We see what they did there
At first glance, QPR’s tweet following their win over Aston Villa on Friday evening might not have meant a great deal to many of those who saw it.
‘Walking away from Loftus Road with 3 points like always,’ read the tweet, sent after Pawel Wszolek’s strike had given them all three points.
Walking away from Loftus Road with 3 points like always 😉#QPRAVL pic.twitter.com/8wbFN8uenR
— QPR FC (@QPR) October 26, 2018
A slightly over-exaggerated statement about their home form, perhaps, but nothing to see here, you might mistakenly think. However, as the winking-face emoji at the end of the tweet suggests, there is, in fact, a little more to it.
As a few people on Twitter have since revealed, it’s actually a subtle dig at John Terry.
Terry recently returned to Aston Villa as assistant to newly appointed Dean Smith. Last season, he had played for the club, who narrowly missed out on promotion back to the Premier League after losing the Play-off final to Fulham in May. His last visit to Loftus Road saw Villa record a 2-1 win in November 2017. Terry didn’t play that night because of injury but still marked the occasion with a post on his Instagram Stories.
This post, as you’ve probably guessed by now, read: ‘Walking away from Loftus Road with 3 points like always’.
Some of those replying to QPR’s tweet made it known that they had picked up on the reference…
Subtle yet deadly, the tweet of the season
— kevqpr1972 (@Kevqpr1972) October 26, 2018
For context: pic.twitter.com/y3ObZZXDmW
— Jack Brady ✏️ (@BreakingBrady) October 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/LiamQPRFC/status/1055946551313514496
https://twitter.com/tylerlefieur/status/1055948665200828416?s=12
Twitter never forgets.
Terry returned to Villa after the club parted company with Steve Bruce at the start of the month. Bruce had been in charge of the club for two years but was sacked after winning just one of nine Championship games.
Bruce had been under mounting pressure towards the end of his stint in charge, one supporter throwing a cabbage in his direction in the 3-3 draw with Preston North End.