Last week’s FoxSports Twitter revelations have prompted sharply contrasting emotions within the Glory camp.
Last week’s FoxSports Twitter revelations have prompted sharply contrasting emotions within the Glory camp.
Being officially crowned as the most entertaining A-League player to follow on the popular social media site left Scott Jamieson (@Scott.Jamieson) naturally delighted, while Travis Dodd (@trav_dodd) took a philosophical view of coming in a close second behind the man whom he first played alongside at Adelaide United.
But for Steven McGarry (@stevenmcgarry), the results were nothing short of devastating.
Glory’s self-styled Twitter-king did not even rate a mention as Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson, Perth-born Mariners defender Trent Sainsbury and ex-Adelaide striker Lloyd Owusu filled the remaining places in the top five.
“That top five has to be a wind-up,” fumed the outraged midfielder from Glory’s South African training base at Ingwenyama Resort, Nelspruit.
“It’s the worst top five ever.
“I read comments from those guys to help me get to sleep at night!”
Jamieson, in contrast, was generous in victory, keen to offer some solace to his disgruntled fellow-tweeter.
“Personal awards are nice and all and I’m very grateful and humbled for being voted number one,” he said.
“But when I see my good mate Steven McGarry upset for not even making the five when he puts everything into Twitter, it does take away the shine.
“That said, I shall take this award and hopefully it’s a sign of things to come for myself and the Glory for a great year.
“I’m also very happy to see my big bro (Dodd) nestled in at number two, he deserves it.
“We spend a lot of time together, so it’s only right that we rule!”
Ironically, Jamieson (3297) currently has fewer followers than either McGarry (4804), or Dodd (3609) and the latter feels that both of his rivals still have much to learn regarding the subtleties of the Twitter-sphere.
“Stevie is pretty open in the fact that he gets into arguments with people and creates controversy to try and gain more followers,” said Dodd, “and I’m pretty sure that Jamo has been employing the same tactics.
“But it’s clearly not working for him because I still have more followers than he does.
“And another important thing to look at is the amount of tweets that you send out in relation to the number of followers you have.
“That’s a ratio we like to discuss at training and obviously McGarry’s is pretty high and it’s the same for Jamo.
“So my comment to both of them is that when you get on Twitter, it’s about quality, not quantity. People don’t just want the kind of rubbish they are spewing out.
“I was described as having, and I quote, “a wicked sense of humour” in the FoxSports piece, not that I read it repeatedly or anything and I think the boys need to learn from that.”
And Dodd also feels that he can act as something of a Twitter mentor for Jamieson in much the same way that he has guided the defender’s development, on and off the field, since their first meeting at Hindmarsh Stadium.
“It’s no secret that when Jamo has been at the same club as me, he’s blossomed both as a footballer and as a person,” he said.
“When we were together at Adelaide he showed the country what he was all about and had a great couple of years, then he went to Sydney and I wasn’t around and he found himself floundering in a football wilderness. Draw your own conclusions.
“As it happens, we’re now back together here in Perth, he’s under my wing again, he played really well last season and got himself back in the Socceroos fold.
“I did mention at the MGP Awards night that he owes a lot of his success last season to me and although he doesn-t often show his gratitude publicly, I know deep down he appreciates what I’ve done for him.”
See the full FoxSports story at: http://bit.ly/18xT6Jj
and Follow Perth Glory @PerthGloryFC
Gareth Morgan
