A Come and Get Me Tweet

Over the past few months there has been one person who has interested me more so than others on my Twitter feed; professional footballer, Leon Knight.  This is because Knight has been voicing, quite publically, his views on his previous employers (and there are plenty of them) in light of his state of limbo that he found himself in after getting sacked from Rushden and Diamonds.

This is a really interesting case, as Knight has not played for Rushden for almost two years now, yet the Blue Square Premier club are still holding onto his registration rights despite sacking him and terminating his contract.  Therefore, if another English club wanted to sign the player they would have to pay Rushden a compensation package of £30,000 for his services.

This clause has warded potential suitors away from signing him, so Knight has been forced to play his football outside of his home nation with clubs such as Greek side Thrasivolous, and Scottish teams Hamilton and Queen of the South.

[caption id="attachment_239" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Anywhere but home: Leon Knight playing his trade at Hamilton"][/caption]

If you look at his past you’ll see his resume littered with clubs he has only stayed with for one season – the reasoning for the majority of these clubs is some form of fallout with the manager, squad or board. So from the outside, an average fan like you and me would think one thing – troublemaker.  However, Knight has really used social networking to get critics and fans on his side.

• He has used the Rushden registration case to gain sympathy from fans, showing that he is a footballer (who did have a potentially great future ahead of him) that just wants to play but is being restricted.


• He has blasted the Rushden board publically, showing that won’t shy away from potential media backlash.


• He has continually praised the majority of his previous clubs, showing that he is a team player and does love the game.


• He responds to fans a lot of the time, answering questions that most players would dare to answer in respect to the backlash any answer could receive, showing that he wants to please the fans whenever possible.

After reading his tweets for a month or so now, I probably share the same view as a lot of other fans who have done the same – I feel sorry for the guy!  He obviously wants to play, he’s has had his problems in the past, but the relationship he has with the fans and the desire he shows for the game is obvious to see.  Essentially, Leon Knight has transformed his come and get me plea to a universal come and get me tweet.

From troublemaker to sorrow figure through one medium, Leon Knight, you are a very intelligent man.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean this sarcastically either.  I genuinely think Knight has orchestrated a fantastic PR campaign and it was all down to one social medium and word of mouth – something that some PR agents would spend unspeakable amounts of money doing.

But social mediums like Twitter can often cause controversy too.  Leon Knight may not be a globally known footballer, however you can argue that case with Darren Bent.  When you have a global following, the media spotlight is a lot brighter, and that spotlight was shined in Bent’s direction after his Twitter outburst in 2009.

[caption id="attachment_238" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Controversy: Darren Bent put his eventual transfer to Sunderland at risk due to social networking."][/caption]

It came in light of the striker’s transfer from Tottenham to Sunderland in the Summer transfer window last season.  After Sunderland fans discovered the striker was an passionate tweeter, they were encouraged to sign up to the site and persuade him to join the club.  This sparked such replies in the realms of “Why can’t anything be simple. It’s so frustrating hanging round doing jack s***” and “Do I wanna go Hull City NO. Do I wanna go stoke NO do I wanna go sunderland YES so stop f****** around levy” (sic).

Bent later apologised for the rant, saying that he was acting out of frustration to his proposed transfer to Sunderland and did not mean to cause any offence to Daniel Levy.  After clinching his transfer to Sunderland, his Twitter account was removed so he could focus on the job at hand, and what a job he did in the North-East.  Since then, an account has been reactivated for the England striker, and he seems to be staying out of trouble for the meantime.

When you compare the Leon Knight and Darren Bent cases, they don’t seem to dissimilar.  A player wanting to leave the shackles of a club he does not want to be at, to show their fans that they have ambitions elsewhere.  But, if Knight was at a more high profile club than Rushden and Diamonds, the story could be a lot different for him.

In an age where social networking and technology are taking over our lives, it is no surprise that players choose to use these tools.  It gives them another output into the world and a closer connection to their fans, however it does open the floodgates for any negative media feedback and rarely will they pick up on any positive feedback, as is the way of the British media.

Incidentally, you can follow Leon Knight at http://www.twitter.com/LeonKnight82 - it’s a very good and interesting read.