Social media is an essential part of modern life and modern football, the main idea being that fans can interact with and get closer than ever before to their favorite players and teams. Players like Michy Batshuayi or Benjamin Mendy have especially embraced this new reality, endearing themselves to their fans even before they kicked a ball on the pitch.
Of course, the harsh reality is that more often than not, the players themselves don’t (have the time to) manage their own social media accounts. They hire PR firms to help them run their Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc — and this can be in combination with the more personalized interactions. So, often, when players post congratulatory messages after games, or pre-game hype stuff, or things about promotional appearances, those posts come from their social media teams, rather than the players themselves.
And that’s generally not a problem, unless of course a player’s PR firm manages more than one client, and they forget to post from the correct account. Which is exactly what happened to Manchester City center back John Stones this afternoon, as “he” posted a congratulatory message for Chelsea hat-trick hero Álvaro Morata. The Instagram post was quickly deleted (and replaced by the correct one), but the Internet doesn’t forget.
John Stones & Gary Cahill's PR manager has had a nightmare..
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) September 23, 2017
Absolute school-boy! pic.twitter.com/92QUWqxkGi
Someone’s getting sacked in the morning!