David Beckham proves a real boss in the modern age

David Beckham's electronic launch of his latest book shows that the former England captain understands the new order as he joins the gold rush in Miami.

While his former manager Sir Alex Ferguson was traipsing up and down the British Isles promoting his autobiography, subjecting himself at various public appearances to potential death by sycophancy at the hands – and tongue – of Eamonn Holmes, required to scrawl his name on the title page of a tottering Himalaya of hard copies, David Beckham was publicising his latest tome in a rather less exhausting manner. The Daily Mail reports

On Wednesday he spent a couple of hours on Facebook engaging in electronic conversation with his fans, while signing his name on a few dozen selected virtual walls.

Ferguson may have spent much of the past week questioning his former charge’s relentless pursuit of celebrity, but on Wednesday showed the rewards of such labour.