly distanced himself from the footballer? By James Robert Shaw.

Michael Owen once lamented on Twitter that there appears to be a distance emerging between journalists and the footballers they cover in the news. He stated that: “it’s the sensationalising of headlines that annoys most players. It makes us look like clowns when most lads are normal”. In short footballers want a certain amount of respect in the public eye, without being begrudged for what they are good enough to do as a career.

One argument is that footballers – considering their wealth and celebrity status – deserve bad press if they fail to perform to the standard set by the global census of the sport. But It is perhaps easy for journalist to fall into this trap, using their bad performances and – on occasions their negative persona – to fuel their work? As any good journalist knows, it far easier to post work shrewd in a pessimism because this sells papers. On a human level – and within the British frame of mind – we take pleasure in disapproval because it distracts from our own lives and brings those revered in the public eye down to a level that we are comfortable with.

But is this negative press healthy? – arguably footballers are paid such a huge amount because they are expected to deal  with this immense pressure. “But he’s just kicking a ball about”, you may shout! – NO, ignorance exudes from this comment; footballers are an essential cultural and economical facet. Without them a sports journalism job – to name just one trade- would be futile, and you wonder why the likes of Michael Owen have to defend their right on the only platform that has any purity. As Oliver Holt explains. “(It) Comes down to trusting a journalist to look after you, I suppose”. To which Owen replied: “and there is my point. The trust just isn’t there hence the relationship between players and journalists is non existent”.

Which brings me on to Rio Ferdinand – the, un official spokesmen for British football on Twitter and a pleasure to have on board within the social sphere. He is now – whether he likes it or not – embroiled in a press-war with the Mirror’s Oliver Holt.

In life’s great ironies, The Mirror has once against sensationalised  a headline in their favor to one again burn bridges between the journalist and the footballer. Rio Ferdinand vs. Oliver Holt – reeks of slapdash cavalier journalism, as he turns a mere insult from Rio Ferdinand into an excuse to wage an unnecessary war. Perhaps you cannot blame Holt, Rio Ferdinand was certainly wrong to direct abuse at Holt considering that there is a high chance that he would use this to his advantage.

I just hope that, like any bad news,  this blows over. It would be a tragedy if Rio was to use this as a reason to leave Twitter considering that he is such an important figure on this platform for fans, and journalists alike.

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