Season › 2012-13 › News Heitinga seeks positive reactions on Twitter Greg O'Keeffe, Liverpool Daily Post , 20 March, 24comments | Jump to most recent Although John Heitinga has not taken the criticism he has received on Twitter to heart, the former Ajax and Athletico Madrid centre-back fears that over-the-top attacks on players could lead to a future when they are reluctant to engage with fans over the social networking site. “I don't really care what people say. I'm on Twitter because I want to show a little bit of myself to the supporters. I hope to get respect when I put something on Twitter, and see people react positively. “If the response is only negative, then the time will come when no-one is on Twitter any more. The gap between the fans will become bigger. “At the moment, the gap can become smaller because you can respond to supporters' questions and speak to them. “I can understand the fans were frustrated (after Wigan) but they must realise that the players were frustrated too." Quotes or other material sourced from Liverpool Daily Post Reader Comments (24) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer James Marshall 1 Posted 20/03/2013 at 14:23:12 Stick to kicking the pigs bladder around, and maybe you'll get a bit better at it, Johnny.I hear he hates being called Johnny. Denis Richardson 2 Posted 20/03/2013 at 14:29:02 I wish all clubs would simply ban their players from using this stupid website. Non - story. Donald Twain 3 Posted 20/03/2013 at 14:30:31 Hey Jonnny, you have a lovely torso and are a wonderful guy. You play for my team and I'm so grateful even though you're not the best and seem to daydream a lot... maybe you're a dreamy poet instead of a professional footballer. Your family is lovely. Anyway you enjoy your millions of pounds and lifestyle you've earned it. Bye for now — I've got to go to a Bedroom Tax march. xxx Wayne McNee 4 Posted 20/03/2013 at 14:47:55 I don't follow any EFC players on Twitter. It's just a self-serving, social outlet for them with kick backs & sponsorships."Just got my new copy of this, going to that" etc.Pips bad for it & Cahill must've generated a 2nd income. Shameless. Brin Williams 5 Posted 20/03/2013 at 16:12:11 Twitter's for Twitts - daft Twatts! James Stewart 6 Posted 20/03/2013 at 16:23:54 Twitter has never interested me. Bores me to death. Alan Humphreys 7 Posted 20/03/2013 at 16:41:52 Sure Duffy wishes he never used it...Can see the points but for every self absorbed player there's a Distin. Good or bad he stands up to be counted on twitter and to be fair he's the same on the pitch. Robert Collins 8 Posted 20/03/2013 at 16:58:36 Johnny Heitinga says (between the lines):"I've got so much time on my hands after my training sessions and counting my fucking huge salary each week, I'm bored, egotistical and like to tweet so I can show you some of me!""I earn so much money I can retire and never work again, if that's what I want. Do you think I give a fuck what you say about me?"I say:Johnny, our frustration in the team began long before Wigan (Wigan was a large cherry on the cake and there'll be other big ones to come this season). Your own personal performances have been woeful, that's one of the reasons why the club is in the mess it's in on the field. We're mostly hoping to get you off the wage bill and hope you'll be sold if anyone will have you? To be absolutely frank you play like your wearing clogs and have smoked one of your Amsterdam joints before the game. Steavey Buckley 9 Posted 20/03/2013 at 20:52:05 Heitinga is a good pro. but that does not make him the ideal partner for Distin when Jags is injured. Heitinga did have a good season last time, but that is over. Premier League managers have done their homework on and have realised that he is vulnerable to bigger and stronger strikers who also have pace and can cut in on him and strike on goal. Against Stoke, Pullis will be making sure that Huth, Shawcross, Peter Crouch, Kenwyne Jones give him a torrid time at set-pieces. Dennis Shaw 10 Posted 20/03/2013 at 21:42:33 Heitinga at least shows he cares for playing for the shirt despite his recent poor form he is always trying to encourage the fans to get behind him and the team. Gavin McGarvey 11 Posted 20/03/2013 at 22:02:34 Steavey I agree with what you say but I also think that Heitinga is just starting to play himself into better form. When he is playing well, he seems to make up for some of his deficiencies in terms of pace and height, through anticipation and positional sense. I can't see Moyes playing Duffy even though I imagine he's considering it what with the height advantage and everything. I think he'll stick with Heitinga, but maybe if Heitinga's form really has improved he'll deal with Stoke a little better than he would have done a few games ago. Ciaran Duff 12 Posted 20/03/2013 at 23:12:27 I thought he played well against City (obviously Mancini never does his homework when he plays us!) and it would be crazy to drop him now. Being an old fart (as I suspect many TWers are) I don't use Twitter but I believe that it is quite popular with the young folk :-) Roman Sidey 13 Posted 20/03/2013 at 23:38:10 Wayne, I must admit I still follow Pip only to keep up with the utter bollocks that he sprouts. Distin and Heitinga are good, and Oviedo is slowly and unknowingly teaching me "football Spanish". I did stop following Cahill as his was nothing but promotion of this or that and all complete motivational jargon shit. Andy Crooks 14 Posted 21/03/2013 at 00:39:48 Ciaran, I am a boring old fart to the extent that twitter is pretty much a mystery to me. Do people really follow the comments and thoughts that footballers have? I'm not being snide here, just stupid. Why would anyone want to do that? Jim Harrison 15 Posted 21/03/2013 at 03:24:30 Twitter is a bag of gash, but to be fair, not sure what give people the right to just go on there and insult and abuse others, irrelevant of how much money they earn. Sam Hoare 16 Posted 21/03/2013 at 04:51:33 I never really thought Heitinga was cut out for a top class Premier League centre back, he just lacks too many of the physical attributes. When playing well, his anticipation and distribution are assets... but, even then, he is liable to be beaten one-on-one or in the air.I hope we get his rather large wage off the bill this summer and bring in what little money we can for him. Anthony Flack 17 Posted 21/03/2013 at 07:59:45 Dennis 918 spot on about being found out. .. he was pretty good against Shitty City and Dzeko is no dwarf... I would stick with him for Stoke and bring Neville into central midfield (only joking) Andrew Ellams 18 Posted 21/03/2013 at 08:16:29 You don't get 80+ caps for Holland if you are a poor player, but I think Lescott or Hangeland would be better options. Anthony Flack 19 Posted 21/03/2013 at 08:45:25 Dennis 918 spot on about being found out. .. he was pretty good against Shitty City and Dzeko is no dwarf... I would stick with him for Stoke and bring Neville into central midfield (only joking) Ross Edwards 20 Posted 21/03/2013 at 13:00:54 Roman, Is this the type of Spanish Bryan has taught you? Mantenga una defensa sólida y un pellizco.According to Google Translate, this means Keep it tight and pinch one. Andy Meighan 21 Posted 21/03/2013 at 13:45:19 Another nutty Dutchman. He played well against Man City though... He's just got to keep that level of performance up until the end of the season. Big ask, if you ask me. ps: I hate Twitter. Steavey Buckley 22 Posted 21/03/2013 at 17:03:30 Gavin McGarvey: Because of the threat Stoke pose in set pieces from Crouch, Jones, Shawcross and Huth, it maybe worth considering playing Duffy in a back 3 of Jags/Heitinga Duffy and Distin with Baines and Coleman as wing backs. Roman Sidey 23 Posted 21/03/2013 at 22:07:02 Ross, I see that phrase burnt on my eyelids every Saturday night. Adam Fenlon 24 Posted 22/03/2013 at 03:30:08 To be honest if he's just saying that the majority of responses he gets are "Fuck off, you Dutch twat" or whatever, I wouldn't blame him for not wanting to continue doing it. 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