Fan Spends $25,000 on Newspaper Ads to Give Fluminense Coach Advice

With the growing popularity of fantasy football it seems that everyone these days is an armchair manager with thoughts on which players should start and who should join David Beckham on the bench. A fan of the struggling Brazilian club Fluminense has taken things to the next level by plopping down $25,000 on paid advertising space on the inside back page of the Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo. The ads give advice to coach Paulo Cesar Gusmao on team selection.

“The appeal I’m making is simple,” she wrote. “Please field a real forward alongside Tuta…If possible Alex. Or Beto. But don’t field Lenny. You’ll be doing him a favour. Against Botafogo, Lenny tripped over the ball again.

“Please help Fluminense not to go down. Millions of fans will be eternally grateful to you. Many of them are children, who don’t deserve this long agony.”

Solid advice, indeed. That Lenny is always tripping over the ball. For his part, Gusmao took the high road.

“I’m sympathetic to it because it reflects the sentiment of millions of fans in Brazil and abroad,” said Gusmao, who has been in charge for seven games since replacing Antonio Lopes. “I respect everybody’s opinion but the one that prevails is mine.”

Fluminense plays this evening so we’ll see if advice of the fantasy fan manager is heeded.

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Category: South America