MEN banned from the press conference today | Some journalists banned for running articles without approaching United for comment first

It's a battle of perception at the end of the day.

If the leaks etc are rubbish the player can play well the next week and humiliate those writing these articles proving they're talking out of their backside.

Ten Haag can say anything to refute the writing, as long as the performances back him up and his players are up for the game. Infact he doesnt need to say shit. He just need to win.

Saying those journalists lying when you have pores and holes on your team and not to mention things get leaked in the past as well would make us look petty.

And for what it's worth the leak is probably true as much as we dont like those names. The players dont look like they even care. No teamwork, no workrate.
 
It's a battle of perception at the end of the day.

If the leaks etc are rubbish the player can play well the next week and humiliate those writing these articles proving they're talking out of their backside.

Ten Haag can say anything to refute the writing, as long as the performances back him up and his players are up for the game. Infact he doesnt need to say shit. He just need to win.

Saying those journalists lying when you have pores and holes on your team and not to mention things get leaked in the past as well would make us look petty.

And for what it's worth the leak is probably true as much as we dont like those names. The players dont look like they even care. No teamwork, no workrate.
Your last point here is complete nonsense to be fair
 
What a load of waffle. Another load of crap just so you can say you want ETH sacked in another thread. I can't be arsed to look but I'd say you think Sancho is in the right and will defend players like Martial, Rashford etc for being lazy and out of form.

MEN has long since ceased to be a resprespectable outlet. As for it's sport coverage Luckhurst has been covering Utd for nearly 10 years. He's made a career out of shit stirring, because shit stirring is what gains him the most traction and responses. Any decent journalist will look to other side of a story to gain their point of view or comments.

None of this is about ETH, it's about the club telling these shysters we've had enough of your bullshit, now either you go about things the right way or you don't have direct access to ask questions. There's nothing wrong with that and it's been a long time coming.

And I would 100% continue to deny them all access until they reveal their sources. They need Utd more than Utd need them.

That's nonsense - no responsible journalist will reveal his sources unless the source wants to be revealed. He'd instantly lose all credibility as a journalist if he did. For the same reason, it would be absurd for United to demand this. That's not how the press works, or have ever worked, or should work.

However, MEN has a responsibility not to print stories that are insufficiently sourced. Usually, that involves either physical evidence or more than one source telling the same thing independently of the first. If the club feels justified in claiming what's been written is simply untrue, then they're right to react.
 
Sure the british media always has to be provocative but this just seems vain and petty from ETH and the way he conducted himself with some players it really doesnt suprise me.

Sack
Yeah, Fergie never did anything like this, right?
 
For all the desire to become a possession-based side, United are still at their best when they play on the counter-attack and have countlessly come unstuck against teams that sit back and invite them to attack.

What really bugs me about MEN is the laziness and at times pure idiocy of their analysis. The above quote was written by Richard Fay. Really, Richard? Which teams are we talking about here? Man City, Brighton, Newcastle, Spurs and Arsenal? It's like there's an autoloop running in writers brains that goes "emphasise transition=struggle against teams that sit back". No matter if you can falsify that claim by spending 3 seconds recalling which teams United have lost against this season. We very, very, very obviously do not "come unstuck against teams that sit back and invite them to attack". In fact, we have only lost once to such a team this season. We come unstuck when we face the exact opposite type of team, ones that do not sit back but on the contrary attack us vigorously.
 
That's nonsense - no responsible journalist will reveal his sources unless the source wants to be revealed. He'd instantly lose all credibility as a journalist if he did. For the same reason, it would be absurd for United to demand this. That's not how the press works, or have ever worked, or should work.

However, MEN has a responsibility not to print stories that are insufficiently sourced. Usually, that involves either physical evidence or more than one source telling the same thing independently of the first. If the club feels justified in claiming what's been written is simply untrue, then they're right to react.

He barely has any as it is.

10 years of his crap. It's high time he was put back in his box.
 
That's nonsense - no responsible journalist will reveal his sources unless the source wants to be revealed. He'd instantly lose all credibility as a journalist if he did.
So not much then
 
Sure the british media always has to be provocative but this just seems vain and petty from ETH and the way he conducted himself with some players it really doesnt suprise me.

Sack
So if Samuel Luckhurst goes to Jadon Sancho for example, who has been banished from the squad for coming late to trainings repeatedly, half-arsing it in training once actually there, and calling the manager a liar in public, and then gives his side of the story as an anonymous dressing room source, you think that’s cause for sacking the manager?

Okay…
 
Of course not.

Which of the several reports yesterday was a lie?
That is the issue, if a manager comes out and criticises a players effort or the owners they get the sack. Players just go behind everybodies back. Like the Jose situation, he said what he was thinking. His players just went to the press as an anonymous source.
 
So if Samuel Luckhurst goes to Jadon Sancho for example, who has been banished from the squad for coming late to trainings repeatedly, half-arsing it in training once actually there, and calling the manager a liar in public, and then gives his side of the story as an anonymous dressing room source, you think that’s cause for sacking the manager?

Okay…
I am convinced that some of the posters either work for MEN or are so into the sack ETH or sell a player thing, that they would rather side with the lying media than the club.
 
Why are the Daily Star having a cry as well?
They're suggesting they were banned as well.

Daily-Star-1.png
 
They're suggesting they were banned as well.

Daily-Star-1.png

Yeh, seen it on the BBC page earlier but no suggestion they were banned so now sure why they are upset. Apart from them being an absolute joke that is.
 
Yeh, seen it on the BBC page earlier but no suggestion they were banned so now sure why they are upset. Apart from them being an absolute joke that is.

‘Ah, diddums’ should be the official club statement to all these gutter rags that are crying about being banned.
 
How does the club knows that those reports aren't correct?

It doesn't. It can't.

United being annoyed that it wasn't contacted for comment is fine. That is something that the journalists should have done. But assuming that the the reports are false and "bull shit" is based on nothing but wanting to believe that.
So are you saying that if the club says a report is not true we can't believe our club? But if a reporter says something to be true we have to take it at face value and not question it? Bizarre.

assuming that the the reports are true and not "bull shit" is based on nothing but wanting to believe.

I'll trust my club in what they say.
 
So are you saying that if the club says a report is not true we can't believe our club? But if a reporter says something to be true we have to take it at face value and not question it? Bizarre.

assuming that the the reports are true and not "bull shit" is based on nothing but wanting to believe.

I'll trust my club in what they say.

The club never say there's a problem.

We're fine I guess
 
How does the club knows that those reports aren't correct?

It doesn't. It can't.

United being annoyed that it wasn't contacted for comment is fine. That is something that the journalists should have done. But assuming that the the reports are false and "bull shit" is based on nothing but wanting to believe that.
The club must know, hence the action taking and might have been able to convey that to the reporters if they didn’t publish such unsubstantiated bullshit.
Im pretty fecking sure they know 50 percent of the playing staff hasn’t fallen out with the manager for feck sake
 
If they were banned for not coming to the club for comment first then I’m 100% behind this!

There’s a protocol & these mouthy gits should respect it. This sets a public precedent.

What’s happened is everyone was getting their dunces in a row, someone went early & being the followers lots of them are they didn’t want to be beaten to the punch so all dropped it but they didn’t follow due process. Ban them.

They’ll be allowed back in, this isn’t a lifetime ban far as I see it. They could still report on what’s said, they just couldn’t be in the room asking the questions.
 
It was fecking 20 y ago.
Football moved, world moved... Just look your self in the mirror and see where was you 20 y ago.

Jfc, in 2050 we will talk what Fergie did.

Calm down.

The point is ETH is not the first manager to ban journalists, and he won't be the last.
However, he does seem to be generating the most outrage.
 
All feels a little pathetic tbh and provides them with more ammunition. Allow them in and confront them directly if they've overstepped the mark.
 
All feels a little pathetic tbh and provides them with more ammunition. Allow them in and confront them directly if they've overstepped the mark.
The whole thing is embarrassing and suggests club is out of control and ETH is floundering. Noone can be surprised at what is being written when we can all see the awful performances and glaring like of effort from half the team. We all saw ETH shouting at martial, a total waste of space yet ETH chose to start him. We know he banned Sancho and wants him gone. We know he's relegated Varanne to the bench. People need to stop blaming the press.
 
It’s quite pathetic how these journos are reacting to this ban. They genuinely seem personally offended and emotionally damaged by it. Bizarre stuff.
So pathetic. If the journalist that wrote that headline can not see the irony then he/she has no business being in journalism.

Seeing how the journalists have reacted is brillant. Baby's throwing the toys out of the pram. Love it. Shows how right we were to ban these self entitled spoiled baby's.
 
Ten Hag has gone back up a few notches in my estimation for this. Put these fecking bottom feeders in their place.
 
The whole thing is embarrassing and suggests club is out of control and ETH is floundering. Noone can be surprised at what is being written when we can all see the awful performances and glaring like of effort from half the team. We all saw ETH shouting at martial, a total waste of space yet ETH chose to start him. We know he banned Sancho and wants him gone. We know he's relegated Varanne to the bench. People need to stop blaming the press.
Maybe from your perspective. But for most of us United fans we are excited to see this happen. Journalists need to know that they can't just write anything they want. That they have to adhear to proper journalistic procedures. If they want the privilege of being able to be at our press conferences then they better act accordingly.
 
The whole thing is embarrassing and suggests club is out of control and ETH is floundering. Noone can be surprised at what is being written when we can all see the awful performances and glaring like of effort from half the team. We all saw ETH shouting at martial, a total waste of space yet ETH chose to start him. We know he banned Sancho and wants him gone. We know he's relegated Varanne to the bench. People need to stop blaming the press.

And? Martial started because Hojlund had a niggle and couldn't start 2 games in a row. He was the only other 'striker' who was fit. Would you rather have ETH recall McNeil who can't get a game at a L1 club or the numerous u-18 strikers who have never played a senior game and start them? Sure, have a go at him for starting Rashford when he had other options. Varane lost his place to Maguire who has earner it due to his performances. Now Varane needs to show he's up for it and earn it back. That's competition for places. The less spoken about Sancho the better.

People will have a go at ETH for anything he does. How many more managers will have to be sacked before you lot put some blame on the players?
 
I want journalists to do their work and give me the sort of inside information that United won"t want published. I want to know what is going on at the club.
That pretty much says it all. You want inside information on United. That's what's sells. That's why these journalists write these stories. And they are stories. Whatever they write you lap it up like it's the truth.

I find it so bizarre that you will believe every word a journalists writes but when United refute the claims of said article you side with the journalist. Cause they must be telling the truth. They have to, they're journalists.
 
Article on F365:
https://www.football365.com/news/ma...ngjournalist-who-raised-mason-mount-questions

Man Utd stand accusing of ‘bullying’ (self) important journalist who raised Mason Mount questions
Editor F365 2 hours ago

Erik ten Hag attends a pre-match press conference.
Manchester United refused entry to four journalists on Tuesday and one of them is really angry. Don’t they know who he is?

As Luck would have it…
On Tuesday several high-profile journalists were refused entry to Manchester United’s pre-match press conference.

Mediawatch will now explain why, because that information is missing from much of the coverage, but particularly from a self-important, self-aggrandising, self-indulgent, self-serving w*nk-fest written by second-year university student Manchester Evening News man Samuel Luckhurst, who wants you to believe United are conspiring to silence his truth-seeking rather than, you know, uphold the basic principles of journalism.
Luckhurst, along with Sky Sports‘ Kaveh Solekhol, the Mirror‘s David McDonnell and Rob Dawson of ESPN, were not allowed to attend Erik ten Hag’s press conference ahead of the Wednesday night clash with Chelsea after writing stories about players and staff members turning against the Dutchman.

United were pretty clear in their reasoning, issuing a statement saying: “We are taking action against a number of news organisations. Not for publishing stories we don’t like, but for doing so without contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise. We believe this is an important principle to defend and we hope it can lead to a re-set in the way we work together.”
Basically, the journalists gave United no right of reply.
Very little has been heard from three-quarters of the Forbidden Four since. But there is an exception. Step forward Samuel Luckhurst, clearly absent from the opening-day lecture about how journalists should never make themselves the story, not least because nobody gives a f*** about journalists.
And my word, does he make himself the story.
The headline:
I pointed out Manchester United dressing room issues and was banned
No, you pointed out Manchester United’s dressing-room issues, did not follow the etiquette of offering a right of reply, and were banned.
But this might be the greatest of all opening lines:
During a heated discussion with a Manchester United player outside the team coach at Southampton last season, the player asked me, “Do you support us?”
I informed him, “Journalism is an impartial industry.”
If your nipples have not withdrawn into your body and your toes have not cringed deep into your ankles, are you even alive?

What follows is astonishing, but we will run you through a few highlights, none of which feature the actual reason Luckhurst was banned. But all of which paint Luckhurst as being one of the most important people in Manchester.
The exchange ended with the player having more of an understanding of what the role of a United correspondent entails.
As you will learn, the role of a United correspondent seems to be to have lunch and inform Manchester United staff of your misgivings.
Around a month before Erik ten Hag stepped into the Old Trafford press conference room and pressed the flesh of journalists to engage with the British press for the first time, this correspondent lunched with a senior staff member.
I flagged some abusive emails that I continued to receive from the relative of a player, citing it as an example of the toxic culture within the squad and the need for tangible changes.
Whether the staff member passed on the information he was furnished with is unknown. But, as Jose Mourinho once said, the problems are still there.
If only they had listened, Samuel.
One of United’s summer signings is represented by the same PR whose clientele includes disgruntled players past and present. United were unaware of this until yours truly made them aware of it. They proceeded with the deal.
‘Yours truly’ is amazing. But possibly not as amazing as expecting Manchester United to pull out of a multi-million pound transfer because of information that is widely available on the internet.

There were many other reasons not to spend a small fortune on Mason Mount.
By banning journalists from press conferences, United are effectively showing contempt for supporters, for we ask questions on their behalf.
Hmmm. This would carry slightly more weight if the reaction from Manchester United supporters to Luckhurst being banned had been different. But this is the most-liked response and it is indicative of what comes afterwards:


Mediawatch has been scrolling for three or four minutes and is yet to find an announce of sympathy.
Now, some of us have been demonised after another defeat. It is not my fault Ten Hag picked Anthony Martial, bickered with him and then dithered over when to substitute him at Newcastle. Or for playing Marcus Rashford on the right.
No. But it is your fault you did not contact Manchester United for a right of reply when you wrote that ‘Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is losing the confidence of players and some staff members as the club’s season continues to spiral’.
Mediawatch suspects that it was the ‘some staff members’ that irked. As you absolutely knew it would.

United were bullied by Newcastle on Sunday and some journalists feel United have tried to bully them over a story written in good faith. They will not succeed.
‘Bully’ is a strong word for ‘refusing entry to their own property’. All they have asked is that you give them an ‘opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise’ next time. It doesn’t sound like bullying. We don’t think you’d have a case at tribunal.
Nobody is doubting that there is trouble afoot at Manchester United and it is absolutely Luckhurst’s job to write about it. But it’s really not his job to write about himself as if he is the victim of a great injustice because he failed to follow the rules. Yours truly is happy to point that out.
 
You’re not actually being serious here, right?

deadly, they’ve just published an article professing to have such a great relationship with the club, but a day previously they were happy to publish whatever claptrap will get them a few clicks, even if it means dragging the club through the mud to get there.. so which is it?