SCOUTING THE SOCIAL NETWORK

July 2011

It was only ever going to be a matter of time before footballer’s discovered twitter and when one did more have followed with a boring regularity.

Some have bought with them a welcome insight into life as a professional footballer, others have added a touch of humour, while others have created quite a stir – or if you’re Rio Ferdinand you’ve done all three.

His famous rift/banter with Robbie Savage made the national press, while his row with a national journalist threatened to get out of hand.

But he’s not the only sportsman to get into trouble on twitter – just ask Newcastle United midfielder Alan Smith whose ex-girlfriend hacked his account in revenge and she really was a woman scorned.

Ryan Giggs was first named as the football who took out the super injunction on twitter, while Ryan Babbel was charged with improper conduct, by the FA, for a picture he posted on his twitter account.

Over the summer it’s all gone quiet as players spend their holidays on the beaches of the world but one football man has been hitting twitter a vengeance.

Terry Skiverton, Manager of Yeovil Town, hasn’t been using it to keep Glovers fans up to date on what he’s had for tea though – instead it’s become a valuable scouting tool.

The 36-year-old turned to the technology in a bid to unearth a gem as he asked his followers to recommend some players worth having a look at.

“It’s not a bit of fun for me,” he told BBC Somerset. “It’s a serious business.

“I can’t afford a scouting system. I’ve got 1,700 followers and out of that I’ve got quite a few names and there have been some interesting ones.”

Three days later and it paid off as the League 1 side made their first “twansfer” signing Kieran Agard, following his release from Everton.

“I’ll be retweeting the ones that came up with the name. There’s a couple of people who had mentioned him, so they’ll be taking the credit."

It’s not just been Yeovil fans playing their part with supporters of Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea all telling him about “their best youngsters and players available for loan”.

The question now is how many more clubs will use their social networking site to reach out to the wider community and how many more twansfers will the Glovers and other clubs make before the season kicks off in August.

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