football journalists get a rough deal from fans when reporting transfers: click here!

[The Boy]

I don't get this narrative that has grown here on how one journalist gets his info from agents and others just get it from the club. Any decent journalist will speak to numerous people, yes they might be briefed by club but they will also speak to players, agents, other journalists to try and get the fullest picture. Someone on here was saying earlier that players don't speak to journalists on international duty. This is just made up rubbish.

Yes there are some clickbait crap accounts out there, but those associated with the BBC, Gaurdian, The Athletic or Sky for example will speak to or try to speak to loads of different people. To say someone like Stone is just a Man Utd mouthpiece is a bit insulting, the BBC wouldn't be paying him if that was all did.

I thought this deserved its own thread.

Adding to the above, which I posted in the Sancho thread, lots of people think football journalism is a piece of piss and you can just make up any old shite, tweet it and job done, money earned.
This maybe true of the Express, but football journalists from most other sources work incredibly hard, building networks and sources with clubs, agents, players, former players, managers etc etc.

Trying to report a transfer is like trying to navigate a minefield, so much can go wrong and you end up with egg on your face (or more in a minefield) negotiations that look promising can break down at any time, clubs can agree but the player changes his mind. Time and other transfers can have a huge knock on effect as well. Yes there are clickbait shysters out there who'll link randomly for clicks, but for respected journalists this is tough tough field to work in.

Discuss!

 

[arnie_ni]

at times you'd swear they read the cafe and then throw a name out there with united attached to it just because the player has got a "id like him" comment or two

 

[Amarsdd]

Twitter fans: Ask the same questions every day (even every few hours)
Journos (even the most reliable ones): Give the same answers they know
Twitter fans: You always say the same thing. You're shit. You know nothing.

 

[roonster09]

Yeah, people have no club and also from what I have seen in Sancho thread, some posters take out their frustration on the journalists when they report what they are told or what they know. Fans asks them same questions every day, when they reply to them, someone will post it here and the usual posters lose their shit saying "It's old info, he didn't say it's old info. He posted it today, so he is selling that as new info".

Also journalists like Di Marzio and staff report stories at the very beginning as they get most of their info from agents, deal might fall any time, does't mean they were spouting nonsense.

Transfer can fall any time, usually journalists like Simon Stone reports when the transfer is about to be completed. If you go by logic mentioned in Sancho's thread then Simon Stone is biggest BS merchant as just days before Maguire, AWB transfer, he said deal might not happen,

 

[The Boy]

at times you'd swear they read the cafe and then throw a name out there with united attached to it just because the player has got a "id like him" comment or two

Who is they? Seems to me that lots of people are happy to group crappy reddit ITKs along with proper journalists who work for the BBC and Sky, there's a huge difference between them

 

[11101]

That might all be true but its competing in an ever losing battle against advertising clicks. Most of them will happily circulate nonsense rumours to get clicks, hits and followers, because that's become more important to their employers than actual real news.

Some like the BBC try to keep the rumours to dedicated pages and Twitter accounts, but still.

 

[kouroux]

at times you'd swear they read the cafe and then throw a name out there with united attached to it just because the player has got a "id like him" comment or two

There is no doubt they do. I remember a while ago, a caftard fabricated a story about United signing Kaka from AC Milan and the same story, words for words was copied/paste on a famous sports site.

 

[gormless]

I mean a Kaka rumour the Caf literally made up for a giggle ended up on the back page of the Sun (or maybe the Mirror)

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/milan-star-dreams-of-united.206474/

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

There is no doubt, educated and professional journalists work incredably hard, the problem is with stations like TalkShit and social media anyone can say they are a journalist and anyone can post and tweet any nonsense and a lot of peopel will believe it. a good 75% of the stories we read are fabricated.

 

[The Boy]

There is no doubt, educated and professional journalists work incredably hard, the problem is with stations like TalkShit and social media anyone can say they are a journalist and anyone can post and tweet any nonsense and a lot of peopel will believe it. a good 75% of the stories we read are fabricated.

I absolutely agree, but what annoys me is lots of posters group all journos together and then make up things that quickly become "fact" like Simon Stone is a mouth piece for the club, Romano only has contacts with agents etc etc It's at best a massive over simplification and at worst just bullshit!

There are plenty of journos out there who work their arses off to get good content and stories out to fans, only to be told they're boring,. old news, talking shite etc

 

[DWelbz19]

Twitter fans: Ask the same questions every day (even every few hours)
Journos (even the most reliable ones): Give the same answers they know
Twitter fans: You always say the same thing. You're shit. You know nothing.

Pretty much this, really.

 

[roonster09]

I absolutely agree, but what annoys me is lots of posters group all journos together and then make up things that quickly become "fact" like Simon Stone is a mouth piece for the club, Romano only has contacts with agents etc etc It's at best a massive over simplification and at worst just bullshit!

There are plenty of journos out there who work their arses off to get good content and stories out to fans, only to be told they're boring,. old news, talking shite etc

Mouth piece of the club is not bs though, do you think it's coincidence that James Ducker, Simon Stone, Jamie Jackson all post same article at almost same time, with almost same words? There are select few journalists who are used by the club to push the news they want.

It's easy to identify it, usually 3-4 journalists posts the same article at the same time, doesn't mean they do the club bidding all the time. But when the club wants to put something out there in the media, these are the journalists who get it.

 

[The Boy]

Mouth piece of the club is not bs though, do you think it's coincidence that James Ducker, Simon Stone, Jamie Jackson all post same article at almost same time, with almost same words? There are select few journalists who are used by the club to push the news they want.

It's easy to identify it, usually 3-4 journalists posts the same article at the same time, doesn't mean they do the club bidding all the time. But when the club wants to put something out there in the media, these are the journalists who get it.

I don’t disagree with that. I’m sure they have good contacts at the club and the club use that contact as much as they do. but I’m also sure they also question what they hear and have plenty of other contacts. I can guarantee that Ducker Stone and the rest are far more than just mouth pieces for the club. They wouldn’t keep their jobs if they just repeated club PR for a living. But that’s how they’re represented by lots of posters here.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Agree with the OP, good post.

 

[roonster09]

I don’t disagree with that. I’m sure they have good contacts at the club and the club use that contact as much as they do. but I’m also sure they also question what they hear and have plenty of other contacts. I can guarantee that Ducker Stone and the rest are far more than just mouth pieces for the club. They wouldn’t keep their jobs if they just repeated club PR for a living. But that’s how they’re represented by lots of posters here.

Yeah like I said, they don't do our bidding all the time but when we need to push the news, they are the guys.

 

[Kentonio]

From what I understand about how the clubs work, they’re constantly watching vast lists of players, and contacting other clubs regularly for updates on players potential transfer situations/availability etc. At the same time this doesn’t mean they are looking to immediately put in bids, it’s more about maintaining options, keeping an eye on players that could be good options in future, and so on.

Transfers are also hideously complicated and even small changes in either a players situation, the buying clubs executives opinions, the selling clubs situation and a million other things can torpedo a deal at any time. Plus I was quite surprised to learn that a player attitude off field is frequently a much bigger element than we tend to assume, and often that stuff isn’t public, so you can have a player who the fans think should be an instant buy, but the club are aware is an obnoxious asshole who they believe will cause lots of trouble down the line and want no part in him.

I actually have sympathy for sports reporters in this environment. You could have a manager or high up club executive tell you they’re hugely interested in buying x player, and it never happen for a whole host of reasons. Plus add in all the agents spreading rumours trying to drive up price or interest in their players and the whole thing just becomes a nightmare.

The journalists should really just not make such definitive statements, but I guess vague headlines don’t attract clicks.

 

[Mr. MUJAC]

Last season 2019/20, we were linked in newspapers to over 100 different players.

Even if United showed some interest in 10% of those, where are the other 90% of stories coming from?

Throw enough names in the air....

 

[Hammondo]

When it comes to big named players, very few happen but it gets views. It is very hard to trust anyone.

 

[UpWithRivers]

They are all full of sht. How anyone can say otherwise is beyond me. Yeah they get one right every 3000 tweets but Im sure Trump has got a few right every now and again.

 

[Kentonio]

Last season 2019/20, we were linked in newspapers to over 100 different players.

Even if United showed some interest in 10% of those, where are the other 90% of stories coming from?

Throw enough names in the air....

They likely make a lot of shit up in the media, but it’s not outside the realms of possibility that United are at least keeping an eye on 100 players or more.

 

[Mr. MUJAC]

They likely make a lot of shit up in the media, but it’s not outside the realms of possibility that United are at least keeping an eye on 100 players or more.

United have a strategy of looking at 2/3 players per position. They obviously keep an eye on other players but they wouldn't be on their list for a range of reasons.

Scouts might attend certain games and watch players more than once and that might get reported.

Which makes it less than 50.

However, how would a journalist know who those 30+ players are on our 'interest' list? We wouldn't have told the club, player or agent in most of them.

So where are the other 50+ names coming from?

 

[Kentonio]

United have a strategy of looking at 2/3 players per position. They obviously keep an eye on other players but they wouldn't be on their list for a range of reasons.

Scouts might attend certain games and watch players more than once and that might get reported.

Which makes it less than 50.

However, how would a journalist know who those 30+ players are on our 'interest' list? We wouldn't have told the club, player or agent in most of them.

So where are the other 50+ names coming from?

Scouts are constantly attending games to have a look at players they've heard some rumour or talk about. If they mention to someone at a game that they're there to see x player, then it doesn't necessarily mean that player is even on the club radar in terms of planning, but to a journalist its probably enough to write an 'exclusive'.

 

[Tarrou]

I used to be a journalist and a bunch of my mates are football writers. It is hard to get those top football writer positions (and there really aren't many of them) because there is a lot of competition.

It's a long slog of working long hours for shite pay before you can get anywhere, and even then the money isn't that great.

A mate of mine recently gave up a position as a football writer for a newspaper following one of the PL clubs. He doubled his money getting a job in PR and actually prefers it because it's much easier.

 

[The United Irishman]

I thought this deserved its own thread.

Adding to the above, which I posted in the Sancho thread, lots of people think football journalism is a piece of piss and you can just make up any old shite, tweet it and job done, money earned.
This maybe true of the Express, but football journalists from most other sources work incredibly hard, building networks and sources with clubs, agents, players, former players, managers etc etc.

Trying to report a transfer is like trying to navigate a minefield, so much can go wrong and you end up with egg on your face (or more in a minefield) negotiations that look promising can break down at any time, clubs can agree but the player changes his mind. Time and other transfers can have a huge knock on effect as well. Yes there are clickbait shysters out there who'll link randomly for clicks, but for respected journalists this is tough tough field to work in.

Discuss!

We are linked by journos to 20-30 players every window so 95% of reports are bullshit.

 

[Loon]

I must admit bloody Darmesh Sheth and the creepily robotic Kaveh Solhekol get right on my wick. Their constipated attempts at bantz and bullshitting "insider" stance is painful. Solhekol in particular looks like he lives in fear of a shepherd's crook hauling him off screen.

 

[UpWithRivers]

I used to be a journalist and a bunch of my mates are football writers. It is hard to get those top football writer positions (and there really aren't many of them) because there is a lot of competition.

It's a long slog of working long hours for shite pay before you can get anywhere, and even then the money isn't that great.

A mate of mine recently gave up a position as a football writer for a newspaper following one of the PL clubs. He doubled his money getting a job in PR and actually prefers it because it's much easier.

since your in the know then tell us...how much of it is a pile of sht?

 

[Cheimoon]

From what I understand about how the clubs work, they’re constantly watching vast lists of players, and contacting other clubs regularly for updates on players potential transfer situations/availability etc. At the same time this doesn’t mean they are looking to immediately put in bids, it’s more about maintaining options, keeping an eye on players that could be good options in future, and so on.

And also to have a ready list of backups in case a player leaves (although that's less likely for the biggest clubs; their players don't get poached very often). I imagine clubs do the same for managers; how else can new managers be announced so quickly once the previous one has left or was fired? But I guess that's less sexy or less obvious, so either journalists don't know about it or just don't care to report on it.

I absolutely agree, but what annoys me is lots of posters group all journos together and then make up things that quickly become "fact" like Simon Stone is a mouth piece for the club, Romano only has contacts with agents etc etc It's at best a massive over simplification and at worst just bullshit!

There are plenty of journos out there who work their arses off to get good content and stories out to fans, only to be told they're boring,. old news, talking shite etc

Posts like these in your own thread? You're fighting a lost cause mate.

They are all full of sht. How anyone can say otherwise is beyond me. Yeah they get one right every 3000 tweets but Im sure Trump has got a few right every now and again.

We are linked by journos to 20-30 players every window so 95% of reports are bullshit.

 

[flappyjay]

Unfortunately the profession seems to be 95% bull shitters and 5% serious journalists. Even the laziness to have Dutch journalists reporting the VDB fee as €40m and then the lazy journos go £40m. Some of them have turned their profession into a joke.

 

[Tarrou]

since your in the know then tell us...how much of it is a pile of sht?

Lots of it for sure, but it's quite easy to filter out the horse-shit.

It's changed a lot since I was involved which was over 20 years ago. Back then there was a lot of pure horse-shit being printed especially in the tabloids, and I can only imagine it's gotten worse due to the pressure on journalists to generate clicks.

But most of the names mentioned in here like Stone, Winter, Mitten et al are not like that, they've got to where they are through hard work, building solid networks and sticking to the facts as they know it. They wouldn't be in these positions if they lacked integrity and kept making shit up.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Lots of it for sure, but it's quite easy to filter out the horse-shit.

It's changed a lot since I was involved which was over 20 years ago. Back then there was a lot of pure horse-shit being printed especially in the tabloids, and I can only imagine it's gotten worse due to the pressure on journalists to generate clicks.

But most of the names mentioned in here like Stone, Winter, Mitten et al are not like that, they've got to where they are through hard work, building solid networks and sticking to the facts as they know it. They wouldn't be in these positions if they lacked integrity and kept making shit up.

thanks

 

[Jev]

It's generally a bit amusing to see how many people seem to spend most of their day trawling news websites, yet constantly bicker about the quality of journalism. The lack of understanding, never mind respect, for the way journalists work, is quite baffling at times. Especially the idea that most journalists just pull stuff out of their asses. No self-respecting journalist would ever do that. Sometime a transfer doesn't come off but that doesn't necessarily mean the rumour was baseless. (I'm not saying there aren't any outlets or journalists who make stuff up but the respected ones certainly don't).

 

[Eckers99]

A lot of football fans view the transfer window as entertainment, with journalists playing a key role in the manufactured drama. The reputable ones didn't ask to be nominated as transfer spokespeople but they're constantly badgered into giving information and are paid to generate clicks. I'm sure a lot of them would rather be talking about more substantial subjects but this is the media now. The football world goes batshit every summer and they just ride the wave.

Combine that with most fans being impatient, self-entitled and clueless, and they're in an impossible situation. If they don't report unless something is actually happening they're written off as being out of the loop. If they report everything they hear, they're chancers. Fact is, they're mostly smart people who are wasted trying to appease the desperation of a bunch of idiots.