Inside the ¼óÁê League's social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß 'factories': Nottingham Forest's owner dictating ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ës, Chelsea players put out by Cole Palmer ¾º¿Ê¡¿ÀëÅÁ, a banned °¦¾Î at ʼ´ï¸Ë... and what happens when it goes wrong
- Nottingham Forest ÇúȯÀ¤Î social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ë attracted over 44 million ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ës?
¡ÆIf you thought that tweet was strong, you should have seen the ½é¤á¤Î,¡Ç says one source at Nottingham Forest, with the Æ𲽤¹¤ëd ¸«²ò¡¿ËÝÌõ¡¿ÈÇ ·ë¶É agreed upon attracting more than 44 million ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ës on Twitter since °µÎϡʤò¤«¤±¤ë¡Ëing send from Goodison Park on Sunday.
It is understood the order to publicise their fury ¡Êµ¡¤Î¡Ë¥«¥à from the very ºÇ¹â¤Î¡¤¤ò±Û¤¹, the patience of owner Evangelos Marinakis having snapped after seeing his Ì£Êý¤¹¤ë ÈÝÄꤹ¤ëd three ·ºÈ³¡¤È³Â§s at Everton.?
Insiders say the 56-year-old Greek will not care about the fallout that followed. He had a point to make and he made it, utilising the ÃÅ¡¦¹ËÎΡ¦¸øÌó that ¶¡µë¤¹¤ës him with Àܶá to tens of millions. It is not the first time Marinakis has ´«¤á¤ëd the communications team at Forest to ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ë something about ¿³È½¡Ê¤ò¤¹¤ë¡Ëing in the?¼óÁê League either. Sunday was ´Êñ¤Ë the tipping point and there was to be no ÀâÆÀ¤¹¤ëing him ¤µ¤â¤Ê¤±¤ì¤Ð.
Football today is much more than five training ³«²ñ¡¿³«Äî¡¿²ñ´üs a week and a match each ½µËö. Its clubs have °Ü¹Ôd into social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß factories, churning out content all day, every day, with the ÌÜŪ¡Ê¤È¤¹¤ë¡Ë of building an army of ¿®Êô¼Ôs beyond the ¸ÂÄꤹ¤ës of their city.
On Instagram, the 20 ¼óÁê League clubs have a Ï¢¹ç¤µ¤»¤ëd ¤Ë°ú¤Â³¤¤¤Æ of almost 300 million. Clubs have entire teams ¸¥¿ÈŪ¤Ê to À¸À®¤¹¤ëing content for the new À¤Âå who, ½Ï¹Í¤¹¤ë¡¿¹Íθ¤¹¤ës have shown, get their news from the likes of TikTok, Instagram and X, °ÊÁ°¤Ï Twitter.
Nottingham Forest's ÇúȯÀ¤Î social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ë has been ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ëd over 44 million times
It is understood the order to ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ë the tweet ¡Êµ¡¤Î¡Ë¥«¥à from the club's owner?Evangelos Marinakis
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- PODCAST: Are the England team buying into Southgate's style of play?
At Chelsea, for example, they have a ¡ÆÁ´À¤³¦¤Î Social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß ·Ð±Ä¼Ô¡¿»ÙÇÛ¿Í¡Ç, ¡ÆSocial ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß (n)Ìò°÷¡¿(a)¼¹¹ÔÎϤΤ¢¤ë¡Ç, ¡ÆSocial ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß Content Creator¡Ç and more than one ¡ÆSocial ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß Editor¡Ç, not to ¤Ë¤Ä¤¤¤Æ¸ÀµÚ¤¹¤ë the outside ¸ÜÌäs who help ·ÁÂÖ¡¿Ä´À° their relentless À¸»º¡Ê¹â¡Ë on their men¡Çs, women¡Çs and ÀÄǯ teams.
·Ð±Ä¼Ô¡¿»ÙÇÛ¿Í Mauricio Pochettino said this week that he does not want the world to think they are 'Cole Palmer Football Club¡Ç but ɬÁ³Åª¤Ë, their socials have made it seem that way at times this season. That has not gone unnoticed by some Âåɽ¼Ô¡¿¹ñ²ñµÄ°÷s of Palmer¡Çs team-mates.
ʼ´ï¸Ë are understood to have six ±Êµ×¤Î social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß ½¾¶È°÷s, while West Ham have four. Around the league, these numbers are the norm. The staff do not need to run every ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ë by someone more ¾åµé¤Î, though that can lead to the »þÀޤΠcock-up as they go viral for the wrong ¿äÏÀ¤¹¤ë¡¿Íýͳs.
This is not the first time that Forest have been at the centre of a social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß Íò¡¿½±·â¤¹¤ë. In October 2022, they tweeted a picture of Emmanuel Dennis on the Molineux pitch surrounded by wolf cubs with the caption ¡Æplaytime¡Ç. That backfired, as it was ³ôd in a WhatsApp group ¤ÎÃæ¤Ç the Wolves players before they went on to ¾¡Íø¡¤¾¡¤Ä 1-0. Forest ·Ð±Ä¼Ô¡¿»ÙÇÛ¿Í Steve Cooper was furious afterwards, with the idea having not been run by him beforehand. By the time he ÀßΩ¤¹¤ë out, the »¼º was done.
¡ÆIt is usually only when we have something that needs ȯɽ¤¹¤ëing that we¡Çll be told what to ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ë,¡Ç says one social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß (n)Ìò°÷¡¿(a)¼¹¹ÔÎϤΤ¢¤ë at a ¼óÁê League club. Oft en, it is an array of squad updates and club news Ï¢¹ç¤µ¤»¤ëd with creativity to make the most of the Àܶá they have with players.
Forest's social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß team?tweeted a picture of Emmanuel Dennis with wolf cubs in 2022, but the move backfired when Wolves °ÂÁ´¤Ê¡¦Êݾڤ¹¤ëd a 1-0 ¾¡Íø¡¤¾¡¤Ä at?Molineux
Steve Cooper, Forest's ·Ð±Ä¼Ô¡¿»ÙÇÛ¿Í at the time, ¡Ê¿ÍÌ¿¤Ê¤É¤ò¡ËÃ¥¤¦¡¤¼çÄ¥¤¹¤ëd the pre-match ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ë had not been helpful
Âåɽ¼Ô¡¿¹ñ²ñµÄ°÷s of Cole Palmer's Chelsea team-mates have noticed the club's À¸»º¡Ê¹â¡Ë around their À±¡¿¼çÌò¤Ë¤¹¤ë performer this season on social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß
The team at »É·ã¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ës have ¿¤Ó¡Ê¤ë¡Ëd ¾Þ»¿¤¹¤ë this season for their ¡ Æarrivals¡Ç content which has µö¤¹d fans to see a different Ì£Êý¤¹¤ë of the players as they take on challenges when they arrive at their Enfield base.
With this Àܶá comes a greater degree of ¿®ÍÑ and understanding. For instance, Bukayo Saka is not too keen on getting referred to as ¡ÆStarboy¡Ç on social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß and at Wolves, there was an ½é´ü¤Î ÉÔËÜ°Õ to calling Hwang Hee Chan, ¡ÆThe Korean Guy¡Ç after Pep Guardiola used the phrase to ¸ÀµÚ¤¹¤ë to him in a °µÎϡʤò¤«¤±¤ë¡Ë ²ñµÄ¡¿¶¨µÄ²ñ. Yet after he ÆÀÅÀ¤¹¤ë¡¿ÈóÆñ¤¹¤ë¡¿£²£°d the ¾¡Íø¼Ô against Manchester City 24 hours later, Wolves began to embrace it, with South Koreans inside Molineux waving ´ús with it and Hwang himself admitting he likes it.
Though most days can be ¸øÀµ¤Ë¡¿¤«¤Ê¤ê ´ð½à for those working in-house, ¤¤¤Ä¤«s they have to think µÞ®¤Ê¡¿ÊüÆ¢¤Ê, like when Mohamed Salah Ä´°õ¤¹¤ëd a ·ÀÌó ³ÈÄ¥ with Liverpool in 2022.
A small team was ÁÇÁᤤ¹ÔÆ°d away to Mykonos in Greece to ³Î¼Â¤Ë¤¹¤ë that the ¹ð¼¨ was ÇÛ㤹¤ëd in style while the news of Jurgen Klopp stepping É餫¤¹¡¿·âÄƤ¹¤ë at Liverpool was kept away from most of the ¿ô»úɽ¼¨¼°¤Î team until minutes before the ¥Ó¥Ç¥ª was ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ëd on January 26. Only a select few were ÃΤ餻¤ëd of the news and filmed the ¥Ó¥Ç¥ª with Klopp the day before, ³Î¼Â¤Ë¤¹¤ëing it was ready for the next morning.
Other times, they can ·×²è¡Ê¤¹¤ë¡Ë ahead, with Norwich City's ¥Ó¥Ç¥ª ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ëd on World Mental Health Day seen by more than 60 million people because it was as poignant as it was powerful. Occasionally, ¹ð¼¨s of new Ä´°õs will be ±ä´ü¤¹¤ëd so that they can come up with an extravagant idea, with Burnley considered the best in the ¾¦Çä¡¿»Å»ö at this.
Buyako Saka is not keen on ¸ºß referred to as 'Starboy' on social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß, while Wolves were ºÇ½é µ¤¤¬¿Ê¤Þ¤Ê¤¤ to ¸ÀµÚ¤¹¤ë to? Hwang Hee Chan as 'The Korean Guy' on social ¥Þ¥¹¥³¥ß
Wolves ·ë¶É embraced the idea with Hwang ÆÀÅÀ¤¹¤ë¡¿ÈóÆñ¤¹¤ë¡¿£²£°ing against Man City, days after Pep Guardiola had referred to the º£¸å as?¡ÆThe Korean Guy¡Ç in a °µÎϡʤò¤«¤±¤ë¡Ë ²ñµÄ¡¿¶¨µÄ²ñ
News of Jurgen Klopp stepping É餫¤¹¡¿·âÄƤ¹¤ë at Liverpool was kept away from most of the ¿ô»úɽ¼¨¼°¤Î team until minutes before the ¥Ó¥Ç¥ª was ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ëd, with only a select few ÃΤ餻¤ëd of the news
Others are rivalling them, ´Þ¤àing West Ham, who used Ghanaian rapper Guvna B to ȯɽ¤¹¤ë the Ä´°õ of Mohammed Kudus. The ³«»Ï¤¹¤ë¡¤ÂǤÁ¾å¤²¤ë of their American, Portuguese and Spanish social channels have been hugely successful, ±Û¤¨¤ëing their ´üÂÔs.
Recently, Liverpool have started to create content with Âå°Æ¡¿ÁªÂò»è language ²»À¼Éô¤Î to ³Î¼Â¤Ë¤¹¤ë that their »ñ»ºs can reach as wide as possible. The more impressions, the better.
Just like °Üž ¹ð¼¨s, new ·ÀÌós have become major events for clubs. Last month, ʼ´ï¸Ë were mocked for their ¡Æcringe¡Ç ÌÀ¤é¤«¤Ë¤¹¤ë¡¿Ï³¤é¤¹ of Ben White¡Çs new ·ÀÌó as each of his team-mates spoke about him but to date, it has ¤Î¶á¤¯¤Ë to 25 million impressions on X alone.
Yet ¡¼¤Ë´Ø¤·¤Æ¡¿¡¼¤ÎÅÀ¤Çs of ¾×·â, the tweet sent by Forest on Sunday will be hard to match. It is comfortably their most ¸«²ò¡Ê¤ò¤È¤ë¡Ëd ÃÏ°Ì¡¤Ç¤Ì¿¤¹¤ë of all time. Forest may have ¤¤¤Ã¤½¤¦¾¯¤Ê¤¯ than a million ¿®Êô¼Ôs on X but for Marinakis, his point was made and a »×¤¤½Ð¤ÎÉÊ of the ÎÏ¡¿¶¯ÎϤˤ¹¤ë these accounts have. Now, they ¤òÂÔ¤Ä the repercussions.