Football fan media has come a long way in the last ten years. A decade ago, most of it consisted of angry supporters shouting into a camera when their team did not play well.
There was almost no chance that any of the players they were speaking about had ever heard of them, let alone spoken to them.
But nowadays, all that has changed. Fan media personalities regularly appear on TV alongside more traditional pundits, and punditry itself has even taken on a fan-centric approach, showing the likes of Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards celebrating when their teams score.
What that means is that, now, even the players and managers are interacting with fan media. The latest star to have spoken to a fan channel is Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund, who was interviewed by The United Stand’s Mark Goldbridge last month. But it’s all kicked off since then…
What happened after Mark Goldbridge’s interview with Rasmus Hojlund?
Goldbridge’s interview with Hojlund was relatively straightforward – the pair discussed his goalscoring record, what it was like coming to United, and what he was looking to achieve in the future.
But, over a month later on 10 March, United We Stand journalist Andy Mitten revealed that some members of the squad had spoken to Hojlund for agreeing to the interview, as they believed that Goldbridge’s channel was “built on negativity and slaughtering United players”.
Goldbridge replied the same day on X, writing: “Jealousy always seems to burn brightest on a Sunday lol! So, that interview took months to put together. Everyone in the club was aware, the player and others were doing media on a training day at Carrington, we were there all morning. If anyone wanted to stop it they could of [sic].”
How did Mark Goldbridge respond on talkSPORT?
Now, on 12 March, Goldbridge has hit back further against those who chastised Hojlund for doing the interview.
The YouTuber is also a host on talkSPORT, and used the platform to voice his opinions on the matter.
“It’s a load of nonsense actually,” he said. “That interview took a long time to arrange, it was at Carrington, all the players, the club, the manager, everyone was fully aware of it.”
“When you’ve got media commitments it’s not a secret that a journalist comes in and does an interview with a player.”
“It’s almost as if we kidnapped Hojlund and did an interview behind their backs,” he continued.
“It was done weeks ago and then you hear this weekend that a couple of players were unhappy with it, that could be anything. It was well received so maybe those players are a bit jealous.”
Goldbridge also doubled down on The United Stand’s willingness to criticise players, saying “If players don’t play well, that’s what we do, that’s what I grew up with and it’s no different now.”
It’s safe to say that it’s unlikely any more United players will be interviewed by Goldbridge in the near future.