Funny that, I thought the narrative on here was that Neil Custis hates us?
The State of the Anti-United Media (Or just the state of the club it seems)
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Did you expect anything different from Custis? He's no better than Balague talking about Guardiola.
I thought so too, and tbh in the past he’s not been that great, guess he doesn’t want his press privileges removed..
That Oliver brown just comes across as a bit of a twit really
I've read three mainstream newspapers' reports about the press conference (one titled 'BIZARRE') and none dared to mention the obvious reason for Jose's demeanour (i.e. journalists and their reportage). Cowards.
Nah, Custis is Mourinho's biggest fan, and unashamed of it. His sycophancy predates any recent presser.
SAF refused to do MOTD interviews for ages because of the way they were treating him, and had certain journalists barred from Utd press conferences. He even told journalists to feck off.
The media should be happy that at least Jose is turning up considering the way they are treating him and the shite they are writing.
The media should be happy that at least Jose is turning up considering the way they are treating him and the shite they are writing.
I hope United banned him from Old Trafford for life.
Oliver Holt has plenty of form where we are concerned. Wrote a splenetic little piece about how UTD were no longer a top club because they couldn't pay the money in the transfer-market that was being sp*nked around, at that time, by the likes of City, Real, PSG, Barca, etc. Only a year or so later, Oliver undertook a complete volte-face when UTD entered the market, with an open cheque book, and now insisted that they were a pathetic sham of a club because they had betrayed their principles and were trying to buy success. Someone pulled him on it, and sent him a tweet with both contradictory stories along side each other, but he just swerved them and carried on his merry way, leaving copious amounts of biased sh*t in his wake.
Don't know whether he has an agenda against the club, beyond the usual click-centric fascination that compels most hacks to submit copy, or whether he has a pathological disdain for Mourinho, but whatever ails him, he's a tiresome, petty & trite little tw*t where UTD are concerned.
Man United are abysmal atm. Your strikers are missing sitters, your defenders can't defend and your midfielders constantly give the ball away. Your manager is in one of his sullen moods.
Why should the media not report this?
Why should the media not report this?
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Here we see where the agenda comes from. Mourinho doesn't take the press out to tea like Klopp does so they're on him. If he was wining and dining them their lips would be perpetually stuck to his rear end.
This is the agenda people. Their sense of self importance has been brusied by Mou's treatment and now they're using every chance they get to take jabs at him.
Pretty much. It's really crazy the mental gymnastics fans go through to cling to this absurd notion (and yes it is absurd and not based on any sort of facts) that the media are "anti-United".
Does controversy/negativity sell papers and generate clicks? Yes.
Does the press tend to focus on the bigger clubs? Yes.
Is United a club in turmoil? Yes.
Is United a big club? Yes.
It's extremely simple logic. Anyone believing this "anti-United" nonsense should be embarrassed. It's really small time and RAWKish.
This. It really is quite simple.
Klopp takes them out for a cup of tea?
It was spoken about on Sunday Supplement one week that Klopp had gone out to dinner with some of the press in preseason. They love that kinda thing.
He likes to gegenpress the tea leaves first I heard
This explains his yellow teeth!
Because agenda!
Moyes made a regular practice out of it. Took a lot of heat away from him.
It's a smart play from Klopp but I rather wish he didn't do it. The press is, a priori, contemptible, and should accordingly be kept at arms length.
They will also turn on Klopp the second they sniff that things start to go wrong for him. Just as they do with every other manager.
For now Klopp is the shiny new toy, just like Jose was a dozen years ago. However, the time will come, like it has for Mourinho, like it did for Wenger, where they turn on him.
Bingo
Indeedy.
They will turn on anyone who is not successful eventually. When and how is a different matter though. Mourinho has sown the seeds for his accelerated demise in the press over many years in comparison to someone like wenger.
I mentioned this in another thread. He was so affronted and indignant I switched off. Jim White thinks he is far more important and knowledgeable than he actually is. He is a prize sh*t stirrer.
Do these journalists give other managers the same tricky questions? ...
Journalists are paid to ask questions but the british media in general should have more EMPATHY for managers and players in general. These people have given their 'normal' life up to pursuit their career in this sport and sacrificed a lot in the proces (granted they chose to do it and are being paid for it royally). However the higher you get in the sport the more pressure you will be served with and you can only imagine what managers and players go through. They are human beings like us but the difference is that they are being scrutinized on global scale which can take away the 'pleasure' of the actual game. These journalists, just laughed when Mourinho gave his brutally honest admission that he should get more respect. That is the difference right there. How would these journalist fare with the same scrutiny players and managers get? I bet a lot of them wont like it. They have a safe barriere where results dont impact them, they just have to write and 'critique'.
Long story short, i am not claiming that journalists should change their approach- its what the players and managers signed up for, but is a bit more emphaty to much to ask for in this day and age?
Journalists are paid to ask questions but the british media in general should have more EMPATHY for managers and players in general. These people have given their 'normal' life up to pursuit their career in this sport and sacrificed a lot in the proces (granted they chose to do it and are being paid for it royally). However the higher you get in the sport the more pressure you will be served with and you can only imagine what managers and players go through. They are human beings like us but the difference is that they are being scrutinized on global scale which can take away the 'pleasure' of the actual game. These journalists, just laughed when Mourinho gave his brutally honest admission that he should get more respect. That is the difference right there. How would these journalist fare with the same scrutiny players and managers get? I bet a lot of them wont like it. They have a safe barriere where results dont impact them, they just have to write and 'critique'.
Long story short, i am not claiming that journalists should change their approach- its what the players and managers signed up for, but is a bit more emphaty to much to ask for in this day and age?
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I don't think the journalists should be more in touch with how others feel, I just think they should be less influenced by their personal feelings.
Its clear from what Jim White said, as well as how other sports media people act, that their reporting of Mourinho reflects the fact they dislike how he dismisses them. They feel he doesn't treat them as well as they think he should. However, rather than being professional and putting their feelings aside when they report on him, they allow their emotions to influence the way they write about him and United.
Most reporters do their jobs impartially. They do not let their personal feelings affect what they say about the subject of their reporting. Even when what they are writing about is awful, like crime, they play it totally straight.
With Mourinho even handedness seems to fly out the window. They don't like the guy and they can't wait to dance on his grave. Anything that might put another nail in his coffin is leapt upon. Anything he says is intepreted, reinterpreted and spun again just to get more negative stories out of it.
English gutter press football journalists demanding respect... that’s a good one.
They can’t write and they don’t even tell the truth half the time. They are beyond contempt. Their bleating for more respect would be hilarious if it wasn’t so stomach churning.
Look at the replies to Jim White's tweet.
I see the value in your response but dont you think there is a pattern with journalists and the manner they behave in front of any United manager? (Not a conspiracy but i am just exploring all opinions on this subject).
Its true that Manchester United gets more scrutiny than any other club. It is beneficial for reporters to write about Manchester United because people love to read about United and, of course, scandal brings more attention.
Mourinho being here has taken it to the next level though. We're beyond where Van Gaal was. Since last night I've read pieces claiming Jose needs to stop his negativity. However, he hasn't said anything negative since the end of preseason apart from about the media. All the positive stuff he has said about Shaw, Andreas, Pogba, all glossed over. They see things that just aren't there with Jose. They want bad things to be true and write with confirmation bias. Its obsessive and ugly and agenda driven.
This 'oh poor us, we are media victims' is exactly the kind of cringe we have given Liverpool fans abuse about for years.
Those replies are brilliant and even fans of other clubs see the media for what they are.
Pedantry Corner
It's amazing that so many of these professional journalists lack basic writing knowledge...y'know, like ending a question with a question mark, for example.
It's amazing that so many of these professional journalists lack basic writing knowledge...y'know, like ending a question with a question mark, for example.
I don’t know if it’s short or selective memories, but Mourinho was the man who LITERALLY said there was a campaign against Chelsea, being led by the FA and referees. The guy is a proper cult leader, and so many of his followers are sipping from the Kool aid and believe that the media has some agenda against us.
That whole “campaign against Chelsea” thing was so ridiculous and laughable, I can’t believe that people seem to have forgotten about it.
I think the media have ganged up on United and Mourinho and to be honest I'm sure it's had an affect. Mourinho is not going to be in a good mood and he will be putting too much pressure on himself and his players. He shouldn't raise to it and the club should have just banned the bad one's and paid off certain journos (i.e Liverpool and City) to at least put positive spins out there. Everywhere you go it's all negative and some people struggle forming their own opinions or being fair and rational are too lazy and run with it.
I'm not seeing he and the club doesn't deserve criticism but the reality is Liverpool came 8th and got to the Europa League and League cup finals and Klopp was lauded. We won both and didn't get a ton of credit and the focus was on our sixth place finish. Liverpool come 4th, Spurs come 3rd and 4th season after season and the press lose their shit, we come 2nd and it's all negativity. We spend money, we are criticized, we don't spend it it's because we are behind the times, missing the boat etc; yet City and Liverpool are praised for ambition when they spend.
We aren't good, let's face it but I think the toxic vibe has been intensified by the press which has affected the fans and players. We just shouldn't let them have such an influence and either have banned them or paid them off but I fear it's too late now with this manager in charge. Hopefully the club learn from it.
I'm not seeing he and the club doesn't deserve criticism but the reality is Liverpool came 8th and got to the Europa League and League cup finals and Klopp was lauded. We won both and didn't get a ton of credit and the focus was on our sixth place finish. Liverpool come 4th, Spurs come 3rd and 4th season after season and the press lose their shit, we come 2nd and it's all negativity. We spend money, we are criticized, we don't spend it it's because we are behind the times, missing the boat etc; yet City and Liverpool are praised for ambition when they spend.
We aren't good, let's face it but I think the toxic vibe has been intensified by the press which has affected the fans and players. We just shouldn't let them have such an influence and either have banned them or paid them off but I fear it's too late now with this manager in charge. Hopefully the club learn from it.
The media have just created a narrative of the 3rd season Mourinho meltdown. So now they are pushing that agenda hard, because it generates clicks and sells papers. Mourinho probably isnt helping by being antagonistic towards them, and not being amicable and PR driven as other clubs.
So he's getting alot of negative press.
While I dont think everything is rosy at United, I imagine the truth lies somewhere in the media of what the media are reporting, and the positive image United are trying to portray in the in-house interview above.
You can see the way Mou treats the media irks them, or people like Jim White wouldnt complain about it.
I think its the way they present it too. like the DM are refering to our loss against Spurs as 'Humilating'. We lost 3-0 granted, but humilating it was not. Spurs are a very good side. Its not as if we lost 4-0 to MK dons, or 6-1 to our cross city rivals. Now those were humilating. Spurs 3-0 at home, not so much.
So he's getting alot of negative press.
While I dont think everything is rosy at United, I imagine the truth lies somewhere in the media of what the media are reporting, and the positive image United are trying to portray in the in-house interview above.
You can see the way Mou treats the media irks them, or people like Jim White wouldnt complain about it.
I think its the way they present it too. like the DM are refering to our loss against Spurs as 'Humilating'. We lost 3-0 granted, but humilating it was not. Spurs are a very good side. Its not as if we lost 4-0 to MK dons, or 6-1 to our cross city rivals. Now those were humilating. Spurs 3-0 at home, not so much.
The media aren't anti-United.
Fans of every single top club think that the media is biased against them. Why?
As soon as things are going wrong or start to go wrong, the media twist the knife in and act like the world is ending. Specifically to wind up the club's supporters and excite rival fans. A headline of "Klopp Kracking up?" is bound to draw in gleeful United and Everton fans while annoying Liverpool fans.
Does anyone really think Mourinho would be at "war" with journalists if United won the league last year and had won their first three games this season 5-0? They would all be lining up to kiss his boots.
One week Wenger was the respected elder statesmen of the league and the next he was a doddering, old, past it, shell of a manager.
Fans of every single top club think that the media is biased against them. Why?
As soon as things are going wrong or start to go wrong, the media twist the knife in and act like the world is ending. Specifically to wind up the club's supporters and excite rival fans. A headline of "Klopp Kracking up?" is bound to draw in gleeful United and Everton fans while annoying Liverpool fans.
Does anyone really think Mourinho would be at "war" with journalists if United won the league last year and had won their first three games this season 5-0? They would all be lining up to kiss his boots.
One week Wenger was the respected elder statesmen of the league and the next he was a doddering, old, past it, shell of a manager.
Yup. I have never encountered fans of any top club who weren’t convinced that the media was biased against them.
The media have obviously been setting up a narrative of beautiful Klopp and Guardiola versus the ugly Mourinho/United. Conflict and simple patterns work people's monkey brains. Add that to the fact we don't seem to give perks to journalists like Liverpool and City and it's obvious we aren't going to get great coverage. For all our mental health, Jose, the club and the fans should ignore them as much as possible. They are only "sports" journalists after all. Not important in the grand scheme of things.