Stephen Baxter has called on the Irish League community to "support each other a bit more" after raising his concerns on the impact of social media on young players.
The experienced boss, who returned to the game with Carrick Rangers last month, said he and his managerial counterparts have grown up being able to block out the outside noise.
Baxter though accepts that the current generation of stars coming through have different challenges to face and he has called on people to be more understanding of players' circumstances outside the 90 minutes on the pitch when posting on social media.
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“I think managers and players who have been in the game a long time and understand it, they are fairly confident people in themselves,” said the Carrick boss.
“The David Healys, Jim Magiltons, David Jeffreys, Gary Hamiltons, all those who have been around the country and this new wave of managers coming through — we have lived and worked in football for most of our lives and we understand the game.
“We know the work that is required to be a successful team. The social media world which gives people an opportunity to comment straight after a football match is a different world and one that reflects what happens for 45 or 90 minutes but they have no idea what happens in people’s lives for one or two weeks around that.
“You have to shut out that stuff, I don’t pay any attention to it or think about it, it is not part of my world and I don’t get involved in that and nor do the really senior people.
“The younger generation unfortunately do get involved in it and that can be difficult. You have to learn to live with it. The pressures are high in football, I get that — it’s the highest level of football in this part of the world and we are all privileged to be involved and enjoy it tremendously.
“There is great competition in it but, at the end of the day, we are one big family and we know each other outside of the game. We are all in it together, fans and players. I think we have a great game and package and I think we should support each other a bit more. I would like to see the social media world just settle down a bit for players, particularly the younger ones, mainly.”
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