How a 22-word tweet in May about Kylian Mbappe and Man Utd became a big news story in October…

Standing among the ruins…
Let’s take a long, hard, critical look at this headline on the Mirror, which was smashing up all of the traffic on Sunday:

Erik ten Hag’s dream triple transfer plan ‘ruined’ by Man Utd takeover decision

A naive soul might assume from this headline that a) Erik ten Hag had a ‘dream triple transfer plan’ and b) somebody has commented/written that said ‘dream triple transfer plan’ has been ‘ruined’ (hence the quote marks).

But this is Mediawatch so you absolutely know that is not the case. But it’s even more unadulterated bollocks than we at first presumed.

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani wanted to gift Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag three world-class talents before the Glazers rejected his takeover bid.

And how do we know this? Because Bild journalist Christian Falk tweeted this in May (yes, the May that’s over five months ago):

A 22-word tweet from a German journalist in May is absolutely the basis for a news report in October.

There wasn’t even a hint in that 22-word tweet that Ten Hag actually wanted (sorry, ‘dreamed’) of this triple transfer. But that seems like a small point amid the realisation that this 22-word tweet forms pretty much the entirety of this story. But at least we still have the dream being ‘ruined’. That’s presumably new?

Control F ‘ruined’.

Nope. Nada. Nothing. F*** all. The story never uses the word ‘ruined’ beyond the headline.

Instead, we’re told that ‘Ten Hag will now have to do without’ the three players he never seemingly asked for (and who probably wouldn’t join anyway), who were namechecked in a 22-word tweet from a German journalist in May.

And that’s how you get traffic on a ‘Man Utd takeover’ story. If your morals have been entirely ‘ruined’ by working in this ludicrous business, that is.

And as sure as night follow day…

‘Erik ten Hag’s ‘dream Man Utd transfer plan’ to bring in three world-class stars KO’d by takeover setback’ – The Sun.

Which directly led here on Monday morning…

…over five months after a 22-word tweet. FFS.

To boo or not to boo…
When it comes to England. the obvious talking point is of course Jordan Henderson. We have said plenty ourselves.

Cue Ian Ladyman in the Daily Mail, who details exactly why people have a right to have an opinion on Henderson based on his hypocrisy  but then claims that ‘he should be allowed to play his football for England unencumbered by derision while he is actually on the pitch’.

So in short: Have an opinion but don’t express that opinion.

Actually, England fans booed when his name was read out and then booed again rather more loudly when he was substituted; they did not actually boo him while he was playing football. That seems pretty restrained to Mediawatch; we would have merrily booed all the way through.

Henderson lives and works and shills in the Middle East now so it’s worth wondering exactly when and how England fans can show their derision? How can Henderson and Gareth Southgate get the message that fans disapprove of his appearances for England? With a polite letter addressed to the FA? With a well-worded tweet? Not everybody has a column in the right-wing national newspaper with a massive readership, Ian.

Other footballers have been here before. I remember John Barnes being booed simply for not playing well enough in the 1980s. I was a teenager, then, but I still noticed it and hated it.

‘Simply for not playing well enough’? Only a man who writes for the Daily Mail could commit those words to a screen. Words seriously fail.

It has happened subsequently to David Beckham – in the wake of his sending-off in the 1998 World Cup = and to players such as Ashley Cole and Peter Crouch.

What purpose does it serve? Maybe it makes a point. But if it does, who listens to it? Who acts on it? Team-mates? The manager? Not really. The one group of people who benefit is arguably the opposition.

So, from a football fan, booing one of your own is a largely self-defeating act. If you really care that much, there are other ways to make those feelings known, especially in an age where social media gives every single one of us a rather loud voice.

Who listens to it? You did. And Southgate did. And Henderson did. It’s not about ‘action’ but about telling people that you are unhappy. And you accidentally stumbled upon the problem with social media with that ‘every single one of us’ comment. What’s more powerful? Sending one lone tweet expressing disapproval or joining in loudly with thousands of voices?

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets and made headlines this weekend; staying at home and sending tweets would not have had the same result.

‘Much as we may wish to judge him, to heckle and jeer him while he does his best in the shirt of his country is a step or two too far. And what happens when our national team roll up in Saudi Arabia for the World Cup in 2034?

‘Do we boo the lot of them as they walk down the steps from the plane? No, I thought not.’

Well no, because we won’t be there, will we? There won’t be tens of thousands of England fans in an airport in Saudi Arabia as they land. What a truly asinine comparison.

Boo.