No more sleepless nights for Everton FC's Darron Gibson
EVERTON midfielder Darron Gibson has revealed how Twitter once gave him sleepless nights – but he was never bullied off the social network site.
The Republic of Ireland international made headlines in April 2011 while still at Manchester United, when he opened an account on the site but deactivated it two hours later after reportedly receiving negative comments from critical United supporters.
Gibson, 25, moved to Everton in January 2012 and was persuaded to reopen his Twitter page by Goodison team-mates, but he insists it was not sensitivity which made him quit in the first place – just the volume of e-mail updates to his mobile phone.
He said: "The first time I was on I didn't get bullied off like everyone thinks I did. Basically what happened was I'd set up the account before we flew off to go to a Champions League game in Germany then turned my phone off.
"When we landed I had like 30,000 followers and all the e-mails were coming through to my phone.
"I didn't know you could go on a computer and switch that off so basically I tried to go to sleep and my phone kept buzzing. I deleted my account and that was it.
"The lads persuaded me to come back on when I joined Everton and the fans have been great to be fair.
"I've not had any hassle or anything so I'm enjoying being on it,it's a good laugh."
Gibson believes the site helps give supporters an insight into the lifestyle of the players they follow. "I think it gives a small insight into what footballers do," he said, in an interview with Everton TV.
"Maybe in the past they didn't have a clue what they were doing.
"In a way it shows how hard footballers work and how professional they are so, in a way I think it's good. Sometimes I find myself flicking through constantly and my missus doesn't like it too much."
Gibson, who was one of the Blues' star performers in their last outing against Manchester City, says the camaraderie in the Everton dressing room is superb – but he also keeps an eye out for another club.
"I've started following Stevenage in League One because one of my best mates who I was at United with plays for them," he said. "There's not much of it on TV but I try and follow it as much as I can."
The Derry-born player also insisted team-mate Leighton Baines's trend-setting music taste is certainly not music to his ears.
"Bainsey has got a few strange bands in his locker," he said. "I'd probably put him in there as having the worst taste in music."