Brutally honest Sheffield United man opens up on abuse problem after “pointless” admission
Sheffield United man Tom Cannon has spoken candidly about the pressures facing footballers in the social media age and revealed the advice he has been given to deal with the criticism.
Tom Cannon is still in the formative stages of his football career, never mind his time at Sheffield United, but has already had to deal with many of the highs and lows that the game can throw at you. Big moves, good loan spells, droughts in front of goal.
A £10m price tag that follows him around and, although he insists it doesn’t, could easily act as something of a millstone around the neck. This term he is already halfway to matching last season’s tally of six goals for United, and will hope to win his latest Republic of Ireland international cap tonight against Austria.
But some sections of the United fanbase are still to be fully convinced by the 23-year-old, and are not shy of voicing that opinion. Footballers being under scrutiny is nothing new, of course, but that attention has never been more all-consuming than in the present day.
“I suppose, in a way, it could be for some players,” said Cannon, when asked if that self-doubt could be a dangerous thing. “But I just think that, in football, you've got to be so thick-skinned. There are always going to be negative comments or negative things from fans.
“If you have a good game, you're the best player in the world. If you have a bad game, you're the worst player in the world. So I think it's just finding that balance. One thing I got told was to never get too high when it's going well, and then never get too low when it's going bad.
“Just finding that middle ground. Obviously, in a football career, there are going to be ups and there are going to be downs. It's just how you find that consistency because I think, as long as you're playing and you're putting in the performances, then the rest kind of follows.
It sounds straightforward on paper but in a social media age, can be anything but. In years gone by, feedback on a player’s performance was largely consigned to a post-match pub debrief or maybe a strongly-worded letter to the following weekend’s Green ‘Un.
In 2026, fans have the power at their fingertips to direct their anger wherever they see fit. Combined with a generation of young players who have grown up on social media, it can make for a dangerous combination.
“With social media, it's crazy,” Cannon added. “Because I think people, especially football fans now, just want to say what they want. Obviously everyone has the right of an opinion, and that’s fair play. But everyone just feels that they can say literally whatever they want through a phone.
“So for a young player I think it’s just a case of trying to ignore it. Obviously you're going to see it, because our generation now are all on our phones. But certain apps, I think boys should just come off them. Because there's no need to be seeing these things.
“I think the only opinions that matter are your family, and obviously the football club. So anyone else who has an opinion, good or bad, it doesn't really matter, because it doesn't affect you. That's my opinion.
“Because you see so many. We could lose at the weekend and then there'd be loads of negative feedback, comments. As a player, you know yourself if you've had a good game or not. You don't need, say, a fan to be saying all sorts through a screen. It's pointless.
“So I think it's just finding that balance and yeah, just staying off apps that could maybe get in your head a bit.”
Hearing a player speak with such honesty about a modern-day challenge feels refreshing, especially with the issue only likely to escalate in future years when more players who are ingrained in social media use become professionals.
In 2021 clubs and players took part in a four-day social media blackout in an attempt to tackle abuse and discrimination online while 89,000 abusive posts were flagged by FIFA during the group stages of this summer’s World Cup - a 13-fold increase from the previous tournament in Qatar.
Critics of social media platforms have long suspected that negative comments online are promoted and amplified by the algorithms that decide what content is put in front of people online. And an Online Harms in Football report, following research from Loughborough University, found that online abuse is no longer a peripheral social‑media problem but “a routine condition of modern football, shaping experiences across all levels of the game and extending far beyond players, affecting referees, journalists, coaches, volunteers, supporters, club staff, administrators and governing bodies.”
And the most concerning question is the simplest - how does it stop?
“It’s just my opinion,” added Cannon. “I'm only 23, but I'd like to think I'm kind of mature for my age. And I think that I've had good advice through my parents, family and my girlfriend. Just to realise that the opinions don't matter.
“For me, the thicker-skinned you can become, then the better. Because ultimately then, you're kind of tunnel visioned and you know what the end goal is. But people have this persona of: ‘He should be doing X, Y and Z.’
“When in the game, with no disrespect, they wouldn't even know what to do themselves. At the end of the day, they don't know the pressures. They don't know the sacrifices. They don't know anything, ultimately.
“And they think they do, but really they don't. So as long as you know within yourself that you're doing your best, then that's all you can do.”