Newcastle's Enrique gets in trouble for tweeting injury status

Category: Football

Publish Date: 12-28-2010 03:47 PM -0500

As if Newcastle didn't have enough problems already, now they have one more thing to worry about -- the secret-spreading menace that is Twitter. Ahead of Tuesday's match against Spurs, defender Jose Enrique mentioned on his Twitter feed that he wouldn't play due to a hamstring injury. This did not please new manager Alan Pardew. 

From the AP:

Pardew had hoped news of Enrique’s hamstring setback wouldn’t be discovered until the teamsheet was handed in at White Hart Lane, where Newcastle lost 2-0 in the Premier League.

But more than four hours before kickoff, the Spanish defender wrote in broken English on Twitter: “Sorry lads i have a test this morning and we decide is better dont play if no im in 100x100. Im so hungry because this game is nice to play … my hamstring is so stiff today.”

Pardew will now order his players to withhold such revelations from social networking accounts, although he accepts that “it’s difficult to police” and won’t impose an outright ban.

“I got a text message that the press knew,” Pardew said. “Did he tweet it, did he? It’s something as a club we need to look at. Players can’t be giving that sort of information out … we need to make it as a club policy that it has to stop.”

Asked if Enrique would be fit for Sunday’s match against West Ham, Pardew quipped: “I’ll check his tweet.”

Pardew apparently gave Enrique a talking to because later in the day, the player gave yet another update on the matter, saying:

"And sorry i want to delete twetter just get me problems. I have some followers they speak after i say something on the papers.thanks"

It was only a matter of time before something like this happened -- especially the way even respected media outlets desperately comb Twitter for things they can pass off as news. While the honesty and hilarious normalcy many footballers show through their Twitter (or "twetter") feeds has been refreshing in a lot of ways, the countdown to the day when they are all run by clubs' PR departments to mirror the mind-numbing blandness of post-match interviews begins. 

Photo: Getty Images

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