Journalist Charles Watts has slammed the media “pile-on” after Arsenal players were criticised for their lack of interaction with a young fan.
What happened between Arsenal players and the young fan?
The Gunners found themselves in the middle of an unexpected social media storm this week after behind scenes footage emerged from their recent trip to West Ham United.
The Premier League encounter did not end well for Mikel Arteta’s team as they went 2-0 up but then conceded twice to draw the game, losing two vital points in their push for the title.
Even so, for one young fan, it was a great opportunity to meet the whole squad and get a shirt signed – as shown in this clip shared by the club’s official Twitter account.
While it seemed like a fairly innocuous video, some people online were disappointed that the Arsenal players didn’t engage with the supporters enough.
For instance, TV presenter Nick Knowles wrote: “I suggest Arsenal you get her and her family back and give your players another go at being decent human beings – admittedly they’d have to be coached into it but it might be something that sticks with some of them if it’s pointed out.”
It developed into a major story – as outlined in the Daily Mail – but journalist Charles Watts has slammed it all as “utterly bonkers”.
Indeed, he took to Twitter to say: “This is so utterly bonkers. A totally unnecessary social media pile-on about a situation no-one had a clue about has created this sh*t show. Such a shame.”
How did this Arsenal social media fiasco end?
Backing up Watts’ point, the father of the young girl has since had to issue a response, saying that his daughter actually really enjoyed the experience.
To make things worse, he later explained that reporters had actually turned up at his house, which has now left him worried about his daughters’ enjoyment of football.
He said: “Thanks everyone for their kind messages today. We’ve tried to explain to my daughter what all the noise is about. Was mostly fine until we had reporters knock on the door. Hoping this doesn’t ruin her interest in Arsenal.”
The damage done by those reporters door-stepping the family home of this young child is no doubt far worse than what was initially causing concern.
It seems as though this has all been a bit of a storm in a teacup and the people online who opted to get offended on behalf of somebody else have actually caused more damage to this unfortunate young supporter than anything the Arsenal players actually did.
