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Remember Jerome de Bontin? He was the general manager of the New York Red Bulls from October 2012 until March 2014, when he unexpectedly resigned citing strategic differences with Papa Red Bull.
Shortly after his departure, he appeared at a conference - "Soccer as the Beautiful Game" - in which he expressed disappointment with the US soccer media:
America’s soccer culture is bland and unchallenging, according to de Bontin. Nobody really cares about it as a result, and the U.S. soccer media fails in its duty to pressurize those within the game.
"If writers don’t challenge us, imagine how difficult it is for us to stimulate the audience," de Bontin said.
"I would encourage the press to be braver."
And then he seemed to go kind of quiet. But now he's on Twitter.
Let this be my first tweet ever. AS Monaco, home of Thierry Henry, Jurgen Klinsmann and Georges Weah takes on PSG tonight. Allez Monaco!
— Jerome de Bontin (@JdeBontin) March 1, 2015
Early signs are de Bontin might be a fun follow. He seems inclined to offer an opinion.
@SoccerByIves no foul, no fault, no card. Geiger is not at his best today.
— Jerome de Bontin (@JdeBontin) March 15, 2015
And he's happy to gently challenge the famously thin-skinned Grant Wahl.
@GrantWahl the two goals came from Ned Grabovoy. He deserves much of the credit.
— Jerome de Bontin (@JdeBontin) March 15, 2015
@GrantWahl yes. Ned played for the Chicago Magic, under the leadership of Mike Matkovich and with my son Adrien. Always was a great player.
— Jerome de Bontin (@JdeBontin) March 15, 2015
@GrantWahl very funny....
— Jerome de Bontin (@JdeBontin) March 16, 2015
As well as tweaking Seattle for putting a good team on a bad pitch.
@soundersfc Did the announcement include anything about replacing the carpet with a proper soccer playing field?
— Jerome de Bontin (@JdeBontin) March 16, 2015
Early days yet, and little more than gentle chiding and amiable chit-chat so far. But de Bontin harbors some strong opinions about soccer in general and the US media in particular. And if he's starting to explore putting those opinions out for everyone to see, he's worth a follow.