Former Kaizer Chiefs defender Fabian McCarthy has some sage advice for his son Aiden, who is turning heads with his performances in the Multichoice Diski Challenge (MDC) for the club's junior team.
The 20-year-old McCarthy, who captain's Chiefs' MDC team, is a hit on social media and has over 47 000 followers on TikTok, and 22 000 on Instagram.
However, his father Fabian, who played over 100 times for Kaizer Chiefs between 2003 and 2008, has warned that not everyone who follows him is there to support him.
"[In] our time, there was no Instagram, there was no Twitter, none of all that, I think, just that BBM thing,” the senior McCarthy was quoted by iDiskiTimes on Wednesday.
“WhatsApp thingies was just starting, but it was basically your phone, or you sent a fax! Now there’s so many platforms, but it’s how the players are handling it, how they put themselves into that space.
“It’s good to have 1 million followers, but how many of those 1 million followers are your real fans? So, I’m saying especially, you mentioned Aden, I said, ‘Listen, there’s one thing you must know in this game, it’s family, it’s your true friends’.
“And then there’s some of the fans that will give you stick; it’s how you are going to handle it!”
Earlier in the year, Mfundo Vilakazi, another of Kaizer Chiefs' youngsters, revealed how he had to take a break from Instagram after some unfair criticism from fans.
Mfundo Vilakazi deleted instagram, here is why 🤧 pic.twitter.com/cFccVaP2jl
— Mnyamani 📽 (@Zikamnyamane) August 21, 2024
“I saw on social media they were criticising me. It didn’t affect me because I deleted all of my social media platforms because some people were texting me on Instagram, telling me I don’t deserve to play for Kaizer Chiefs,” Vilakazi said back in August.
“I decided to delete Instagram for two weeks. I still haven’t activated even now because people will keep talking."
IOLO Sport