Alan Biggs at Large: Are noisy tweets having too much influence on our football clubs?

If key football decisions were dictated by social media then most clubs would be sacking their manager roughly every six weeks.

So thankfully you could perhaps assume that, in general, clubs don’t listen too hard. Or do they? This column suspects directors are paying increasing heed to all the background noise, not that they would ever admit it.

Makes me wonder whether this played at least some part in an apparent about-turn at Doncaster Rovers last week when, as a football source insisted to me, Danny Wilson was poised to take over as of Wednesday afternoon.

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Suddenly there was a delay to the anticipated appointment announcement which came on Friday – with the unveiling of Darren Ferguson. The reaction to Wilson being favourite had not been good. Was this the reason for the twist? Or was it a contractual issue with Ferguson prepared to accept a one-year rolling deal? Whatever, you have to wonder how representative the social media voice really is, considering opponents to a move will always shout the loudest. I feel it’s largely because of this that one of the best qualified managers in the game is still out of work over three years after his last job.

Talk up Gary Megson for any vacancy and there will be howls of derision because of perceptions (misconceptions) about his nature and style. Hence he’s always an outsider for jobs that look perfect.

Time will prove the wisdom or otherwise, but Dejphon Chansiri went his own way with the left-of-left-field hiring of Carlos Carvalhal. Barely a single tweet would have supported that. There is hardly a voice against it now.

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