Whether it’s a run of wins to get away from relegation trouble or a through-ball that helps beat the offside trap, timing is important in football.
Unfortunately for Aston Villa, their tweet promoting their new home kit was timed about as badly as possible.
KITTED OUT: The wait is nearly over! Our new kits are on sale TOMORROW. Details here: http://t.co/hotbzzHm7k #AVFC pic.twitter.com/UMudYTkVai
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) July 10, 2015
Featuring captain Fabian Delph front and centre, the announcement about the 2015/16 home shirt would have been perfect – if only reports hadn’t emerged minutes earlier about Delph potentially moving to Manchester City.
BREAKING: Sky Sources: Fabian Delph to have medical at Manchester City this weekend #SSNHQ pic.twitter.com/oUu8qZeIod
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 10, 2015
Unsurprisingly, the response from fans of the midlands club was less than positive…
. @AVFCOfficial you're tweeting this picture NOW? With the news of the pictured captain leaving breaking? Even by your standards that's dumb
— Jamie (@JamieCutteridge) July 10, 2015
https://twitter.com/official_patnee/status/619541072864235521
@AVFCOfficial I'll have Delph 's he won't be using it.
— Richard Alexander 🦁 (@Richard64877722) July 10, 2015
Update: The deal has been on-off, on-off for weeks now and there was a time where it looked like Villa’s blushes might be spared, but the deal has now gone through.
Fabian Delph puts pen to paper at #mcfc! #welcomefabian https://t.co/pXiewY5KCK
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 17, 2015
At least the kit itself is decent enough, and compares favourably to some of the others in the top flight.