Liverpool FC: Nathan Eccleston Controversy Last Thing Reds Needed

Nathan Eccleston was a little known reserve team striker for Liverpool before he posted a controversial tweet about the anniversary of Sept. 11. Following a disappointing loss to Stoke City and an injury to defender Glen Johnson, the last thing the Reds wanted to deal with was a Twitter controversy.

He has since removed the offensive tweet, but ESPNsoccernet provides the details:

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The striker wrote: "I aint going to say attack don't let the media make u believe that was terrorist that did it. #O.T.I.S. ['Only The Illuminati Succeed']"

His post has since been deleted and he later wrote: "Some things get took [sic] way out of context." However, a Liverpool spokesman revealed that the youngster's comments would be the subject of an investigation.

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There have been some crazy conspiracy theories surrounding the events of the terrorist attacks, but that a secret society was behind the attacks is definitely a new twist. Eccleston should have learned his lesson from the numerous athletes who have tweeted inappropriate things that it never ends well.

Even though Eccleston has rarely been featured in the Liverpool lineup, he has nearly 40,000 followers on Twitter. It should have been quite obvious to him that anything he posted would get blown out of proportion once the media got a hold of it.

Liverpool management has said they will take this matter seriously and have informed Eccleston that they will be investigating the message. That's probably not what the 20-year-old striker had in mind when he clicked send.

More and more professional sports teams around the world are starting to bring people in to educate their players about the power of Twitter.

One of the most important things about the social media site is that it's almost impossible to decipher a joke, sarcasm or seriousness. So when Eccleston said “some thing get took way out of context,” it's not a surprise. It's impossible to know if he was begin serious.

Regardless of the results of the investigation, which probably won't be too severe and handled internally, Liverpool will make sure Eccleston now understands what a stupid tweet could turn into. Engaging in social media can be beneficiary for a team's popularity.

But it also has the potential to have a negative impact, which it did in this scenario. Let's just hope the situation is resolved quickly and Liverpool can get back to football.